Friday, February 20, 1998

Broncos aide rejects Cowboys

By Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

Denver Broncos receivers coach Mike Heimerdinger said he has turned down an offer from the Cowboys to become the team's offensive coordinator.

Heimerdinger cited his loyalty to Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and coach Mike Shanahan and the difficulty of learning a new offensive system as his main reasons for staying.

"It's another system," Heimerdinger said. "I would have to learn the system well enough to present it to the players. The system in Denver I know and I am comfortable with. The other would be a little tough to learn. If this had been the system they were using it might have been different."

Cowboys coach Chan Gailey and Heimerdinger worked together as assistant coaches at Air Force in 1981. Heimerdinger was the offensive coordinator at Rice from 1989-93 and at Duke in 1994 before joining the Broncos. Hegamin signs with Eagles. The Cowboys won't have offensive lineman George Hegamin to pick on anymore.

Hegamin, who seemed to be one of the scapegoats for the team's poor offensive line play last season, signed a five-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 6-foot-7, 331-pounder received $212,000 last season.

Hegamin's agent, Albert Irby, said Wednesday that with Hegamin's age, 25, and the fact that he played two years each in high school and college before coming to the NFL four seasons ago, that his best football is ahead of him. He compared Hegamin with former Cowboys backup Ron Stone, who signed with the Giants as a free agent in 1996 and blossomed into one of the league's best offensive linemen.

Hegamin will likely play guard and tackle for the Eagles. The Cowboys had hoped to re-sign him to shore up their depleted guard corps.

The move to Philadelphia will be a homecoming of sorts for Hegamin, who grew up in nearby Camden, N.J.

"The Eagles saw a need and went after it," Hegamin said. "They called the first day and showed commitment early. They also had the inside edge. I grew up an Eagles fan."

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.startext.net; www.arlington.net; and www.netarrant.net.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.