Tuesday, July 21, 1998

Oliver hopes speed will give him edge with Cowboys

By Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Dallas Cowboys training camp has already left Jimmy Oliver with the need to replenish fluids intravenously after one practice.

And the former TCU receiver is mired in a horse race for playing time on a team with 10 wideouts in camp.

Also, Oliver, who was a track All-American for the Horned Frogs, is trying to use his 4.15-second speed in the 40-yard dash - which makes him maybe the fastest on the team - to stay ahead in the race to be the No. 1 kickoff returner.

But Oliver knows being in the running this summer easily beats sitting on the sidelines. A second-round draft pick for San Diego in 1995, the 5-foot-10, 186-pound speedster has yet to play a down of football in the NFL.

"I knew I had the talent," Oliver said. "All I did was continue to train. I worked out like crazy. That motivated me. I started realizing I will face obstacles. A man is judged by how you face obstacles and overcome them."

And he's had his share to overcome. Oliver sustained a season-ending separated shoulder during the 1995 preseason, his rookie year.

In 1996, he sprained his left knee during the final preseason game and sat out the entire year. Last year, he entered camp with ligament problems in his right knee, had arthroscopic surgery and was waived.

"Sitting out was hard," Oliver said. "I'd look at people I played against and with and know I could be out there. Then you have to listen to questions from your friends, who constantly asked why you weren't out there. After a while, they started seeing the pain I was going through and the questions stopped."

Oliver has been a pain to Cowboys defensive backs on the practice field at Midwestern State, repeatedly burning the Cowboys' secondary to catch deep balls in an effort to prove that he can fill the team's void for a deep threat.

Cowboys coach Chan Gailey said Oliver has been impressive. He said the only question the team had was whether Oliver was injury-prone after a spate of mishaps the past three years.

Pointing to Oliver's added weight and strength, however, Gailey said he believes Oliver's problems might be behind him.

"The first thing about Jimmy is that he had a great off-season," Gailey said. "He is a lot stronger. That allowed him to overcome the wear and tear of getting beat on in this game of ours."

Oliver, who said he spent last season working out and has gained roughly 10 pounds since his days at TCU, almost signed with NFL Europe last spring. He backed out and decided to wait on an NFL team.

The wait was worth it when Gailey added former TCU coach Tommy Robinson to the coaching staff. Robinson, who has kept in touch with Oliver throughout his three-season ordeal, said he was looking to help the Cowboys and a former pupil.

"We had a good relationship and maintained good contact after he left TCU," Robinson said. "When coach Gailey brought me in, I told him there was a guy out there with good speed that we should bring in for a tryout."

Robinson said he also had the advantage of knowing Oliver did not have a history of injuries and felt that his problems the past three years were more the exception.

"He wasn't an injury-prone kid," Robinson said. "It was a situation where I knew him and knew what he was about. He had some mishaps in San Diego, but I felt if we could get him in here, he could turn into a player. I don't know what will happen. But I know what he is capable of doing and that he has the ability to help the team."

Oliver has been everything Robinson thought he would be. He ran the 40-yard dash in a time of 4.28 seconds during his tryout workout and beat that with a sizzling 4.15 a few weeks before training camp. He will be the team's No. 1 kickoff returner in the preseason.

Considering what he went through the past three years, Oliver said things could haven't worked out better. The Dallas Adamson graduate grew up watching the Cowboys and idolizing Drew Pearson and Tony Dorsett.

"My mother is loving it," he said. "She has been calling me every night. We can't wait until the season starts. It's going to be exciting to have my mother come to a game at Texas Stadium."

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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