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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1977)
*a_i wi ^ MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1977 ‘Dorsett overpaid’ Dallas’ Golden Richards speaks on Cowboys, career By PAUL MCGRATH Battalion Sports Editor Golden Richards sat behind a small table, entrapped by a crowd of elfin figures, each with a balloon in one hand and an admiring look on their faces. The Dallas Cowboy star scribbled his name to hundreds of miniature footballs and when the supply ran out, autographed pieces of paper or whatever else was available. One mother prodded her shy son forward. “Did you say you were from Salt Lake City,” she asked Richards after learning he was from there original ly. Her son was wearing a T-shirt with “Salt Lake City” lettered on the front. Richards grinned at the lad. “When were you there?” The boy wouldn’t answer, perhaps frightened, perhaps amazed that he was speaking to a professional foot ball player. Richards wrote nearly a lifetime’s worth of signatures during the four hours he spent at the opening of the Taco Villa restaurant in Bryan. A KTAM radio reporter kept listeners up to date on the amount of souvenir footballs left. Richards’ appearance hardly befit the current pro football mold. At 6-2, 185 lbs., Richards seems more like a mere fly to the water buffalo types found in the National Football League. But, he is a very fast fly, having avoided being swatted for four sea sons. Richards uses his speed — 4.3 or 4.4 seconds in the forty — to his advantage as well as for survival. While the Cowboy’s “other” wide receiver. Drew Pearson, is known as Mr. Clutch because of his many cru cial catches, Richards is Dallas’ long ball threat. In baseball, it’s the home run which draws crowd appeal. In foot ball, it’s the “Bomb”, the long pass, the quick touchdown which brings a crowd to its feet. Richards and Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach have connected for many such Bombs since he joined the team in 1973 after playing col lege football at Brigham Young and Hawaii. Speed kills. Ask the Highway Pat rol. Ask many a defensive back who has the job of guarding Richards. In a crucial 1975 game with Washington, as Dallas was becoming the Cinderella team which lost to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, Richards made the play which turned a hard-nosed defensive struggle into a laugher. He took a short sideline pass from Staubach, broke a tackle and sprinted the final 60 yards un touched for the game-breaking touchdown. Speed kills. Richards was slowed to a halt last year with an injured hamstring at mid-season. His absence was one of several reasons Dallas failed to reach the Super Bowl once again. He signed autographs with grace and a grin, a star-shaped diamond flashing in the gold ring on his left hand. Now a Dallas native, Richards said he has not let pro football fame affect him. “No, my lifestyle really hasn’t changed much,” he said. “I still do the things I’ve always done. I don’t get into that trip stuff.” Richards spoke reflectively on someone who apparently did get into “that trip stuff”— former Dallas running back Duane Thomas. Thomas had become unhappy with the Cowboy management after helping the club to the 1971 Super Bowl. He was traded to New Eng land, was traded back to Dallas and then led the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory. After that, Thomas settled into pro football’s nowheresland. He was cut from the Cowboys following a short lived comeback attempt last season. “Most of what I know (about the Thomas controversy) is what I read in the papers because it occurred be fore I got there. It was unfortunate because the guy had real talent,” Richards said. Thomas and Calvin Hill were the last two breakaway threats Dallas had at running back. Thomas has disappeared and Hill is with Washington. But now the Cowboys have Tony Dorsett, the team’s No. 1 draft choice who will become a millionaire with his contract. Dorsett and Tampa Bay draftee Ricky Bell will both be getting seven figure salaries. “They’re overpaid,” Richards said with sincerity, contrasting to Staubach’s earlier statement that pay wouldn’t matter as long as Dorsett led the team to a championship. “This is not baseball or basketball. Football’s a different sport,” he said, alluding to those athletes which have million dollar contracts in those two sports. Richards spoke openly about sev eral subjects connected with the Cowboys. On Staubach’s performance drop ping off after a spectacular start: “It was not his fault. The defenses started stacking up for him and it was tough for him to operate. He’s the team leader. . . and a great leader too. On the Staubach-Clint Longley FLAUNT IT! Picture of a man about to make a mistake He’s shopping around for a diamond “bargain,” but shop ping for “price” alone isn’t the wise way to find one. It takes a skilled professional and scientific instruments to judge the more important price determining factors — Cutting, Color and Clarity. As an AGS jeweler, you can rely on our gemological train ing and ethics to properly ad vise you on your next im portant diamond purchase. Stop in soon and see our fine selection of •'ems she will be proud to wear. Q PEACE CORPS; & VISTA MEMBER AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY '' N >Carl Bussells Diamond Room SIGN UP NOW ON CAMPUS JUNE 21-22 Tues. & Wed. 3731 E. 29th 846-4708 Town & Country Center INFORMATION BOOTH at M.S.C. Use your knowledge to help others and yourself. BROWN’S SEMI-ANNUAL SALE NOW IN PROGRESS Men’s and Women’s At Drastic Savings IankAmemcmd SHOE FIT CO DOWNTOWN 822-1239 feud which erupted in fisticuffs dur ing training camp last year: “I guess Clint wanted to get out of there and I guess he didn’t want to compete with Danny White for the second posi tion.” On Cowboy Coach Tom Landry: “He’s brilliant. He’s about the most intelligent person I’ve ever met. He’s a very fine coach.” Richards was supposed to board a private plane at 2:30 p. m to return to Dallas. At 2:40, he was still signing autographs with a hundred or so still waiting their turn. No youngsters were going to leave disappointed. Speed had met his match. Former A&M athlete indicted for burglary Former Texas A&M Univer- Teate had left Texas A&M Randall Teate sity football player Randall Teate has been indicted by a Brazos County grand jury for burglary of a habitation. Teate, 21, of 1201 Hwy. 30, No. 57, has been accused of tak ing three potted plants and a telephone from Briarwood apartment No. 29 on May 19. College Station Police Detective Ronnie Miller said damage was done to the front door of the apartment. Total cost of the damage and the plants was put at $100. He was released on a $2,500 bond. after failing to meet academic eligibility requirements for the fall. He had played as a split end on last season’s Aggie squad. He transferred to A&M from Henderson Junior College as the nation’s top ranked junior col lege pass catcher. He was trying to regain his eligibility this summer at a local junior college. Texas A&M Athletic Director Emory Bellard was not available for comment on Teate’s status should he regain his athletic eligibility. Hubert Green wins U.S. Open United Press International TULSA, Okla. — Hubert Green, under heavy security after an anonymous caller telephoned a death threat, sank a 4-foot putt for a bogey on the final green yesterday to win the U. S. Open by one stroke. Green, who at one time in the final round had a comfortable, four- shot lead, was playing the 14th hole when officials learned of the threat, made in a telephone call to South ern Hills Country Club. Extra police were sent to, watch the galleries surrounding Green and they immediately surrounded him after he holed the winning putt. The helmeted police stayed with Green during the victory presenta tion ceremony, and still were with him when he arrived at the press tent for a traditional post tournament interview. Nicklaus, defending champion Jerry “The only thing I was thinlJ Pate and Al Geiberger, among about was don’t go in the ltf|| others. bunker,” Green said. The finishing bogey gave Green an even-par 70 and the first major championship of his seven-year career. He became the 10th player in 77 years to win the Open by lead ing after every round. But it did not come easily. It was not settled until the final hole, the killing, 449-yard, par-4 that had ruined the hopes of Jack AGGIES! DougtacS Jewel ry Hours: Tuesday — Sunday 11:30 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. 5:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. offers Student ID Discounts’ 1313 S. 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