ALL TEAMS IN ACTION IN FIRST FULL PRESEASON WEEK; GIANTS STADIUM ROLLS OUT GRASS FIELD; BUCS-CHIEFS PLAY IN NORMAN, OKLAHOMA

It will be NFL preseason football the old-fashioned way – on real grass and in college towns.

That will be the story in two games this week as the NFL plays its first full schedule of the preseason with all 30 clubs in action.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, the New York Giants will host the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night at Giants Stadium. It is a renovated Giants Stadium that has added permanent seating (from 78,148 to 79,593) and a temporary field that may one day be permanent.

This week and on August 15 and August 20, the Giants and Jets, the only two NFL teams that share the same stadium, will play preseason home games on a natural grass surface that is being tested to see if it can one day withstand the rigors of a northeast winter and 16-plus NFL games as well as other events. The grass will be removed at the end of August in preparation for the regular season.

More than 6,000 plastic trays of grass weighing 1,100 pounds each have been put together like an enormous jigsaw puzzle over the stadium’s artificial surface.

"We’re looking forward to it," says Giants head coach JIM FASSEL. "The quality of the grass field is outstanding."

Also on Saturday, the NFL returns to a college town -- Norman, Oklahoma, a location from which many NFL stars have emerged over the years. The Kansas City Chiefs will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, home of the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

It will be the first NFL preseason game in Norman since the San Diego Chargers defeated the New England Patriots 26-17 on August 6, 1976. Two other preseason games were played in Norman in the ‘50s.

Local interest will center around guard WILL SHIELDS (Lawton), wide receiver KEVIN LOCKETT (Tulsa) and defensive end LESLIE O’NEAL (Oklahoma State) of the Chiefs, and tight end RICKEY BRADY (Oklahoma) of the Buccaneers.

At least 347 Sooners have played in the NFL, including wide receiver TOMMY MC DONALD, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 1. The University of Oklahoma will honor McDonald and its other Hall of Fame alumnus, defensive end LEE ROY SELMON of the Buccaneers, at a home game this fall.

Several other games this week will continue preseason series between clubs.

The Oakland Raiders travel to Dallas Saturday to play the Cowboys, the 18th time the teams have met in the preseason. Oakland leads the preseason series 12-5, winning in Dallas last year 34-27.

In Charlotte Saturday, the Carolina Panthers meet the Jacksonville Jaguars, the third time in four years the 1995 expansion clubs have played in the preseason. The first was in the 1995 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, the first game ever for each team.

"I remember it very well," says Panthers head coach DOM CAPERS of the contest his team won 20-14. "How many times do you get to be with a team the first time it takes the field?"

And in San Diego on Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers will play a preseason game in that city for the second year in a row and fourth time in five years. The Chargers won last year’s game 20-13.

The 49ers and Chargers have another connection. San Diego owner ALEX SPANOS, an alumnus of the University of the Pacific, in his hometown of Stockton, California, helped in the school’s successful efforts this year to secure the 49ers as training camp tenants. The 49ers are in the midst of their first camp at the school.

FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-PRE-2 8/3/98

THIS WEEK'S NFL SCHEDULE (AUGUST 6-AUGUST 9)
(All times local)

Chicago (NFC) at Baltimore (AFC), 7:30

Cincinnati (AFC) at N.Y. Giants (NFC), 8:00

Denver (AFC) at St. Louis (NFC), 7:00

Indianapolis (AFC) at Seattle (AFC), 7:00

Jacksonville (AFC) at Carolina (NFC), 7:30

Kansas City (AFC) vs. Tampa Bay (NFC) at Norman, OK, 7:00

Miami (AFC) at Washington (NFC), 7:30

New Orleans (NFC) at Green Bay (NFC), 7:00

Oakland (AFC) at Dallas (NFC), 8:00

San Francisco (NFC) at San Diego (AFC), 7:00

Sunday, August 9

Minnesota (NFC) at New England (AFC), 7:30

(Announced attendance in parentheses. Home team in capitals)