IRVING, Texas - Congratulations, kid. You made the team.
Sort of.
Actually, you made the practice squad. That's pretty good. There are only eight of you. You won't make as much money as the players on the 53-man roster. In fact, you won't make anywhere near it. And, you won't travel to the road games.
But you are still part of the team. You get a uniform and a helmet and a locker and an invitation to the Christmas party.
The truth is, practice squad players in the NFL play an important role. They help mirror that week's opposition for the starters, to give them a picture of what they're up against. They also provide rest for some of those starters in practice. And it's a way on to the big roster. Players have improved from their time on the practice squad to make the team and have productive careers.
For example, Cory Procter, starting at left guard for the Cowboys this week in Cleveland. Picked up from the Detroit Lions practice squad three years ago. Now he's a valuable member of this team.
The problem is, to make it to the practice squad, you have to be released by the team, put on waivers for any other club to claim. And you have to be claimed by none of them. You have to have the entire National Football League tell you, "Don't call us, we'll call you."
How players react changes from case to case. If you've been through this before and you thought you had what it took to make the roster, you might be a little disappointed at first. You might be like second-year practice squad quarterback Richard Bartel.
"To be honest," Bartel told reporters before Monday's practice, "I didn't think my choices would come down to this. I thought I'd improved enough and played efficient, at least. To say that I didn't wallow in self-pity [after being released Saturday] would be a lie. I did a little bit. Then I got motivated. I feel very motivated right now and hopefully I can turn that into a positive. I know I will, actually."
Or you could be like rookie receiver Danny Amendola, who may be the most popular player to never make the team, at least so far. Amendola went undrafted out of Texas Tech because of his lack of size and physicality. That proved his undoing in preseason games. He got shoved around a little too often on special teams and in running routes, especially when re-directed at the line of scrimmage.
But Amendola, who grew up a Cowboys fan, sees the practice squad as a great opportunity.
"When I was in fifth grade," he said Tuesday evening, "if you'd told me I was going to be on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, I'd have thought that was great.
All I ever wanted was a shot. If you get to come in here and get a chance, you're blessed.
I'm still playing football. There are an awful lot of guys who would kill to be in my position."
Either one of these players could have a long NFL career. Or both. Or neither. Some of it is up to them.
One thing for sure is that a good attitude is going to be necessary. The practice squad is a strange limbo. Last week in the preseason you were preparing to play a game, or what passes for one in preseason finales. You were getting yourself ready. This week, your job is to prepare 53 other guys. Bartel can offer some advice.
"I can say that your approach is everything," he says. "Instead of going out there and trying to work on things personally, it's now so much bigger than that. There are so many similarities between offenses in the NFL, so the kind of approach you take in how you're going to read the play, how you're going to run your route, how you're going to get off the line in press coverage, that kind of stuff has a direct carryover to what you know, which is playing the game. I would tell them the picture is much more broad than the real specific one you have especially in preseason. You really need to complete yourself as a player, mentally as well as physically."
Amendola has had only a couple of days of such experience, but he could tell right away on Monday that it was "a little odd. I've run scout team before, so I know how to do that. But it's definitely different. It's another role guys have to fill. You have to have this if you want to have a program."
But to do it, you have to have that good attitude. The practice squad is like what your parents and every good teacher and scoutmaster and organizational leader you've ever had have always told you: you get out of it what you put into it.
That's why chances are Amendola will get better this year. He can't get taller, but he can get with strength coach Joe Juraszek and get a little bigger and a lot more physical. And he can learn to be a better receiver.
"I need to learn our scheme better," he says. "I've got to learn more about the offense and get in the playbook. It's one of those deals: I'm really lucky to be in this position. Nothing's guaranteed. Sure, I wanted to make the team, but I have a chance to play my way on to it. I would describe my feelings as disappointed optimism. I still get to wear the helmet."
Bartel is no less appreciative of his chance, but his circumstances are different. The Cowboys have been up front with him and told him if they sign a veteran third quarterback to the 53-man roster next week, something widely rumored, there's a chance Bartel could be released again. You don't need four quarterbacks to practice. But at the moment, he had no other practice squad offers, so this represented his best opportunity.
What Bartel has to do is keep getting better, something he knows he did on the practice squad last year.
"Without a doubt," he says. "A lot of it has to do with just being out at practice and getting reps against a great defense like we have. The other part of it is getting with Joe (Juraszek), coming in on Tuesdays when we're off, getting the work I need personally to improve myself."
He has done that, and the Cowboys know it. But as his coaches explained to him, sometimes a roster gets hit by injuries and adjustments have to be made. And in the end, if Tony Romo were to be injured, they would like someone behind Brad Johnson who has taken snaps in an NFL game. Bartel understands, even if he doesn't like it.
"I need to give them or some other team a quarterback they can trust. Everybody in this locker room wants an opportunity. I'm just looking for mine now."
At the moment, it's coming on the practice squad.
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