Rivera recovered, ready

Had offered to tear up contract, but healthy againNATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE/ DALLAS COWBOYS TRAINING CAMP

STILLPLAYING — Dallas Cowboys’ guard Marco Rivera (right) signs autographs following afternoon practice at training camp Monday in Oxnard, Calif. Rivera had just signed a contract and thought his career might be over without even playing a game for the Cowboys. OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Marco Rivera had just signed a $20 million contract, and thought his career might be over without even playing a game for the Dallas Cowboys.

The three-time Pro Bowl offensive guard even offered to tear up the contract and return a $9 million bonus when he injured his back while running on a treadmill just a week after signing a five-year free agent deal in March.

“When I hurt my back, I’d never felt anything like that before,” Rivera said. “Obviously, it was pretty scary.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t take the money back, and now Rivera is in training camp healthy and recovered from surgery to repair a bulging disk in his lower back.

“My back, I’m not even thinking about it,” said Rivera, a 310-pound lineman going into his 10th NFL season. “That first practice, I thought about it a little bit. That was the first time I put pads on since the surgery and did some hitting. But, I’m fine. I’m on the field practicing with the guys. There’s nothing like it. I’m moving around good, just knocking the rust off.”

Rivera was a starter the last seven seasons in Green Bay, blocking for Brett Favre while starting 99 straight regular season games plus seven playoff games.

But the Packers didn’t come close to what the Cowboys were offering Rivera. Dallas needed to fill the huge gap on the right side of its line, opposite Larry Allen and Flozell Adams on the left side.

While providing more Pro Bowl bulk in front of quarterback Drew Bledsoe and second-year running back Julius Jones, Rivera is also serving as a mentor and example for young Cowboys linemen.

“You couldn’t ask for a better guy to look at ... a good example of how you get to be what he is,” coach Bill Parcells said. “I have already seen the impact that Rivera has on some of these young players because he is a pretty determined, dedicated, hardworking and there-every-day guy.”

Rivera was a sixth-round draft pick out of Penn State in 1996 but was inactive for every game that season when Green Bay won the Super Bowl. He went to NFL Europe the next spring, then spent another season with the Packers primarily on special teams before becoming a starter in 1998 and a Pro Bowl selection the past three years.

After getting hurt and having surgery last spring, Rivera went back to work in the weight room. One of his regular workout partners was Jacob Rogers, an offensive lineman who was a fourth-round pick by Parcells in 2004.

“He’s got a tremendous work ethic for a guy that’s made three Pro Bowls. He’s still in there in the offseason working his butt off,” Rogers said. “When you’re a young guy like me, you don’t want to be outworked by an old guy. So you get in there and work your butt off, and now we’re out here working together.”

Also motivating to Rogers, who got only limited time on special teams in two games as a rookie, was Rivera’s career path.

Rivera embraces his role of being a team leader and helping the young linemen. But he had another big reason for joining the Cowboys after their 6-10 season.

“There was a need for me to be here, and they went out and got me,” Rivera said. “I believe we are going to win a championship this year. We have everything that we need right here on this field, and I feel confident that we’re going to do something.”

Notes: TE Dan Campbell, who had an appendectomy Thursday after arriving in California for training camp, was able to do more than just watch for the first time Tuesday. He rode a stationary bike, did some light weightlifting and some resistance work by running with a bungee cord attached to his waist. “I actually felt better today because I got to start doing stuff. It’s a step forward,” said Campbell, who missed the final 13 games last season with torn ligaments in his foot. He hopes to be back at practice Monday. ... Lynn Scott is a good special teams player and started nine of the last 10 games in 2004 at free safety, but he’s not likely to be the starter again. When asked Tuesday if he had the player in camp to be the free safety, Parcells said he wasn’t sure. Parcells said he has talked to his scouts about the position. ... The Cowboys are halfway through their first set of 12 practices before a day off Sunday.

AP Photo