Great article in Sports Illustrated on Cowboys WR Miles Austin, who was recently voted to his 1st Pro Bowl appearance. This is a good story about what going hard on every single rep can do for you:Fifteen months ago Austin slumped into his seat on the Dallas team bus in St. Louis, confused and hurt. Work hard, and you'll get your shot, he was told after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Division I-AA Monmouth in 2006. Now the Cowboys had acquired Roy Williams from the Lions, further cluttering the depth chart. Austin wondered, What can I do?
"He came to me, and he was a little down," says receivers coach Ray Sherman. "I told him, 'This isn't about you. This is about Jerry Jones going out and getting a good player. You control you. Nobody else.' And I talked to him about being consistent on every play, in practice and in games."
Austin had gotten his shot in the NFL because Bill Parcells—who signed him in '06—thought he was a little engine that could. "The more I thought about it," Austin said last week, "the more I thought I never really gave them the consistent product on every snap. Nine out of 10 plays, I put it all out there. I decided I'd never give them the chance to question anything about me again. Every time I ran a play, in practice or a game, even when I knew it wasn't coming to me, I killed out there. I tried to win every play. I still do."
