The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 30

30 Pro Football '1 4t Jets' optimism no longer in guarded condition I If -7 ce 1 1 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown. Rasmussen is gone, but the offensive line is still solid. Stan Walde-more inherits the starting job at left guard, and Michaels is so convinced that he can do the job that he gently shoved Rasmussen into retirement. Right tackle Marvin Powell and center joe Fields played in the Pro Bowl last season, and right guard Dan Alexander is on the verge of making All-Pro. Left tackle Chris Ward has to shed the extra weight he showed up with at the May mini-camp.

Second-round draft choice By John Rowe Staff Writer HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. The 1981 Jets suffered a lot less than the ragtag Jets of the past. "The players got a taste of what it means to win," says head coach Walt Michaels. "They learned how warm New York can be in December and January." But last year's 10-5-1 record, which earned the Jets their first playoff appearance since 1969, is history as the club prepares for tomorrow's opening of training camp at Hofstra University. "That last year doesn't mean anything if we don't improve this year," says quarterback Richard Todd.

"We want to do more than make the playoffs this season. We want to get to the Super Bowl." V) UJ 77" AP photo Jets pin much of their hopes for continued good fortune of quarterback Richard Todd, last year's team MVP, and the New York Sack Exchange, defensive linemen Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, Abdul Salaam, and Mark Gastineau, left to right. came a rash of injuries and substandard performances, and a 4-12 season. But even the usually reserved Michaels is optimistic as he begins his sixth season as head coach. He survived calls for his firing after last season's 0-3 start and watched with satisfaction as the Jets went 10-2-1 over the last 13 weeks of the regular season, a mark bettered only by Super Bowl champion San Francisco's 11-2 record.

"We became a team last year," Michaels says. "We had contributions from a full 45-man squad throughout the season. We have a lot of room for improvement, but I think we now have a foundation on which to continue building." The offense's solid rock is Todd, coming off a season in which his teammates voted him the team's Most Valuable Player. He'll be in camp early to work with second-year offensive coordinator Joe Walton, who was a steadying influence last year. "It's going to help everybody on the offense, including Richard, coming to camp with a year under Joe's system," says Michaels.

The biggest offensive worry is what to do if Todd is injured. Backup Pat Ryan has thrown only 28 regular-season passes in four seasons, but Michaels promises more preseason work for him. Todd's receiving corps includes often-injured speedsters Wesley Walker and Lam Jones, consistent Derrick Gaffney and Bobby Jones, and tight ends Jerome Barkum and Mickey Shuler. Michaels has his fingers crossed that Walker stays healthy and Lam Jones finally realizes his potential. The wide receiver dark horse may be Lonell Phea, a sixth-round pick from Houston who sparkled at the rookie minicamp.

Barkum, now the elder statesman with Rasmussen's retirement, is listed as starting tight end, but Shuler should get the job if he stays healthy. One of Michaels's most vivid memories of the playoff loss to Buffalo was Shuler 's six receptions for 116 sons as backups. There are some questions at linebacker. Top pick Bob Crable of Notre Dame either will be brought along slowly in both the middle or the outside or will be handed unhappy Stan Blinka's middle-line-backing job. Another possibility is moving a bulked up Lance Mehl inside and playing Crable outside.

Veteran Greg Buttle, who played some of his best football in the second half of last season, is the incumbent on the left side. Football column B-10 Training camp r. (I ij' 1 Reggie McElroy, a tackle from West Texas State who may be able to play guard, will be brought along slowly. Freeman McNeil's health is the No. 1 backfield concern.

McNeil showed flashes of brilliance in gaining a team-high 623 yards in his rookie season but missed five games and parts of others with an assortment of injuries. Reliable Bruce Harper and Scott Dierking back up McNeil at halfback, and the staff is high on Kenny Lewis, who played in five games last season before suffering a knee injury. Fullback continues to be a question mark. Mike Augustyniak, last year's surprise until he was sidelined by a severe rib injury, is penciled in as the starter but could be erased by many players. Over-achiever Tom Newton and under-achiever Kevin Long continue to make the team, but the' Jets have drafted fullbacks the past two years: Marion Barber, who spent his 1981 rookie season on injured reserve, and this year's No.

3 pick, Dwayne Crutchfield of Iowa State. The improved defense was the biggest Jets story last season. The emergence of the New York Sack Exchange, with its league-leading 66 sacks, turned around the defense. It may be asking too much to expect 66 more sacks, but, barring injuries, ends Joe Klecko and Mark Gastineau should again be All-Pros. The Jets avoided a potential problem by upgrading Gastineau's contract.

Tackles Marty Lyons and Abdul Sa There was plenty of talk at the recent Randy Rasmussen retirement party about a return to the Super Bowl. The Jets of yesterday and today are convinced that this team has the talent to repeat the heroics of the 1968 team. Michaels, of course, downplays such talk. He remembers how his 1980 team was so excited after beating the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in their last preseason game that there was much loose talk about making it to pro football's ultimate contest. Then Bobby Jackson's consistent injuries are the biggest problem in the secondary.

Jerry Holmes has developed into a competent right corner-back. Darrol Ray is a potential star at free safety, and Ken Schroy is a steady strong safety. If Jackson stays healthy on the left corner and the pass rush remains constant, the defensive backfield's shortcoming will be secondary. Veteran Donald Dykes may be hard-pressed to save his job as a reserve. Kirk Springs showed he could play when re-signed late last season.

Johnny Lynn and Jesse Johnson are capable of playing several positions, and fourth-round pick George Floyd is a hard hitter. Incumbent place kicker Pat Leahy and punter Chuck Ramsey have training-camp competition, but both should still be around when the season starts. Harper also has to continually prove himself as a kick returner, and this camp is no different Rookies Phea and Floyd are being touted as possible returners. Jets training camp information The Jets will be holding two-a-day practices at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., most days from now until training camp ends Aug. 24.

Practice times are 9:30 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Direction to Hofstra University via George Washington Bridge: Follow Cross Bronx Expressway to Throgs Neck Bridge. Get off at Cross Island Parkway exit, at base of the bridge. Take Cross Island to Grand Central Parkway exit.

Travel on Grand Central Parkway to Meadowbrook Parkway exit. Get off Meadowbrook Parkway at exit 5A, Nassau Coliseum, Hempstead Turnpike. Hofstra is located two miles from the exit on the right. JrJ. .1 i laam concentrate on defending the run, leaving Klecko and Gastineau free to play the pass.

Kenny Neil and Ben Rudolph are in their second sea 3 3 Journey ends in retirement for Kotar uiiil3 1 jtdi 13 We stock all Michelin Tires 35 up lo The 5-foot-ll, 205-pound Kotar signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent out of Kentucky during the training camp strike of '74. After being traded to the Giants, he was just another body in camp until he broke a couple of long gains against the Jets in an exhibition game at Yale Bowl. He wound up gaining 396 yards as a rookie. His best year was 1976 when he ran for 731 yards and caught 36 passes for 319 yards. His 3,378 yards on an even 900 carries (3.8 average, 20 TDs) rank him behind only Alex Webster Ron Johnson and Frank Gifford (3,609) on the Giants' all-time list.

Exhibition Football Giant Aim. 14 at Baltimore, I pm. Au. 21 PITTSBURGH, P.m. Aufl.

28 JETS, I pm Sept. 3 at Miami, p.m. Jatt Aug. 14 at Green Bay, I Mi Au. 22 at Houston, 1 p.m.

Aug. 28 at Giants, 8 p.m. Sept. 4 Denver at Giants Stadium, 8 p.m. As low as 95 9( Goodyear Powerstreak 4 ply polyester ond on the team in rushing in each of his first six seasons as a Giant.

But in 1980, he suffered a knee injury in the preseason exhibition game against the Jets and sat out the entire year. He returned last season and played in seven games, starting four, only to suffer a shoulder injury that had him on injured reserve for the final six regular-season games, plus both playoff contests. "I was hoping for a miraculous recovery in the early June minicamp, but it just wasn't there," said Kotar, who started thinking about retirement at that time. "I kept lifting weights, hoping, but I just ran out of time." He held off his final decision until yesterday. "I wasn't pushed into retiring by the Giants, it was my own decision," he said.

Kotar's competition at halfback this summer would have included Butch Woolfolk and Joe Morris, the Giants' two top draft picks, plus veterans Larry Heater, Leon Bright, and Louis Jackson. A78 13 By Vinny DiTrani Staff Writer PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. The Steelers were in desperate need of a quarterback in the summer training camp strike of 1974; someone to throw the ball in practices until the veterans returned from the picket lines. So on July 19 of that year, with little fanfare, they dealt a free-agent running back to the Giants for former Rutgers passer Leo Gasienica. Gasienica didn't last long in Pittsburgh.

He was waived later that But the free agent runner went on to become the fourth leading rusher in the Giants' history. Doug Kotar won't get a chance to become the club's third leading rusher. After eight years and 3,378 yards, Kotar retired yesterday. "I don't want to go through another season at 70 or 75 per cent," said Kotar, who has undergone knee and shoulder operations the past two years. "I don't want to wait until I'm crippled.

I can still walk away now. "It's a tough decision. I've been here in camp nine years, and now that we're starting to win, it's tough to get out I'd like to be on this team now with my body five or six years younger." The 31-year-old Kotar was either first or sec 29.95 31.95 33.95 H78-14 34.95 G78-15 35.95 H78-15 36.95 L78-15 B78-13 C78-14 D78-14 E78-14 F78-14 G78-14 39.95 (ww onty) 37.95 39.95 43.95 (ww only) 2 ply (Whitewall available at $2.00 additional) NEVER Semperit Import Radials YOUR GAR AGAIN! Keep your car looking like new. Year round with PRESERV-A-SHINE Paint Protection 1 M301 M501 6 Ply Rayoa Radial Steal Radial 28.95 155-12 33.95 26.95 145-13 29.95 29.95 155-13 35.95 30.95 165-13 37.95 34.95 175-14 43.95 36.95 185-14 45.95 34.95 165-15 43.95 16570-13 38.95 17570-13 41.95 18570-13 44.95 18570-14 49.95 mhmmm m-4 Dave DeBusscherel the best way to -keep your car's showroom look forever. Former HI Kmct I 0 at No longer wilt you have to concern yourself with the back breaking, time consuming task of waxing which means more leisure time for you.

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