George Selvie looking at an encore
A year ago, George Selvie did not have a job in the NFL. Today he is one of the most senior defensive linemen taking part in the Dallas Cowboys' organized team activities (OTAs).
Longtime Cowboys DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher are gone. Anthony Spencer has returned but he has yet to practice because of knee surgery. Tyrone Crawford is back from an injury that kept him out last season. Henry Melton, Jeremy Mincey and Terrell McClain are in as free agents. The Cowboys also drafted DeMarcus Lawrence, Ben Gardner and Ken Bishop.
“It's kind of weird, but it's a rotating door,” Selvie said. “The NFL is never the same room. Some guys went out. Some new guys came in.”
Of the players currently able to practice, Selvie, Nick Hayden and Crawford are the longest-tenured of the Cowboys' defensive linemen, having played 16 games. And Selvie did not show up until the first week of training camp after Crawford got hurt.
The Cowboys are Selvie's fifth team. In parts of three seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, he had three sacks. He spent about six weeks last offseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Last year, he put up seven sacks with the Cowboys. He is their leading returner in sacks.
“Definitely I sat back and said I had a pretty good year, but having a coach like Rod [Marinelli], he said I could've had a better year,” said Selvie, who also had 39 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 22 quarterback pressures. “He showed me all my bad plays and said, ‘Look at how many plays you were that close to getting if you did this.' I definitely take that into consideration and work on the things I did wrong.”
While he has some level of seniority, Selvie, who has yet to take part in team drills in the spring because of shoulder surgery, does not feel settled just yet.
He can think back to last June when he was looking for a job.
“Some people say I probably won the job by default last year because a lot of people got hurt, but I think I came in and did what was asked of me,” Selvie said. “I went out there, played well and that's what I've got to do this year.'
