Dickerson Glad That ‘Reunion’ Is Over

ANAHEIM, Calif. —  Eric Dickerson has a remarkable ability to raise the hackles of people out here. Maybe because he’s a confident kind of guy, or because he’s good looking, or because he’s rich, or because he thought he was worth more than $682,000 a year and said so, constantly.

Take the fans at Sunday’s Rams-Indianapolis Colts game, Dickerson’s first appearance here since he was traded to the Colts in October 1987. First they booed. Then they threw play money at him -- lots of it -- as he left the field at Anaheim Stadium. In between they serenaded him with derisive “Ehhhriiiic, Ehhhriiiic” chants.

At first Dickerson was glib, saying, “If it was real money we would have stopped and picked it up.”

But later he had more to say.

“That’s really a joke,” he said of the play money. “This is a game and you get paid for it. You can take all those fans in the stands and you can line them up. If they think it’s fun let them come out and try and play the game of football. If they don’t want to get paid ... this is not a game where you’re just thankful to be there.

“I’m a guy with a lot of talent. We have a lot of guys in the NFL with a lot of talent. Talent. If they want the talent they have to pay for it. Just as simple as that. It’s a job. Just like you have a job. People want to look at it as ... I guess we should come out and play for what they offer. But that’s just impossible.”

Dickerson knows about market value. He’s known about it for years, which is one reason he gets in so much trouble when he talks. That’s why he can, in one breath, declare Jim Everett deserves the $2 million per year he’s getting, after sharply criticizing the quarterback at the time of Dickerson’s trade to the Colts.

But Dickerson knows football too, which is why intelligent people can still argue almost two years later that the Colts got the better of the blockbuster trade. This while the Rams wound up with seven players, including three running backs: Cleveland Gary, Greg Bell and Gaston Green. And while the Bills got a linebacker in Cornelius Bennett who could be an all-pro for the next decade.

Including Sunday’s 116-yard performance, Dickerson has rushed for 10,137 yards in a little less than five seasons. His critics would point to the footballs, bushels of them, Dickerson has given up through fumbles in important and semi-important games. They would say the Colts have underachieved despite his presence and are stumbling again at 0-2 this season.

As far as the 0-2 goes, Colts offensive lineman Chris Hinton said, “Come on. Who’s doing our schedule? The 49ers (a 30-24 loss) and the Rams.”

And the other?

“When I played (for the Rams) I played hard,” Dickerson said. “If they forget they forget. No. 29, he’s gone. That’s what’ll happen when I retire. They’ll forget. Some people will remember. But when I played I did play hard. No matter if I griped, if I complained. ... I still played hard, no matter what I said.”

So it was that in defeat, in a game in which he really wasn’t much of a factor, Dickerson still was the center of attention. After the Rams finished beating Indianapolis, 31-17, Dickerson was engulfed by former teammates and members of the local media. Players such as linemen Jackie Slater and Irv Pankey and defensive tackle Doug Reed, who put his ex-teammate down oh-so-gently on the first Colts offensive play for a three-yard loss.

“We didn’t know whether to slam him or kiss him,” Reed said.

“It was good to see all the guys,” Dickerson said. “I have a lot of friends on the team, even though a lot of you guys make me out to be such a villain, a bad guy. But those guys really know that I’m a good guy.”

Dickerson’s problems with the Rams, you see, had very little to do with his teammates. Before Sunday’s game he asked Rams wide receiver Henry Ellard, who has had imbroglios with team management but is less outspoken about them, how he was being treated.

Dickerson has always maintained that his beef with the team specifically was with Vice President John Shaw and Coach John Robinson. He clashed with Shaw because Shaw wouldn’t see things Dickerson’s way and ultimately made the three-team trade involving the Colts and Buffalo Bills. He was upset with Robinson because the coach wouldn’t back him in his demands.

So he lashed out, choosing his words less than carefully, whether taken out of context or not.

“It’s much less (disturbing) than you might think,” Robinson said on his television show this week. “Eric and a lot of the players are friends. That all happened two years ago and the trade was good for (all three) teams.”

All week, Dickerson was even-tempered. He had said he wasn’t going to play against Rams management, but against his old friends and teammates. He tried to fall back on “this is just another game” rhetoric. That’s not Dickerson. That’s for coaches, who talk about distractions and other such evil things.

“He seemed a little more excited” before the game, Hinton said. “I guess that’s about as excited as I’ve seen him before a game. It was pretty obvious. I’m sure he would be willing to give up the 100 yards or whatever he got for a victory. Which we all would.”

“Everybody was watching me to see what kind of reaction I had,” Dickerson said. “I wanted to win, sure. I want to win any football game, this one more so. I don’t think I was really nervous. I’m always a little nervous before every game. Maybe I was a little bit more nervous before this one.”

He played well, averaging 5.5 yards a carry and tying Lydell Mitchell for the most 100-yard games (16) in the franchise’s history. He had a touchdown. He didn’t fumble. But he didn’t dominate, as the game became a shootout between Everett and Colts quarterback Chris Chandler.

Ellard played the game of his life, catching 12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Everett set a team record with 14 straight completions. That performance overshadowed Dickerson’s effort and made his running useless in the fourth quarter, when the Colts fell behind.

Dickerson wasn’t in tears afterward. Neither were any of the other Colts. After all there are 14 games left, and Indianapolis has a history of poor performances out of the gate but furious kicks at the end.

And the jointly jilted lovers, having used up all their invective, can get on with their lives.

“It’s over,” Dickerson said. “I’m glad. Man you don’t even know. It’s like now the season should be over for me.”