Dickerson Could Lose $150,000--If He Doesn’t Report on Time

Eric Dickerson has changed his game plan. He’ll announce Monday morning whether he’ll report to the Ram training camp.

Ram Coach John Robinson had indicated earlier that Dickerson would be considered AWOL if he didn’t report for Monday’s 3 p.m. practice. Thursday, he amended that. “At 2:59 and 30 seconds, we’ll say, ‘You’re late,’ ” Robinson said, tongue in cheek.

Dickerson’s advisers had scheduled a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Monday in Los Angeles, but only if Dickerson decided not to report. Now, he will have the press conference in either case. If he decides to report, he would still have time to get to Fullerton before the deadline.

If Dickerson doesn’t check into camp by the appointed time, his 1985 income could be cut almost in half.

The third year of his four-year agreement calls for him to receive $200,000 in salary and $150,000 as a “reporting bonus.”

Jack Rodri, one of those seeking to have the Rams extend Dickerson’s contract, said Thursday: “I would assume if he does not report, his reporting bonus would be in jeopardy.”

Jack Mills, the Boulder, Colo. lawyer who negotiated Dickerson’s contract with the Rams, said: “The standard reporting bonus requires that you report on time.”

Mills added that Dickerson’s bonus was guaranteed, but only in the event of injury.

“Those of us who negotiate contracts would rather have a reporting bonus, because you have to make the team to get your roster bonus or salary,” Mills said. “A reporting bonus is for merely showing up on time and passing the physical.”

But Dickerson could not show up, collect his $150,000 and walk out again. Once a player reports, he is subject to the National Football League’s left-camp rule. In that case, a club may send a player a letter demanding he return within five days or be suspended, without pay, for the season. It’s a last resort in difficult negotiations, but it’s usually effective.

Rodri said that besides revoking the reporting bonus, the Rams “also will slap a fine on him, most likely.”

The maximum fine allowed for a player reporting late is $1,000 a day. Rodri did not seem concerned.

“It’s like anything else,” he said, “it’s up for negotiation. These things usually don’t stand in the way of getting an agreement. It’s taken for granted they’ll be reinstated.”