Ram Camp : Dickerson’s Decision Is Due Today

It’s showdown time for Eric Dickerson and his advisers: fold or hold.

The Rams’ All-Pro running back is scheduled to announce today whether he’ll report to training camp at Cal State Fullerton. Coach John Robinson wants his veterans to report for a meeting at 9 a.m. but would excuse them until the afternoon’s 3 o’clock practice under special circumstances.

Dickerson’s new representatives from the Ken Norton Personal Management Agency have scheduled a press conference for today at 10:30 a.m.

Dickerson, who has two years remaining on his current contract but is trying to renegotiate it after setting an NFL single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards last season, spent the past week lying low in Atlanta. But he returned Sunday to meet with his team of advisers.

Before Dickerson returned, Norton associate Jack Rodri spoke to him by phone and said later: “I think he’s decided. He acted like a person that had made up his mind. His mood is up. He feels in great spirits. He’s not concerned. He sounded like a person who knows what he wants to do.”

Rodri, Norton and lawyer David Epstein have said all along that the decision “is up to Eric” and their only purpose is to offer advice.

But the advisers may have advised themselves--and Dickerson--into a corner.

They claim that in a meeting last month Ram Vice President John Shaw agreed verbally to negotiate a three-year extension of Dickerson’s contract through 1989--then, in their words, reneged.

Epstein pointed out that the Rams’ policy is to negotiate extensions when a player has one year remaining.

“If this were next summer, the Rams would automatically agree to a new contract for ‘86, with an increase in compensation, and three more years,” Epstein said.

“All he’s asking is that they do it this summer in recognition of the fact he had those two great years--and in recognition of the fact they agreed to do it.”

Epstein believes they could press the issue in court, but Rodri seemed to be holding out hope for an 11th-hour involvement by Ram owner Georgia Frontiere that would take Dickerson off the hook.

Rodri said: “If we got a phone call from Georgia (in which she said something like) ‘I don’t like the way this is going. Why don’t (we have) Eric report and we’ll see what we can do?’ A phone call like that would go a long way.”

If that should happen, the guidelines for talks are becoming apparent with unconfirmed reports that another top Southland running back, Marcus Allen of the Raiders, is about to sign a new contract for $3.5 million over four years.

“It shows what Eric is worth,” Rodri said.

There also seems to be a mood in Dickerson’s camp to make a stand now, rather than wait a year and go through the exercise again, for fear he might have a disabling injury this season.

Dickerson is halfway through a series of contracts that pay him $2.2 million over four years, but this season he is due to receive only $350,000--and $150,000 of that is a “reporting bonus” that he may forfeit if he doesn’t check into camp today.

Possibly complicating Dickerson’s decision is the personal relationship among Frontiere, himself and his great aunt Viola, who raised him.

Out of her personal account, Frontiere bought Viola a satellite dish for her home in Sealy, Tex., so she could see all of Dickerson’s games on television. She also has paid all the expenses to fly Viola and other members of the family to California several times.

Between the ’83 and ’84 seasons, before Dickerson broke the record, Frontiere bought him a Porsche and had his new apartment in Irvine decorated at a cost of about $100,000, including artwork.

Rodri said: “As far as I can tell, that isn’t a factor.”

With veterans reporting today, the Rams are expected to thin out the squad from the approximate 90 players in camp.

The veterans will go to La Jolla to scrimmage the San Diego Chargers Friday.