Dickerson’s Holdout Doesn’t Surprise Many at Ram Training Camp
The Rams played it real cool and went ahead with Monday’s practice as if the sun really was going to rise again tomorrow.
But something was missing, of course. Something like 2,105 yards.
Eric Dickerson, team running back/superstar/meal ticket, didn’t clock in Monday when veterans were due to report.
He couldn’t be found on the Cal State Fullerton practice field at 3 p.m. Nor was he there when practice ended.
“You could tell when we ran 48-pitch that he wasn’t out there,” Ram tight end David Hill said.
Dickerson, told the press Monday morning that he wasn’t coming to work.
The issue is money.
Dickerson, who broke O.J. Simpson’s single-season rushing record last season, simply wants more of it.
The holdout was as predictable as last year’s Ram playbook.
The team reaction wasn’t surprising, either.
Unless the Dickerson saga drags out for weeks, you’ll be hard pressed find a Ram who will take a shot at the one man who can lead a team to the promised land.
Ram Coach John Robinson, ever the diplomat and optimist, all but shrugged his shoulders and said, “Now who’d you say was out of camp?”
OK, he was a little concerned.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed he’s not here,” he said. “This is not a positive thing. But the team has to go on. There are many things for us to do.”
He didn’t say whether praying was one of them.
“Hey, these aren’t the Geneva Arms Talks,” Robinson said. “I think everything will be fine.”
Player reaction varied. Barry Redden, the man who would be tailback if Dickerson isn’t, didn’t want to comment. Tackle Bill Bain seized the opportunity to try out some new one-liners.
“I don’t see why he needs more money,” Bain said. “Based on the gifts he gave us the last two years, I know he didn’t spend any money on us.”
After his record-breaking season in 1985, Dickerson bought his offense line diamond rings. The year before, he and quarterback Vince Ferragamo chipped in to buy watches for the offensive line.
Most Ram veterans have accepted the modern-day holdout as a simple fact of life.
All the players are doing it nowadays. On the Rams, Hill did it. So did Dennis Harrah, Jim Collins and Mike Barber.
“It was no surprised to anyone,” said linebacker Collins, who stayed out of camp 15 days last season over a contract dispute. “I think he’s doing what he feels he has to do. And the Rams are doing the same thing. Obviously, though, we need him.”
Harrah, the veteran guard, was part of the fishing foursome (with Jim Youngblood, Jack Youngblood and Larry Brooks) that held out during the 1980 training camp.
“I’ve held out three times,” Harrah said. “The first time I ended up on the bench and the second time I didn’t get any money.”
Harrah thinks Dickerson might have a little more leverage than he had.
“If I could run like him, I wouldn’t be too worried,” he said.
The fact is, most players aren’t taking this too seriously--yet.
“When we’re 0-1 in the season and we’re still without him, then you’ve got a problem,” Harrah said. “A big problem.”
Said Hill, who was a holdout for the Detroit Lions two years ago before being traded to the Rams: “When you hang around the league for 10 years, a holdout is almost expected. I held out before I came out here. It starts getting really scary. If it goes on into the third or fourth week, it gets sticky. I don’t care who you are.”
Hill said he wasn’t at all surprised at the Dickerson holdout.
“I just hope things don’t get nasty and everything works out,” he said. “But it was bound to happen, wasn’t it? A running back like Dickerson is in a class like Walter Payton. He’s just concerned about his future. Running backs usually don’t last that long.”
Most interviewed seem to think that there will be no hard feelings toward Dickerson when he returns.
“It’s pretty scary,” Harrah said of holding out. “But you have to do what you believe in. I didn’t want to holdout. I didn’t like one second of it. You can’t get it out of your mind.”
Of course, the Ram offense line really has a vested interest in Dickerson.
“I hope he gets back real soon,” Hill said. “He’s supposed to give us all cars at the end of this year.”
