Ram Camp : Dickerson Insured Against Injury

“I am in a high-risk business,” Eric Dickerson said last week in explaining why he is holding out to guarantee his future earnings.

The Times has learned, however, that Dickerson’s earnings on his current agreement with the Rams, which has two years to run, are insured against disability.

If, because of injury, Dickerson couldn’t play football at all in 1985 and ‘86, he would collect tax-free insurance payments equaling his salary.

Said Jack Mills, the Boulder, Colo., lawyer who negotiated Dickerson’s contracts in 1983: “We did purchase insurance against a career-ending injury, fully covering the amounts of the contracts. I don’t know if he knows that.”

Dickerson announced nine days ago that he wouldn’t report to training camp until the Rams agreed to negotiate a guaranteed three-year extension through 1989.

“I need to hold out for the security that comes with the contract extension,” he said.

Jack Rodri of the Norton Personal Management Agency, which now represents Dickerson, said that disability insurance wasn’t enough because it covers only total injury. “If he wasn’t totally disabled and could still play, but not up to his current level, the Rams could just say, ‘So long,’ ” he said.