49ERS 24, RAMS 14 : Ram Notebook : Dickerson Surpasses 1,800-Yard Rushing Mark for Third Time
It wasn’t the kind of night for any Ram to revel in his own accomplishments, but Eric Dickerson continued to leave his mark in the annals of the National Football League.
In the third quarter Friday, Dickerson passed the 1,800-yard mark rushing. It was only the eighth time in history that a player has rushed for 1,800 or more yards, and Dickerson has done it three of those times.
He finished the 1986 regular season with 1,821 yards and might have had more if the Rams hadn’t acquired Jim Everett . . . and with him, a passing game.
“We’ve been practicing the pass for about three weeks and I think we may be getting too ‘finesseful,’ ” Dickerson said. “We’re trying to be too much like the 49ers.”
With 52 seconds left in the first half and the Rams in punt formation, 49er safety Ronnie Lott was jumping up and down on the sidelines, pointing at the Rams’ Henry Ellard. In desperation, he ran on the field to cover Ellard, who was split wide and not covered by a 49er defender.
When Dale Hatcher punted the ball, Lott just trotted off the field.
The officials did not throw a flag, but after a tirade by Ram Coach John Robinson--and a subsequent review of the television replay--the 49ers were cited for having 12 men on the field.
Lott, obviously afraid that the Rams might fake the punt and pass to Ellard, figured the penalty was a lot better than a touchdown.
“He was out there all alone,” Lott said. “I wasn’t supposed to be in there, but I just got confused and ran out. A couple of teammates told me, ‘Thanks, you saved us six points.’ ”
Guard Randy Cross drew a lot of heat from Bay Area football fans recently when he said the 49er followers were “cardboard dummies” who were too busy drinking white wine to make any noise.
“And then they do the Wave when we’ve got the ball,” Cross said.
The 49er faithful were in good voice Friday night and they had no trouble deciding when they were supposed to be making noise.
Reserve guard Michael Durrette, a former L.A. Express player, stood behind the San Francisco bench, waving a white towel every time he wanted the crowd to respond . . . which was before every Ram play, after every 49er play and during every timeout.
Attention Dan Marino: Bill Walsh, commenting on the future of Ram rookie Jim Everett: “Jim Everett will be a great quarterback. The Rams coaching staff is doing a great job bringing him along and he will be a great one sometime down the road.
“We just happen to have the greatest quarterback in football.”
Ram Coach John Robinson suffered back spasms Thursday before the team’s flight to San Francisco. He received an injection at Centinela Hospital and said he was feeling fine Friday.
“My back is not an issue,” Robinson said.
Not everyone in the Bay Area got caught up in the excitement of Friday night’s Ram-49er game, which was billed by the San Francisco Examiner as the “Shootout at Candlestick.”
One San Francisco cabbie, after being instructed to take a fare from the airport to Candlestick Friday afternoon, replied: “That’s gonna take a long time. There’ll be a lot of traffic because of the baseball game.”
Guess nobody told him.
Dwight Clark, San Francisco receiver, had 3 receptions for 39 yards and has caught a pass in 104 straight games.
The Rams last traveled to Washington in 1983, when they lost to the Redskins, 51-7, in an NFC divisional playoff game. But the prospect of returning to the site of that massacre hardly bothered Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin.
“We didn’t want to go to Washington,” Irvin said. “But since we have to go to Washington, I’d love to go to Washington.”
Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story.