Dickerson Unhappy With Pay : Performance Could Be Affected, He Says

A change of continents has done little to change the countenance of Ram running back Eric Dickerson, who said Monday after the team landed here that he has never been so unhappy.

In fact, Dickerson went so far as to imply that his unhappiness could affect his performance on the field this season.

Dickerson said that his annual salary of $683,000 is not enough for the player who has been the National Football League’s leading rusher three of the last four seasons.

Dickerson said he should be the league’s top-paid running back and was appalled last season when he ranked only 12th overall in base salary.

For four years, Dickerson has been the Rams’ most durable, dependable and sensational player.

But during a lengthy interview at the team’s hotel in London, where the club is preparing for an exhibition game with the Denver Broncos Sunday, Dickerson explained just how frustrated he feels.

“I feel like a stallion who once upon a time had spirit,” he said. “But once you break a horse’s spirit, the horse is no good. Right now I’m just an average football player at heart.”

Dickerson said he didn’t know how his attitude would affect his playing.

“I’ve never played under circumstances like this,” he said. “You don’t know how unhappy I am right now. I have no motion, no drive. My hamstrings are sore. My back hurts. I’m trying to put it out of my mind. But I’m hurt and unhappy. I can’t explain how unhappy I am. Words can’t express it.”

Dickerson said he will ask the Rams to renegotiate his contract, which was extended in 1985 through 1989. If the Rams don’t respond with more money, Dickerson wants out.

“If they can’t afford to pay me, if that was their answer, then yes, I’d tell them to trade me,” Dickerson said.

Asked when he would meet with John Shaw, Ram vice president-finance, Dickerson replied: “Soon.”

The Rams have traditionally refused to renegotiate player contracts.

Dickerson has been a melancholy figure throughout training camp. He has been sluggish and depressed. He is coming off a stormy off-season during which he sued his former agent for $12.5 million and was in turn sued by former girlfriend, Rea Ann Silva, who filed paternity action against Dickerson in July and is seeking $7,500 in monthly financial support for her unborn child.

The clincher, though, might well have been last Friday’s public revelation of the contract figures of rookie running back Bo Jackson. Jackson, who is playing football as a second sport, reportedly signed a five-year, $7.4-million deal with the Raiders.

The news didn’t make Dickerson want to get up and run.

“It’s a lot of things,” Dickerson said. “I’m not getting paid for my performance, I’m getting sued, I’m suing people . . . “

Last Saturday, Dickerson handed Coach John Robinson a newspaper clipping that listed some of the league’s top-paid players.

Dickerson’s name was at the bottom.

But contrary to a published report, Dickerson did not walk out of camp Saturday.

“I told (Robinson) I had some business to take care of and he said OK,” Dickerson said. “It had nothing to do with Bo.”

Robinson confirmed Monday that Dickerson was excused from practice.

“Clearly, the story was wrong,” Robinson said of the article in Sunday’s Orange County Register. “He came to see me and we had a conversation. In fact, I suggested it.”

More important for Robinson, though, seems to be the unsettled state of his star running back’s mind.

What worries Dickerson most is that there is little he can do to improve his situation.

Jack Rodri, the agent Dickerson is suing, negotiated the three-year extension in 1985, after Dickerson had held out for 42 days.

Dickerson has not yet taken a handoff under the terms of the new contract, which goes into effect this season, but believes that it already is outdated.

“I said I was unhappy even after the last deal,” he said. “It was pushed on me. It was take it or leave it.”

Those still seem to be the only alternatives, though.

“I’m not holding out, that’s out of the question,” Dickerson said. “And I can’t see them trading me. I don’t know.”

Dickerson, of course, isn’t the only unhappy Ram. Pro Bowl cornerback LeRoy Irvin held out for six days before reporting to camp last Saturday. Rookie Donald Evans was also unhappy after signing late Saturday night.

Tackle Irv Pankey remains a holdout. Several other players have expressed dissatisfaction with their contracts.

“I’m not the only one,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson suggested that the Rams might have been to more Super Bowls had they adopted a philosophy similar to Raider owner Al Davis’, who pays his players well.

“When players are happy, they play harder,” he said. “If I played for Al Davis, I’d be the top-paid player in the league. In fact, I said to John (Robinson) in a roundabout way, ‘Why don’t you just trade me for him?’ ”

Him, in this case, is Marcus Allen.

“John just laughed,” Dickerson said.

But Dickerson isn’t laughing these days.

Robinson, as is his policy, doesn’t discuss his players’ financial problems.

“My concern is the player’s performance on the practice field,” he said. “I’m convinced he will be responsible in terms of his position.”

If not, it could be a long, melancholy winter.

“I don’t know,” Dickerson said. “I’ll go out and try to play my best. But I have too much on my mind.”

Ram Notes

The most petrified Ram in London is no doubt rookie Donald Evans, who just signed Saturday night. Evans, the youngest of 16 children from a poor North Carolina family, had never been on an airplane until last spring, when he flew to California for a workout with the Rams. Evans, who owned just one pair of dress pants, bought another pair Sunday just before the team boarded its charter. Still, don’t look for him roaming around Buckingham Palace. “I think I’ll just hang around here,” Evans said, standing in the hotel lobby. Said offensive tackle Jackie Slater as he watched Evans roam the hallway: “Don’t worry, somebody will watch out for him.” John Robinson said the rookie defensive end will get quite a workout this week.

What the Rams are doing: Quarterback Jim Everett was looking for a place to play golf Monday. Guard Dennis Harrah was still looking for his luggage. . . . The Rams will practice at noon today at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre. The team will scrimmage the Broncos more than once this week before Sunday’s game at Wembley Stadium. Eighty-four Ram players made the trip. . . . The only player of note missing is holdout left tackle Irv Pankey. . . . The Rams will have no curfews this week until Friday. . . . Speaking of Fridays, Eric Dickerson said the Rams were “four or five days” late in paying his signing bonus, which constitutes half of his 1987 salary, or about $341,000. Dickerson said he finally got the check last Friday.