Dickerson Runs Off a Mouthful
Eric Dickerson told interviewer Jim Gray on NBC’s “NFL Live” Sunday that he is not bitter about the trade that sent him from the Rams to the Indianapolis Colts on Halloween last year. But. . . .
Asked if the Rams were trying to severely damage his career by trading him to the Colts, Dickerson said: “I think so. I think they wanted to try and teach me a lesson, send me to a place that I would not like, and would probably struggle the rest of my career, which I think backfired in their face.”
About Greg Bell, Dickerson said: “You know, that little dwarf should learn one thing. He is not in my caliber. If Greg Bell came here or if I went back to the Rams, he would sit on the bench behind me the rest of his career.”
Asked about John Robinson and Ron Meyer, the Colts’ coach who also coached Dickerson at Southern Methodist, Dickerson said: “If you want to know who I have more feeling for, I have more feeling for Ron Meyer, of course. . . . If both of them were out on a lake drowning, I would save Coach Meyer.” Said Gray: “Just let John drown?” Dickerson: “John’s on his own.”
About Jim Everett, Dickerson said: “Jim by no means is any friend of mine, never was a friend of mine.”
Add Dickerson: Everett, speaking after the Rams’ 12-10 victory at New Orleans, said: “I think Eric has some problems. I think he was devastated when he left (the Rams). I feel sorry for a man who is so very unhappy. I thought we were friends when he left.”
Last add Dickerson: During the “NFL Live” interview, Dickerson said he thought he was the best running back in football today and, asked if he was the best ever, said: “I can’t make that statement. My career’s not over yet.” Said Gray: “If your career ended today, would you make that statement?” Dickerson: “Of course I would, because I think I’m the best. . . . I have the stats to prove it.”
In a segment of the interview that was not televised, Dickerson was asked if the 7-2 Rams are a better team without him.
“No matter what any of them say, it doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “They all know that with me they’re a much better team. To say or even think otherwise is crazy. But for a long time I’ve thought a lot of them needed their heads examined.”
Trivia time: Kicker Mike Lansford, who accounted for all of the Rams’ points in their victory over the Saints, was drafted on what round?
A popular Halloween costume this year? At a party at KNBC sportscaster Fred Roggin’s Studio City home Saturday night, three couples showed up as Mike Tyson and Robin Givens.
Pittsburgh quarterback Bubby Brister recently said the Steelers had a Neanderthal offense. “Why don’t we just punt on 1st down and get it over with,” he said.
Sunday, Brister told NBC’s Bob Costas: “I was just entertaining some people at a banquet.”
Said Costas: “What I want to know is, was Chuck Noll entertained?”
Brister: “No. He entertained me in his office for about an hour after that happened. . . . I was just glad to get out of there alive.”
Trivia answer: Lansford, who played at Arcadia High, Pasadena City College and the University of Washington, was not drafted. He was a free agent in 1982.
Quotebook
Bill Cayton, Tyson’s manager, after the fighter signed a promotional contract with Don King: “Don has brainwashed him as to where he sounds more like Don than he does himself. Mike’s on the rebound and did not realize what he was doing. You can’t talk to Mike.”