Former LA Rams great Eric Dickerson, who has been a football analyst in Los Angeles since 2007, said he wants to join the team in a front office capacity, especially now since the relocated from St. Louis back to Los Angeles again. Dickerson says he and the Rams have talked, but nothing has been worked out.
On Sunday the franchise will play their first game in Los Angeles since Dec. 24, 1994. It’s been nearly 8,000 days since they last hosted a regular season NFL contest in L.A.
In the early ’80s, Dickerson was shot out of an SMU cannon and spent his first five NFL seasons — four of which he made the Pro Bowl — rocking the blue and yellow with his signature goggles, Jheri Curl and living it up as one of Hollywoods most recognizable athletes.
Dickerson accumulated an unprecedented amount of rushing yards and is the fastest to gain 11,000 yards in NFL history. E-D still holds the record for rushing yards in a season with 2,105, set way back in 1984. A few have challenged the mark — Barry Sanders, Jamal Lewis, Terrell Davis, O.J. Simpson, Chris Davis and Adrian Peterson, who came the closest, rushing for 2,097 yards in 2012.
(Photo Credit:newpittsburghcourieronline.com)
Though he never won a ring with the Rams — they had some playoff success during his tenure. If Dickerson does want to join what is looking like one of the NFLs “stuck-in-the-mud-of-mediocrity” franchises, with a head coach in Jeff Fisher who gets Super Bowl coach props but hasnt won anything, E-D will have to get over the Rams embarrassing 28-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night rather quickly. He’ll also have to tone down his harsh characterization of the team’s putrid play.
On NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Dickerson called Monday night’s Week 1 showing, “An embarrassment.”
We get it. But kicking a dog while he’s down won’t endear him to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
“The city is happy,” tha Hall of Fame running back said. “You know, the one thing about Los Angeles is you got to win. That’s the No. 1 thing — you’ve got to win in that city. And what they showed Monday night was an embarrassment. As a football team, they got to pick themselves up for the Seattle Seahawks and kind of get it back together.”
Case Keenum and the Rams offense mustered just 185 total yards against a 49ers team embroiled in a QB protest controversy and picked to finish near the bottom of the NFC standings, so dont expect The LA Return to be much different.
If anybody associated with a franchise has to be patient, its the team executives who shape, mold and dictate the talent level of the team. Maybe the vocal Dickerson isn’t cut out for such a gig. He’s an ex-superstar who effortlessly dominated the most vicious NFL defenses. His patience seems to be running thin.
“I’ve been saying from Day 1 to the fans, ‘Be patient, this is a young football team,'” Dickerson said. “But you can’t live by that. They’ve been saying that for the last four, five years … but hey, you’ve got to keep some veterans on the team. You’ve got to have some leaders on that team, some veterans.”
Dickerson spoke of the disadvantages in having a young team and how moving to LA will be an even tougher tackle for them. The Rams have had the NFL’s youngest roster since 2013.
Maybe Dickersons tongue-lashing was an application for hire. He wanted everyone to know he can be tough but merciful. Looks like he has some of the answers and wants to be the guy to swoop in and takeover before it hits rock bottom.
“I think that if they’re (eventually) 2-8, it’s going to be tough,” Dickerson said. “I’m just going to be honest because in L.A. there’s a lot of things to do — you can go to the beach, you can go to baseball games, Lakers games, Hollywood.”
If anything, Dickerson doesnt have any experience with running a team, but if he joined the Rams organization, hed definitely be the biggest name and only immortal player in the building. Thats a start.
