Dickerson Doesn’t Like Being a Half-Back : Raiders: He doesn’t want to complain, but he speaks out after rushing for more than 100 yards for the second game in a row.
Eric Dickerson has always run.
With his legs, he has run into the NFL record book.
With his mouth, he has often run into nothing but trouble.
But not this year.
Not as a Raider.
Coming from the Indianapolis Colts in an off-season trade, Dickerson has been a model citizen from his first day in silver and black.
He wasn’t about to tell Raider Coach Art Shell to go run 47 Gap, as he once suggested about Ram Coach John Robinson.
Dickerson, often embroiled in controversy during his days with the Rams and Colts, wasn’t about to get involved in all the controversies swirling around the Raiders this season, from their choice of a quarterback to their use of their running backs to their decisions on an offensive game plan.
When the Raiders gave him the ball, Dickerson ran. When they gave it to Marcus Allen or Nick Bell, Dickerson shut up and watched.
And gradually, it got better for Dickerson. Slowly, he adjusted to the Raider system, learned the blocking patterns and found himself getting the ball more often.
At least in the first half.
Several weeks ago, the Raiders relegated Allen to third string.
Dickerson was their guy, they said.
But it hasn’t worked out quite that way.
Two games ago, against the Denver Broncos, Dickerson had a season-high 107 yards rushing in 16 carries. But he had 99 of those yards and 13 of those carries by halftime.
Sunday night against the San Diego Chargers, Dickerson wound up with 103 yards in 17 carries. But he had only one carry for three yards after halftime.
The circumstances of the two games were vastly different, but his benching was understandable in both cases.
The Raiders led the Broncos at the half, 17-0, en route to a 24-0 victory. The second half offered a good opportunity to give Bell, the second-year man, some work.
The Raiders trailed the Chargers at the half, 21-3, en route to a 27-3 defeat. The Raiders needed to go to the air in the second half if they hoped to catch up.
And when the Raiders pass, they want Allen, considered the better blocker and receiver, back there.
All of this logic is not lost on Dickerson. But neither is the fact that he is the No. 2 rusher in NFL history behind Walter Payton. And Dickerson knows he wouldn’t have gained 13,055 yards as a 30-minute player.
All he can do is hold his tongue when reporters encircle him after a game and mutter under his breath:
I will not make waves.
I will not make waves.
I will not make waves.
But Sunday night, after gaining 100 yards by the half against a team that was giving up a league-low average of 79.4 yards rushing per game, Dickerson let some of his feelings out.
“I hate it,” he said of his part-time duty. “I know this was a different game and we had to throw the ball. You do what you got to do.
“But if I could get a full game, I could get 200 yards. I know I could get 200. I have to get the football to be productive.
“When you know you are only going to play a half, you’re rushed to do what you can do. You know you’ve got to get it done quick. I’m always ready to play four quarters, but I know it’s only going to be a half.”
When he was at his peak with the Rams, gaining 200 yards in a game was not out of the question for Dickerson, who holds the NFL record of 2,105 yards in a season.
That was eight years ago. Some said that at 32, Dickerson was well past his prime.
And indeed, in his early outings with the Raiders, the old acceleration was nowhere in evidence.
But Sunday night, whether turning a corner or slashing through the middle of the line, Dickerson was making all the right moves again.
That’s what makes his plight all the more frustrating.
But, he insists, that won’t be reflected in his performances.
“The rest of the season, I’m going to be ready to play, no matter what happens,” he said. “I like to play.”
Controversy? This Eric Dickerson runs from the mere mention of it.
