Eric Dickerson has doubled down on his conflict with his former team and says it was Jeff Fisher who personally told him he could not be on the sidelines at Rams games.
Dickerson, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and star running back with the LA Rams in the ’80s, said on his radio show Monday that he was banned from being on the sidelines from Rams games. Dickerson said his criticism of the team led to him being told by Rams’ upper management that he was not welcome on the sidelines for games. It’s important to note that the team didn’t just reach out to him out of nowhere, but in response to Dickerson, who already had a sideline pass for games, putting in a request with the team to have two friends accompany him on the sidelines at the game.
After the conflict made headlines Monday, Rams executive vice president Kevin Demoff tweeted that Dickerson was not banned. He said that he reached out to the former running back to clear things up.
All Rams alumni, and especially @EricDickerson, are always welcome at our games and practices.
— Kevin Demoff (@kdemoff) November 28, 2016
I have reached out to Eric to see where a miscommunication may have occurred & to clear up any confusion over his presence at games.
— Kevin Demoff (@kdemoff) November 28, 2016
Then on his radio show Monday, Fisher denied Dickerson’s comments about the supposed ban.
Fisher on Dickerson's supposed Rams-game ban: "I don't know where that's coming from. … We welcome the alums."
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) November 29, 2016
So what really happened? Later on Monday night, Dickerson told “The Jason Smith Show” that he got a phone call from Fisher telling him he wasn’t welcome on the sidelines at Rams games. Dickerson said Fisher told him that because he didn’t like what Dickerson was saying about Fisher and the Rams on the radio.
“He talked to me and said we’re not going to [give you and your friends the passes]. ‘The players feel uncomfortable with you on the sidelines. As long as I’m head coach here, you can come to the games, but you’re not welcome on the sidelines. The players feel uncomfortable with it,'” Dickerson recalled Fisher saying on the phone to him.
Dickerson says he made it clear to Fisher that despite the request for the sideline passes, he’s not the kind of person who will ask for handouts. He also told Fisher that he wouldn’t temper his criticism of the team. Instead, he told the head coach that he would go along with the sideline ban.
“I said ‘you don’t ever have to worry about me ever coming to a game again. I don’t want anybody feeling uncomfortable with me on the sidelines. I said, ‘as long as you’re the head coach, you don’t ever have to worry about me coming to a Rams game again.’ How dare you have the audacity to call me with that nonsense? Like I told him, I played for that team. That’s my football team.”
As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Anyone reporting that Dickerson was banned from games by the Rams is leaving out an important detail; he was banned from the sidelines — an area of special access — but not games. Earlier stories also omitted that Dickerson wanted passes for his buddies. But for Fisher to deny knowing where Dickerson’s comments are coming from when he’s supposedly the one who handed out the order is comical. And if Fisher doesn’t turn things around soon with the 4-7 team, Dickerson will definitely outlast the head coach when it comes to the Rams.
