Former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Jackie Slater spent 20 seasons with the team, playing from 1976-95 and making seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and having his number retired.
Through all the years that he spent with the Rams, Slater had several talented teammates, including eight who are enshrined in Canton alongside him.
While that type of experience would normally give someone an eye for talent, Slater shared in a recent episode of “Rams Iconic” with D’Marco Farr that he didn’t believe Eric Dickerson was going to be anything special.
“[Former Rams head coach] John Robinson, he said to me ‘We’ve got a pretty good player.’ I never heard of Eric. I didn’t follow college football that much. I had no idea who Eric Dickerson was,” Slater said. “Then when I saw Eric Dickerson, I’m thinking to myself this guy he’s got the height of a wide receiver, maybe you put some weight on him and let him play tight end, but most of the good backs that I’ve ever been around and played with, they were short, explosive guys like Kyren Williams. The guys that can change direction and explode into the line of scrimmage. This guy is long. He is lanky. He is a long strider. I just don’t see how this guy is going to be to any good with the way John Robinson is talking about him.
“I remember John Robinson stopping practice a couple of times to tell him ‘You got to hit this hole.’ And, I’m thinking that’s what I expected. Par for the course. He can’t even hit the hole, and then come to find out, they put a stopwatch on Eric, and he was hitting the hole faster than anybody on that particular play, but you couldn’t see it in his effort. He was just as explosive and just as fast, and it was just so smooth. Little guys, you have to see their feet hit the ground 50 times before they cover 10 yards, and Eric was doing that in two or three steps. It was fun to see that we had that kind of a guy.”
Obviously, Dickerson went on to rushed for 13,259 yards and 90 touchdowns on 4.4 yards per attempt and catch 281 passes for an additional 2,137 yards and six scores. He also went on to make six Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That’s a tough take from Slater. Luckily for the Rams, he didn’t transition to the front office after retirement.
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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Jackie Slater reveals horrendous take he had about legendary Rams RB
Reporting by Mike Masala, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
