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Watch My Smoke: The Eric Dickerson Story
Eric Dickerson is the record-holder for most rushing yards in a season, and his prime was the best of any running back in NFL history. Yet an aura of negativity trailed him his entire career.
His style was iconic, and vintage ‘80s: aviator goggles, Jheri curls, neck roll, boxy pads.
Eric Dickerson is the greatest player in Los Angeles Rams history and the NFL’s single season record holder for most rushing yards. In 2019, Dickerson was named to the National Football League’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. With an elegant upright running style that produced some of football’s most-watched highlights, it was said he was so smooth you couldn’t hear his pads clack as he glided past you.
But during his Hall of Fame career, his greatness was often overshadowed by his contentious disputes with Rams management about his contract. In the pre-free agency era, tensions over his exploitative contract often overshadowed his accomplishments. What’s his problem? went the familiar refrain from the media. Can’t he just shut up and run?
It’s time to reexamine how Eric Dickerson was portrayed. For the first time, he’s telling his story. And he’s not holding anything back.
His style was iconic, and vintage ‘80s: aviator goggles, Jheri curls, neck roll, boxy pads.
Eric Dickerson is the greatest player in Los Angeles Rams history and the NFL’s single season record holder for most rushing yards. In 2019, Dickerson was named to the National Football League’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. With an elegant upright running style that produced some of football’s most-watched highlights, it was said he was so smooth you couldn’t hear his pads clack as he glided past you.
But during his Hall of Fame career, his greatness was often overshadowed by his contentious disputes with Rams management about his contract. In the pre-free agency era, tensions over his exploitative contract often overshadowed his accomplishments. What’s his problem? went the familiar refrain from the media. Can’t he just shut up and run?
It’s time to reexamine how Eric Dickerson was portrayed. For the first time, he’s telling his story. And he’s not holding anything back.
205 pages, Hardcover
Published January 18, 2022
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143 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 13, 2022
Easily the most bluntly honest memoir I’ve ever read. As a huge NFL fan, dealing with the dark side of the league in terms of its treatment of players and the long term health effects of playing the sport, it’s really difficult sometimes to mesh my fandom with the sport with the discomfort of knowing what players put their body through. Dickerson, one of the greatest players of all time, doesn’t hold anything back with his descriptions of the game. He loves football, but even admits late in the book that taking away the money he would not do it again knowing now the consequences to his body, brain, and health.
Eric Dickerson always had a contentious relationship with team ownerships and the sports media, especially over contract disputes. This memoir is a callout of the racism he experienced in that time, from team owners and management that would refer to (majority Black) players like animals to sports media using many dog whistle terms to skewer him in newspaper columns (“Eric the Ingrate”, etc) for holding over contract disputes. The opening paragraph of the book recounts a story of the Colts owner using the N-word a Christmas party to him and other players. The casual racism of rich mostly white ownership to majority minority players is something he contends has changed very little in the NFL, despite the NFL trying to portray itself differently (I’d say he’s right considering the lawsuit that was just filed against the NFL over their failure of their lack of diversity in coaching)
While NFL players can make huge sums of money, the real moneymakers are management who oversee a billion dollar business. When players don’t get big contracts, one injury can take them out permanently, and they can lose out on a fortune. In the early 80s, before free agency, players had very little autonomy in their contracts and what teams they could sign with. Many players, especially young ones, get taken advantage of with bad contracts where teams can take away the money over a major injury or bad decision. That’s exactly what happened to Dickerson as he broke NFL records in rushing yards, as a major chunk of his contract was a “forgivable” loan that the Rams chose not to forgive. The NFL often brings in these players with huge talent and eats them alive.
It was a fascinating read that, if you’re a football fan, will force some reflection on how you enjoy the sport and how you treat the players who bring entertainment to your living room every Sunday. It isn’t a memoir to make the author or the reader feel good, and that’s what makes it great.
Eric Dickerson always had a contentious relationship with team ownerships and the sports media, especially over contract disputes. This memoir is a callout of the racism he experienced in that time, from team owners and management that would refer to (majority Black) players like animals to sports media using many dog whistle terms to skewer him in newspaper columns (“Eric the Ingrate”, etc) for holding over contract disputes. The opening paragraph of the book recounts a story of the Colts owner using the N-word a Christmas party to him and other players. The casual racism of rich mostly white ownership to majority minority players is something he contends has changed very little in the NFL, despite the NFL trying to portray itself differently (I’d say he’s right considering the lawsuit that was just filed against the NFL over their failure of their lack of diversity in coaching)
While NFL players can make huge sums of money, the real moneymakers are management who oversee a billion dollar business. When players don’t get big contracts, one injury can take them out permanently, and they can lose out on a fortune. In the early 80s, before free agency, players had very little autonomy in their contracts and what teams they could sign with. Many players, especially young ones, get taken advantage of with bad contracts where teams can take away the money over a major injury or bad decision. That’s exactly what happened to Dickerson as he broke NFL records in rushing yards, as a major chunk of his contract was a “forgivable” loan that the Rams chose not to forgive. The NFL often brings in these players with huge talent and eats them alive.
It was a fascinating read that, if you’re a football fan, will force some reflection on how you enjoy the sport and how you treat the players who bring entertainment to your living room every Sunday. It isn’t a memoir to make the author or the reader feel good, and that’s what makes it great.
January 19, 2022
I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
With his unusual upright running style and prescription sports goggles he wore underneath his football helmet, Eric Dickerson hit the NFL in 1983 like a one-man alien invasion. Watch My Smoke is Dickerson’s life story.
The story begins with Dickerson’s childhood in Sealy, Texas, where he began playing football in 7th grade and fell in love with the feeling of running with the football. In high school, he became one of the nation’s top recruits, eventually turning away from several major programs to play for Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Although Dickerson was presented as the public face of the recruiting irregularities that led to the SMU football program receiving the so-called ‘death sentence’ from the NCAA, those irregularities encompassed far more players than Dickerson himself.
Starting with his rookie year, Dickerson assumed a massive workload for the Los Angeles Rams, totaling over 400 touches per season in multiple years while setting the rookie rushing record in his first season and then shattering the NFL rushing record in his second year. While reaching the playoffs multiple times in L.A., the Ram’s lack of a quarterback who provided a credible passing threat kept the team from reaching the Super Bowl. A contract impasse eventually led to a trade to the Indianapolis Colts, where Dickerson again excelled while helping the team reach the playoffs in multiple years, but the lack of a balanced offense again prevented his team from advancing into the deeper rounds.
Dickerson remains one of the greatest rushers in NFL history, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Today, he works for the Rams and is a devoted family man.
I gave Watch My Smoke five stars on Goodreads. It presents Dickerson as not only a football player, but also as a complex man who has evolved and matured since his playing days to become who he is today.
With his unusual upright running style and prescription sports goggles he wore underneath his football helmet, Eric Dickerson hit the NFL in 1983 like a one-man alien invasion. Watch My Smoke is Dickerson’s life story.
The story begins with Dickerson’s childhood in Sealy, Texas, where he began playing football in 7th grade and fell in love with the feeling of running with the football. In high school, he became one of the nation’s top recruits, eventually turning away from several major programs to play for Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Although Dickerson was presented as the public face of the recruiting irregularities that led to the SMU football program receiving the so-called ‘death sentence’ from the NCAA, those irregularities encompassed far more players than Dickerson himself.
Starting with his rookie year, Dickerson assumed a massive workload for the Los Angeles Rams, totaling over 400 touches per season in multiple years while setting the rookie rushing record in his first season and then shattering the NFL rushing record in his second year. While reaching the playoffs multiple times in L.A., the Ram’s lack of a quarterback who provided a credible passing threat kept the team from reaching the Super Bowl. A contract impasse eventually led to a trade to the Indianapolis Colts, where Dickerson again excelled while helping the team reach the playoffs in multiple years, but the lack of a balanced offense again prevented his team from advancing into the deeper rounds.
Dickerson remains one of the greatest rushers in NFL history, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Today, he works for the Rams and is a devoted family man.
I gave Watch My Smoke five stars on Goodreads. It presents Dickerson as not only a football player, but also as a complex man who has evolved and matured since his playing days to become who he is today.
January 29, 2022
Eric Dickerson was known has one half of the pony express while he was attending Southern Methodist University, and this is his story from his time of growing up in Sealy, Texas yes that Sealy you know the mattresses. He develops a love football from his first junior high football where he scored six touchdowns this continues through high school and the recruiting process and what brings him to SMU and yes if you remember the stories about the Trans Am car, he answers about what happen along what claimed to be the downfall of SMU, remember they received the NCAA death penalty. You follow along as he is drafted by the LA Rams and his eventual trade to the Indianapolis Colts and his acceptance into the hall of fame. I will always remember how he looked in that ram's uniform and those sport glasses. Even though he had such a story career this book did not live up to it at best this book was average and definitely sophomoric at times. Mr. Dickerson has some very strong opinions and accusations he definitely does not sugar coat it, but you will have to read and decide if you agree. This a quick read. Thank you to Edelweiss and Consortium Book Sales for an ARC for a fair and honest review.
March 11, 2022
This book was received as an ARC from Consortium Book Sales & Distribution - Haymarket Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
The NFL is in our blood and we are very familiar with Eric Dickerson and his performance with the LA Rams and his relationship with the media and how he was the most decorative player to this day. I also remember my family hating him because he was so cocky but, after reading this book, I now know what really went on and the person he really was where I was judging him based on the media's image of him and his portrayal. He got really personal with some of his life events and how he was able to remain mentally strong was very admirable. People can relate to his experiences which makes this book not just for the sports fans.
We will consider adding this title to our Biography collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
The NFL is in our blood and we are very familiar with Eric Dickerson and his performance with the LA Rams and his relationship with the media and how he was the most decorative player to this day. I also remember my family hating him because he was so cocky but, after reading this book, I now know what really went on and the person he really was where I was judging him based on the media's image of him and his portrayal. He got really personal with some of his life events and how he was able to remain mentally strong was very admirable. People can relate to his experiences which makes this book not just for the sports fans.
We will consider adding this title to our Biography collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
February 16, 2022
Eric Dickerson wore #29 to because it hadn't been done. He wore a neck brace because it looked cool. He wore goggles even when they weren't cool. He ran upright. He demanded his money when he was getting underpaid. He lays out the racism in the NFL and the exploitation in the NCAA. He's outspoken and people didn't like that... but I did. All my favorites have had a sense of social justice.
He talks about the briefcase of cash. He talks about SMU and Craig James. He talks about the Trans Am. He talks about being defiant to coaches who threatened him.
Dickerson is one of the greatest RBs to ever play, and he frankly states he wishes his records never get broken. I find that hilariously refreshing. I got interested because he did an interview with Dave Zirin.
I don't read a lot of memoirs, but I'm really glad I read this one. Any sports fan will love it.
He talks about the briefcase of cash. He talks about SMU and Craig James. He talks about the Trans Am. He talks about being defiant to coaches who threatened him.
Dickerson is one of the greatest RBs to ever play, and he frankly states he wishes his records never get broken. I find that hilariously refreshing. I got interested because he did an interview with Dave Zirin.
I don't read a lot of memoirs, but I'm really glad I read this one. Any sports fan will love it.
April 30, 2022
Since I was born in 1979, I remember Eric playing on the NFL as a kid but not that well. I definitely wasn’t versed on how the media treated him when he held out for more pay following the amazing start of his career including setting the season yardage record for rushing. It’s a shame he couldn’t have been on a team that had more talent around him and gotten a Super Bowl ring. Good read to learn more about his rise to NFL Star along with some life lessons and his continuing work to support NFL retirees. Having said that there seem to be a lot of biographical releases that are pretty damn short, this book included as it’s just over 200 pages. His story is definitely worth getting out there but it seems like there is more to his story that could have been elaborated on.
February 15, 2022
So he say its his story 🤔? Then why crap on your family members that was there from the start. This book is a therapy session gone wrong. Its full of lies mixed in with truth. If your going to tell the story...make sure you can back it up. Yes people know you as the great Eric Dickerson but how about the cold blooded son who cut his mother from his life because of a woman. He wasn't talking to his mom Helen for a year before she died. She tried to call him the night before she died but he wouldn't answer his phone. Next call was from a relative telling him she died. You are a cold blooded man. Tell the truth and really set yourself free. Disgusting human 😒
December 30, 2022
Couldn't get into this one as much. Although some of his gripes are reasonable, the book is just complaint after complaint after complaint. A lot of legit racist complaints, but some where I had to wonder. I wish the book was a little more about football and Dickerson's career. I get the feeling that while Dickerson was a great player, he was also a little full of himself. I did like the sections about him playing football with the Rams in the mid 80's with the Rams and then later with the Colts, but thought there wasn't enough of that information.
February 28, 2022
I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, and enjoyed it a great deal. While Dickerson doesn't totally harp on the racism he encountered, he doesn't hesitate to call it out. Along with other memoirs and personal accounts, it testifies to the personal and structural barriers to equality that still exist in our country.
September 25, 2024
I believe it is a good book because it shows what the title is about. The title is already spoiling what the book is going to be about. The book shows what Eric went through and how he dealt with it. He showed it by going past the defenders and standing up for himself to the media. The craziest part is that everyone is watching him do this. The first four pages should pull you in.
November 27, 2022
This was a surprisingly good book! A lot on race and racism perspectives. His whole life story. Cool stuff on Being young, black and famous in LA! Perspectives on why and how the Rams go relegated to second fiddle in LA in the 1980s. Teammates. Coaches. I wish he’d have come to DC in 1987!
February 5, 2022
Overall good book, not what a fully expected.
February 28, 2022
Very candid book by a legendary football player. Short and interesting, which made for a fast read. 4+
August 12, 2022
Great Book
Eric Dickerson tells his story. From Sealy, TX to SMU, to the NFL. Must read for any NFL Fan to have.
Eric Dickerson tells his story. From Sealy, TX to SMU, to the NFL. Must read for any NFL Fan to have.
February 10, 2023
This book has a lot of raw emotion and an honesty you have to respect. It was nice to finally hear Eric’s perspective.
February 17, 2025
Don't know if you'll find a more honest assessment of one's athletic career from an accomplished professional athlete.
November 24, 2025
Excellent read. Good insights on racism, front offices, and what players and retired players deal with.
June 9, 2023
Watch My Smoke was an honest and blunt autobiography from a man, Eric Dickerson, who entertained millions of NFL football fans across North America as a member of four different teams from 1983 to 1993. For years I had been waiting for Dickerson to write a book about his life on and off the field and that wish came true in 2022, almost 20 years after he retired from the league.
One of the main things I appreciated about this book was that Dickerson was forthcoming or just plain honest about the subjects he wrote about in this book. And those subjects included his humble beginnings in Sealy, Texas. His biological and stepparents. Some greedy and evil half-sisters of his. His high school football career. His career at Southern Methodist University. His NFL career. His daughter. His kids and his current girlfriend Penny. This book was more than an autobiography for Dickerson, it was a therapeutic experience for him as well as a venting exercise for him.
My favorite part of this book was when Dickerson talked about his NFL career, especially the period when he played for the Los Angeles Rams (1983-1987) and Indianapolis Colts (1987-1991). In the parts of the book where he talked about the Rams in particular, I liked how he gave small stories on certain members of the Rams like Jackie Slater, Doug Smith, Dennis Harrah, and others.
Then when he got to the Colts period of his career, he did a good job of describing what it felt like to live in Indianapolis as a Black man (he did that too with the Rams when he was living in Orange County); his distaste for late Colts owner Bob Irsay who he described as a racist; and what he felt about some of his Colts teammates such as Ray Donaldson, Kevin Call, Jeff George, Chris Hinton, and others.
I think the best part of the book was Chapter 11 which was called Eric the Ingrate. In that chapter he not only discussed his on the field action as a member of the Rams, but he also went in on some of the Rams' Orange County fans who came at him behind his back and in Anaheim Stadium with racist overtones just because he wanted more money. And for the record, he deserved to be compensated waaaaaay more than he was for being the best running back in the NFL from 1983 to 1984. In that chapter and others, I'm so glad Dickerson went in on former Rams general manager John Shaw, because that man did Dickerson and countless Rams dirty in that 1985 to 1989 period.
In closing, Watch My Smoke was about more than the Dickerson's pro football career. In this book you had stories about human emotion. Stories about how people treat one another. Stories about using your own family members for you own financial gain. A high-ranking NFL employee (John Shaw) abusing their power or thinking football players are just machines and not human beings with feelings, emotions, and dreams. I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad that I read it.
One of the main things I appreciated about this book was that Dickerson was forthcoming or just plain honest about the subjects he wrote about in this book. And those subjects included his humble beginnings in Sealy, Texas. His biological and stepparents. Some greedy and evil half-sisters of his. His high school football career. His career at Southern Methodist University. His NFL career. His daughter. His kids and his current girlfriend Penny. This book was more than an autobiography for Dickerson, it was a therapeutic experience for him as well as a venting exercise for him.
My favorite part of this book was when Dickerson talked about his NFL career, especially the period when he played for the Los Angeles Rams (1983-1987) and Indianapolis Colts (1987-1991). In the parts of the book where he talked about the Rams in particular, I liked how he gave small stories on certain members of the Rams like Jackie Slater, Doug Smith, Dennis Harrah, and others.
Then when he got to the Colts period of his career, he did a good job of describing what it felt like to live in Indianapolis as a Black man (he did that too with the Rams when he was living in Orange County); his distaste for late Colts owner Bob Irsay who he described as a racist; and what he felt about some of his Colts teammates such as Ray Donaldson, Kevin Call, Jeff George, Chris Hinton, and others.
I think the best part of the book was Chapter 11 which was called Eric the Ingrate. In that chapter he not only discussed his on the field action as a member of the Rams, but he also went in on some of the Rams' Orange County fans who came at him behind his back and in Anaheim Stadium with racist overtones just because he wanted more money. And for the record, he deserved to be compensated waaaaaay more than he was for being the best running back in the NFL from 1983 to 1984. In that chapter and others, I'm so glad Dickerson went in on former Rams general manager John Shaw, because that man did Dickerson and countless Rams dirty in that 1985 to 1989 period.
In closing, Watch My Smoke was about more than the Dickerson's pro football career. In this book you had stories about human emotion. Stories about how people treat one another. Stories about using your own family members for you own financial gain. A high-ranking NFL employee (John Shaw) abusing their power or thinking football players are just machines and not human beings with feelings, emotions, and dreams. I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad that I read it.
November 16, 2022
In your face! That is a good way to describe the tone of this autobiography of Eric Dickerson. And I don’t mean that in a bad way.
He openly talks about how big NCAA schools, including SMU, paid players to sign with the team. It was on open “secret”. And he is angry SMU got unfairly penalized when it was the norm for all schools. He says Texas A&M brought a bag cash with $30,000 to get him to sign with the school.
Racism is a theme that runs throughout both in college (SMU being mostly white) and in the NFL. He clearly articulates the problems with racism keeping black coaches from NFL head coaching opportunities.
He talks about NFL players being commodities that sacrifice their bodies, which is why he often held out for more money. He wanted to make what he could while he could and being one of the best running backs ever felt he deserved to be compensated as such.
Throughout his career the press painted Eric Dickerson as a malcontent. This book tells you where he’s coming from. While his brashness might rub some the wrong way, it strikes me as honest and telling it like it is.
He openly talks about how big NCAA schools, including SMU, paid players to sign with the team. It was on open “secret”. And he is angry SMU got unfairly penalized when it was the norm for all schools. He says Texas A&M brought a bag cash with $30,000 to get him to sign with the school.
Racism is a theme that runs throughout both in college (SMU being mostly white) and in the NFL. He clearly articulates the problems with racism keeping black coaches from NFL head coaching opportunities.
He talks about NFL players being commodities that sacrifice their bodies, which is why he often held out for more money. He wanted to make what he could while he could and being one of the best running backs ever felt he deserved to be compensated as such.
Throughout his career the press painted Eric Dickerson as a malcontent. This book tells you where he’s coming from. While his brashness might rub some the wrong way, it strikes me as honest and telling it like it is.
April 3, 2023
Almost seemed to be two different stories. Overall tone of the book is typical angry athlete who felt he didn’t get paid enough or get his due. Eric Dickerson’s career was basically the entire story, with his family, other than his mom, being an afterthought. The recruiting to SMU was interesting but not enough to carry the book. As nearly an afterthought, Dickerson goes into his relationship with his daughter, who was born during the Rams years. Even the title of the book, which is supposedly so important to his life, is not even referred to u tip the book was nearly finished. Some interesting parts, but basically just okay.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews