Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson can relate to Andrew Luck being booed by Indianapolis Colts fans. Dickerson was recently on the Los Angeles sports radio show Lunchtime with Roggin and Rodney and he talked about a time when he was playing for the Colts in 1988. In the game, Dickerson was able to reach the 10,000-yard rushing mark and that led to Colts fans not only booing him, but a few of them showed their hate for him through racism.
“I’ve never forgot that,” Dickerson said. “But, the thing that really sticks out the most to me, I will never forget this … they took a black baby sitting in Indian-style position, put a stack of money on one side, watermelons on the other and me holding fried chicken in my hand with big red lips.”
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Dickerson went on to say some of his black teammates thought it was funny, but he was not amused and told his teammates “that could be you.”
“I’ve never EVER forgotten it and I never will forget it. That’s why if I don’t go back to Indy, I’m fine with that.”
Those Colts fans were wrong for what they did when Dickerson was playing. As for Colts fans now, they booed Luck because they found out he was retiring from the NFL while he was on the sidelines watching his team take on the Chicago Bears in a preseason game. Luck was going to announce his retirement on Sunday, but the news leaked and he was forced to have a press conference after the game on Saturday night.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I heard the reaction. It hurt; I’ll be honest,” Luck said during his press conference when talking about the fans booing him via ESPN.
“I certainly feel like I got my fair chance. I’m thankful for every snap. The lows and the highs, all the positive things that happened in this building that I got to be a part of. I don’t hold any resentment in that way. I do feel like I got a fair chance and I made the most of those chances. Right now, my journey just doesn’t include football moving forward and I feel so grateful. I’ll feel like a Colt forever.”
Dickerson was inducted to the Colts Ring of Honor despite not having as much love for the team as he does for Los Angles Rams, the club that drafted him. As for Luck, it might hurt now, but it’s likely the Colts will put him in the Ring of Honor as well.
