You ever see a guy run who looks like he's barely trying, but nobody can touch him? That was Eric Dickerson. Honestly, if you watch Eric Dickerson football highlights today, it feels like watching a glitch in a video game from the 80s. He was too tall for a running back. He stood 6-foot-3. He ran straight up, chest out, like he was out for a morning jog in the park.
Most coaches will tell you that's a death sentence. "Get low," they scream. Dickerson didn't care. He just glided.
He wore those iconic Jofa goggles and a massive neck roll that made him look more like a futuristic gladiator than a football player. But don't let the accessories fool you. When he hit the "47 Gap" play for the Los Angeles Rams, he wasn't just running through a hole. He was disappearing into the secondary.
The 2,105 Mark: A Record That Won’t Die
In 1984, Dickerson did something that shouldn't have been possible. He rushed for 2,105 yards.
Think about that for a second. We’ve had 17-game seasons now for years. We’ve had physical freaks like Adrian Peterson and Derrick Henry come within a whisper of it. Yet, Eric’s record still stands. He did it in 14 games? No, it was a 16-game schedule back then, but he actually broke O.J. Simpson's previous record in just the 15th game of the season.
He was relentless.
That year, he had twelve games where he went over 100 yards. Twelve! It basically became a routine. You’d turn on the TV, see the goggles, see the long strides, and know the other team’s linebackers were about to have a very long afternoon. He wasn't a "bruiser" in the traditional sense, even though he was 220 pounds. He was a slasher. A gazelle with a mean streak.
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What Made the Highlights So Different?
If you pull up a reel of his best plays, you’ll notice something weird about his speed. It’s deceptive.
Most fast guys look like they’re churning their legs at a million miles per hour. Think Tyreek Hill. With Dickerson, it looked like he was taking three steps to everyone else’s five. Because he was so tall and had such long legs, he covered ground in a way that fooled defenders' angles.
They thought they had him boxed in. Then, suddenly, he was five yards past them.
The Trade That Shook the World
People forget that Dickerson didn't finish his career in L.A. In 1987, there was a massive contract dispute. It ended in one of the biggest trades in sports history—a three-team deal that sent him to the Indianapolis Colts.
Did he slow down? Not really.
In his first nine games with Indy, he rushed for over 1,000 yards. He became the fastest player to ever reach 10,000 career rushing yards, hitting the milestone in just 91 games. To put that in perspective, it took the great Jim Brown 98 games.
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He was just built different.
The Playoff Game Nobody Talks About Enough
Everyone points to the 2,105-yard season, but if you want to see the peak of his powers, look at the 1985 NFC Divisional Playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Rams won 20-0. Dickerson ran for 248 yards.
That is still the NFL record for rushing yards in a single post-season game. He was carving up "America's Team" like it was a high school scrimmage. It was beautiful and brutal all at once. He had touchdown runs of 55 and 40 yards in that game, and by the fourth quarter, the Cowboys defenders looked like they wanted to be anywhere else on earth.
Why We Still Care
Nowadays, the NFL is a passing league. Running backs are treated like disposable batteries. You use them for three years and throw them away.
Dickerson came from an era where the running back was the sun that the entire offensive solar system revolved around. He carried the ball 390 times as a rookie. That’s insane. Most modern backs would crumble after 250 carries.
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He stayed upright. He stayed fast.
The Goggles and the Persona
The goggles weren't a fashion statement, by the way. He was actually quite nearsighted. He needed them to see the holes opening up. But they became his trademark. Along with the white gloves and the effortless upright gait, he looked like a superhero.
He had this vibe of "I'm better than you, and I don't even have to sweat to prove it."
That’s why his highlights still rack up millions of views. It’s the grace. It’s the fact that he was a 6-foot-3 man moving like a 5-foot-10 scatback.
How to Appreciate His Legacy Today
If you're a student of the game, don't just look at the total yardage. Look at the vision. Watch how he waits for the block to develop, then explodes.
- Watch the "47 Gap" plays: This was the bread and butter for those Rams teams.
- Observe the stride length: Count how many steps he takes from the 20-yard line to the end zone compared to the safeties chasing him.
- Check the 1983 Rookie Stats: 1,808 yards and 18 touchdowns as a kid fresh out of SMU. Still a rookie record.
The reality is, we might never see another runner like him. The game has changed. The body types have changed. But those Eric Dickerson football highlights serve as a permanent reminder of a time when one man could carry an entire franchise on his back just by outrunning everyone in the building.
Next time you're arguing about the "GOAT" running back, don't just look at the guys with the most rings. Look at the guy who made the hardest job in sports look like a walk in the park.
To really get the full picture of his dominance, you should go back and watch the full broadcast of the 1984 game against the Houston Oilers where he officially broke the record. It wasn't just about the yardage; it was about the atmosphere. The entire stadium knew he was getting the ball, and they still couldn't stop him. That's the definition of greatness.