Eric Dickerson - Raised In The Lone Star State

Eric Demetric Dickerson was born September 2, 1960, in Sealy, Texas, a small town about fifty miles west of Houston. Dickerson was raised by his great-aunt and great-uncle, Viola and Kary Dickerson, and spent the first part of his life believing Viola was his mother. Dickerson was a teenager when he discovered that his birth mother was actually a woman named Helen, whom he believed was his older sister. Helen, just seventeen when Dickerson was born, decided not to marry Dickerson's father, Richard Seal. Giving the child over to Viola seemed like the best option. Dickerson likely inherited some of his athletic ability from his father, Richard, who was a running back at Prairie View College in Texas.

Because he was terribly skinny and wore glasses, Dickerson endured teasing from his the neighborhood kids. That all changed, however, once he began playing football. Dickerson's success on the football field was almost instant. By seventh and eighth grade, Dickerson was making a name for himself as a running back. "I'll never forget our first game," Dickerson recalled in Nancy J. Nielsen's book Eric Dickerson. "I was absolutely terrified, really just running for my life, but I guess my fear was a pretty good motivator. I wound up scoring four touchdowns that day…. Suddenly people were looking at me differently. Their eyes showed respect."

Entering Sealy High School, Dickerson starred on the football and track teams, winning the state 100-yard dash championship with a lightening-quick time of 9.4 seconds. The sport he really stood out in, however, was football.

Even in high school, Dickerson's coaches could tell he had natural instincts as a running back. His senior year, Dickerson rushed for 2,642 yards and thirty-seven touchdowns to lead Sealy to the state high school Class AA championship. He was named a 1978 Parade magazine All-American.

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User Comments Add a comment…

about 1 year ago

hi eric my name is johnnie lee scott i am from columbus tx but now i live in san antonio tx eric i really enjoyed seeing and wacthing you play football for the sealy tigers i was in the 8th grade then.i play against aka big charles we call him back then charles clay . roland. and green they told me about you when ran track togeter and played football togeter back in 77" and 78"scott from columbus they were my best friends in district play, against us cardnails you was awesome eric iloved to see you run that football you was something else when you ran those sweeps right sweep left iremember scott able as yall's qb ihope you are saying this guy knows what he is talking about eric i might get the score wrong on our score when you came to play the biggest district game in 78 down in columbus the score was sealy 49 columbus 14 at halftime when you guys went into the dressing room i holler out to you you was cool eric you wave towards us all.we all knew you was going to be and great superstar . even though i am from columbus and not from sealy i was allways proud of you iplayed fullback and noseguard my self when i played every where i have went in life differnt towns and cites i have live in itold people that eric dickerson was born to play football and it was and great thing in my football years . back home to have seen you play i all ways wanted tell you in person but this is ok doing this comment .god bless you eric and may god keep you . ihope you get this message either in califoria or in sealy. iknow my e-mail address says dal cow eric i know you always hated the cowboys and you like the steelers. laugh!!! but please write me back as soon as your pr people or yourself get this. you are the only hall of famer from down home in the nfl. sign johnnie lee scott. san antonio tx.