Four decades later, Eric Dickerson opens up about the gold Trans Am from Texas A&M
Eric Dickerson has finally come clean.
In his just-released memoir, "Watch My Smoke: The Eric Dickerson Story," written with Greg Hanlon, arguably the best SMU football player money could buy reveals that in 1979 a Texas A&M booster paid for a gold Trans Am that the Hall of Fame running back from Sealy, Texas drove off a Houston lot.
However, he drove it to Dallas to attend SMU, where he also disclosed that a Mustangs booster helped him buy a Corvette. He also said he had his pick of any color Trans Am before deciding on the gold one.
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"I’ve always said publicly that my grandparents bought me that car," said Dickerson, who also said an Aggies recruiter showed his mother a suitcase with $50,000. "My grandfather made good money from his job as a crane operator at a steel mill, and my grandma’s name is on the paperwork, so that’s technically true. But behind the scenes, A&M had agreed to reimburse her. And that, my friends, is how the notorious Trans Am was paid for."
Dickerson, who rushed for 4,450 yards and 47 touchdowns in four seasons at SMU before a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, never played a down for A&M. But to whom could the Aggies complain?
It’s part of the recruiting lore in the state that gave it its reputation in the old Southwest Conference.
"So that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but, straight from the horse’s mouth. Is that such a scandal?" Dickerson asks. "That the best player for one of the best teams in the country got a nice car? I don’t think so. I think I deserved that car – and a lot more than that."
Imagine what players like Dickerson would command in these NIL days?