Doug Smith says he no longer watches the hazy VHS tape, now nearly three decades old, on which he appears as a hulking accomplice to history.
The former Los Angeles Rams center, who made the first of his six Pro Bowls in 1984 while helping then-teammate Eric Dickerson rush for an NFL single-season-record 2,105 yards, said such game video is still pushed into the throwback VHS player by his son, Cole, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore who started for the Mission Viejo High football team in 2012. It also makes its way onto the family room TV screen when some of the Orange Coast College people-movers Smith tutors as the Pirates' veteran offensive line coach, make their periodic visits to his house for an in-season meal.
But the images of Dickerson slashing through holes Smith helped create, as well as making holes where few existed, have been more frequent in Smith's 56-year-old mind's eye in recent weeks. That's because Dickerson's historic run has been approached by Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson.