Congrats, Chargers, you've created the nickname of the year
Only three days after being signed by the Los Angeles Chargers, rookie kicker Cameron Dicker — has a great ring to it — hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired to help the Bolts beat the Atlanta Falcons, 20-17. It has all the elements of a good story — an unsigned rookie delivers with the game on the line to give his team the W. But perhaps even greater than the story is the nickname young Dicker inspired.
There have been some great kicker nicknames: Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein and Evan “Money Mac” McPherson. Who could forget Sebastian “The Polish Cannon” Janikowski? But the Chargers might have all of them beaten now that they have gifted the sports world with “Big Dicker Energy.”
This isn’t just a nickname making its way around fan message boards — yes, the Chargers do have fans — but a moniker that was tweeted out by the team’s official page:
Big Dicker Energy was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance. This was the second game-winning field goal Big Dicker Energy hit this season, but his first with L.A. Dicker made a 23-yarder in Week 5 with Philadelphia to lift the Eagles past the Cardinals 20-17. That week he was also named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, making him the first rookie kicker to ever win that accolade for two different teams, let alone in both conferences.
Whether Big Dicker Energy stays the whole year remains to be seen. L.A.’s usual placekicker, Dustin Hopkins, has been ruled out again for Sunday’s matchup with San Francisco. It’s been nearly four weeks since Hopkins strained his hamstring in a 19-16 win over Denver, where the nine-year vet hit four field goals, including the game-winner. The only reason we have Big Dicker Energy is that second-string kicker Taylor Bertolet also suffered an injury the week of the Falcons game.
Regardless of what the future holds, Cameron Dicker is the man now, and he has the Chargers sitting at 5-3 and second in the AFC West. So for at least one more week, we get to see what real Big Dicker Energy looks like.
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