Cameron Dicker Keeps Eagles' Awards Streak Alive
Imagine bringing in a temporary employee to your place of business and he does such a bang-up job that he is named the employee of the week.
That is sort of the case with Eagles kicker Cameron Dicker, who kept alive the team’s streak of having players named players of the week, Dicker was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week on Wednesday morning.
Zech McPhearson won the conference’s special teams player of the week after Week 1. Between him and Dicker, the Eagles picked up three defensive player of the week winners – CB Darius Slay, Brandon Graham, and Haason Reddick.
The Eagles are just the second team to win at least one Player of the Week award in each of the first 5 weeks of a season, joining the 1991 Bills.
Philadelphia is also the first team since the 2005 Bears (Weeks 8-12) to win Player of the Week honors in five consecutive weeks.
Brought in on the Tuesday before the Week 5 matchup between the Eagles and Cardinals, Dicker made both his field goal attempts, including one in the final two minutes that served as the difference in a 20-17 victory, made both his PATs, and consistently drilled his kickoffs into the end zone.
Both his field goals were the only points the Eagles scored in the second half - a 42-yard make in the third quarter and a 23-yarder with 1:45 to go in the game.
Dicker won a tryout against East Carolina’s Jake Verity and was added to the practice squad days before the game.
He earned a weekend callup when kicker Jake Elliott was ruled out with a right ankle injury.
“He went through that whole tryout process on Tuesday we had right there, then obviously getting him comfortable with the whole operation and everything,” said Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay.
“So, it was just a weekly process. He was out there Thursday with the field goal unit. He was calm, cool, collected. Regardless of the situation, I thought Cam did an excellent job throughout the week of practice getting prepared for it.
“Then come Saturday and Sunday, you talk to him, and he's just very cool, like he doesn't go high or low. So, it was actually really cool to see him go out there and perform like he did.”
Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who the Eagles will play on Sunday night in primetime, was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week and Saints TE Taysom Hill was the offensive player of the week.
As for Dicker, like any temporary employee, his run with the Eagles will come to and as soon as Elliott is healthy enough to return.
He did enough, though, that another team – maybe even the Cardinals, whose kicker was unable to make a 43-yard field goal to send the game into overtime with 20 seconds to play – could come calling.
Whatever happens, Dicker will leave having helped the Eagles win a game in what, so far, is an undefeated season.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
