Eagles' new kicker isn't much of a football fan

Cameron Dicker is 22 years old, which means he was 17 when Nick Foles took the Eagles on an unforgettable run in 2017.

Dicker played high school football at Lake Travis High in Austin, and Foles played across town at Westlake. Lake Travis and Westlake are conference and district rivals, so you would think Foles’ electrifying postseason run would have made quite an impression on the young kicker.

You’d be wrong.

Dicker laughed sheepishly when asked about Foles Friday.

“I honestly have not watched football much in my life,” he said. “I'm a soccer fan, and so I didn't really care too much. It was kind of like, ‘Yeah, he's there,’ and it's something you know about, but it wasn't anything that was big in my life.”

Soccer?

“Liverpool, through and through," he said.

Turns out Dicker was born in Hong Kong and spent the first 11 years of his life in Shanghai, China, where his dad worked in supply chain management.

So he can’t tell you much about watching the Super Bowl MVP from the same hometown, but he got pretty pumped talking about Premier League.

“My best friends (growing up) were from England and they’ve been Liverpool fans,” he said. “Their dad is a (Manchester) United fan and I decided I’m going with the kids.” 

Dicker may not be an American football fan, but the undefeated Eagles are depending on him to fill in for Jake Elliott for at least one game. 

Dicker, who kicked collegiately at Texas, will make his NFL debut Sunday when the Eagles face the Cards at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Elliott is dealing with a foot injury that isn’t serious but will sideline him this weekend.

Dicker is the Eagles’ third rookie mid-season emergency kicker in the last 40 years.

In 2005, Todd France played three games in place of injured David Akers in the middle of the season. France made six of seven field goals before Akers returned from his torn hamstring injury.

And in 2017, Elliott replaced Caleb Sturgis a week into the season and hasn’t missed a game since. 

But the Eagles formally ruled Elliott out on Friday, and they’ll promote Dicker from the practice squad to the game-day roster on Saturday.

Elliott’s advice for Dicker?  

“Just kind of relax, trust myself, trust the operation and just roll.”

If Dicker – who is 22 years, 154 days, old – attempts a field goal, he’ll be the youngest Eagles placekicker in 51 years, since Happy Feller, who was 22 years, 147 days, when he kicked against Washington late in the 1971 season. He was 0-for-4 in a 7-7 tie at RFK Stadium and was cut a week later.

Dicker will probably be released next week no matter how well he kicks Sunday, and he knows it.

“I'm excited, I stay ready for the opportunities and so this is just another opportunity for me,” said Dicker, who spent time earlier this year with the Rams (as a punter) and Ravens. 

“There's just an element of just like, ‘Go out there, do your thing, you've got to be confident with it. Make sure you're doing your job and then just go out there and swing. I got here doing what I do and so I just got to keep doing that.”

Dicker has been working with snapper Rick Lovato and holder Arryn Siposs since he got here, and he said it didn’t take long for the group to develop a comfort level with each other.

“It's been awesome,” he said. “Really good guys, they do a great job. I’m just excited for it. … This is as clean as I've seen, so it's one of those easy things to kind of come into and be ready to go. It's fun to kind of get back into the swing of things.”

Since he was released by the Ravens in August, Dicker has been home in Austin working out on his own and “trying to simulate live operations as much as I can.”

Dicker made 76 percent of his kicks in college but 87 percent last year as a senior. With a young kicker who’s never played a regular-season game, you worry a lot more about where he's at mentally than physically.

All these kids can kick. But who can best handle the pressure?

Nick Sirianni said that was part of the evaluation process when the Eagles brought kicking candidates in.

“We put him through a couple different things that tested (his mental toughness) and showed that for us,” he said.

“I know there’s a big game this weekend between Oklahoma and Texas, and I know he made a big-time (game-winning 40-yard) kick in that game (in 2018) and that’s one of the bigger games in college football.

“So, yeah, we were comfortable with that. If he's got to play, we're confident in him.”

The Eagles are putting their 4-0 record on the line in Arizona Sunday. And what if the game comes down to a last-minute field goal?

“It's fun,” Dicker said. “Just another game for me.”

Not like it's soccer or anything.