Landon Dickerson provides the story behind his makeshift bumper
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Alabama lineman Landon Dickerson is pretty good with his hands. Earlier this season, quarterback Mac Jones said the lineman is somewhat of a handyman, stating that “you can always go to him with whatever problem you have.”
“Whether it’s a car problem or anything like that, he can fix anything,” Jones said. “So I always call Landon if I need something.”
However, Dickerson’s latest bit of repair work has come under some scrutiny. Sunday, running back Najee Harris teased his teammate, posting a photo of Dickerson’s truck which now features a railroad tie in lieu of a front bumper.
The lineman claims it’s a long story, but here’s the jist of it.
“A while back my bumper was ripped off while my truck was getting worked on, towed somewhere,” Dickerson explained. “Couldn’t really figure out what happened to it, but to be safe to me and other drivers, I decided to take it off because it was a hazard, and the railroad tie was a cost-effective method to keep some sort of bumperesque device on the front of my truck.”
While Dickerson’s most recent fix won’t be earning any beauty awards, he says handiwork has become a passion for him off the field.
“I just enjoy, I don’t know if it stems from just problem solving or just they’re fun things to figure out, they’re useful in life later on you know,” he said. “It’s just something I can tinker with that I enjoy. I guess you can call it a hobby if you want, but it’s just something that I enjoy doing in the free time that I have.”
Fortunately for Alabama, Dickerson is also pretty good at his other hobby — manhandling opposing defenders. The 6-foot-6, 325-pound center is Alabama’s leading run-blocker, earning a 90.8 grade from Pro Football Focus which ranks sixth among all offensive linemen.
After two weeks off, Dickerson and Alabama (6-0) will return to action this week as they prepares for Saturday’s 3 p.m. CT kickoff against Kentucky (3-4) inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium. While the Tide will look to shake off a bit of rust, Dickerson says that shouldn’t be a difficult fix either.
“It’s really about refining our craft and doing things until we can’t do them wrong instead of doing things until we get it right,” he said. “It’s at this point where we just really work on consistency, fundamentals, details, technique every day and just focus on getting better as players individually and as a team as a whole.”