BALTIMORE -- Curtis Dickey, the Baltimore Colts No. 1 draft choice in 1980 and the man who was supposed to help the team's anaemic running attack, says he wants to be traded.
Dickey told reporters Thursday that racial problems were at the core of a dispute with quarterback Bert Jones that has simmered since Jones scolded the running back on the field during last Sunday's 41-14 loss to the New York Jets.
Dickey said he has not talked to Jones since then and doesn't plan to.
'What's there to say? I'm not the first one he's hurt and I won't be the last. I'll talk to him on the field only,' he said.
Dickey is in the second year of a three-year, $1 million contract and said he would talk to his business agent about the possibility of playing for another NFL team next season. The Colts are 1-9 and have lost nine straight games.
Jones, in his ninth season with the Colts, has downplayed the incident all week and denied the idea that the dispute with Dickey may have racial overtones.
But Dickey said the racial aspect of the problem has 'probably been around all along.'
During Sunday's game, Dickey fumbled the first time he carried the ball, then was held for no gain and failed to block for Jones on a roll-out pass pattern. Itwas then that Jones waved his arms at Dickey and told him to either block or go out for the pass.
Coach Mike McCormack took Dickey out of the game after Jones' outburst and the back stayed on the bench the rest of the contest.
