In this exclusive interview, Texas native and LA Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker shares his NFL journey, faith, community impact, and why he’ll always call Texas home.

The rain subsided just in time for us to meet with Cameron Dicker, leaving much of Spicewood, Texas, under a soft grey overcast. He joined us at Cypress Valley, where spring rains have made much of the enchanting camp and treehouse grounds vibrant with green. For the famed UT and LA Chargers kicker and his fiancée, this place is home.

Raised just minutes away, Cameron credits the Lake Travis community as his foundation. Later, as he sat with TLM near the banks of Lake Travis, cooled by a gentle breeze under a canopy of an old oak tree, he reflected on faith, purpose, and why he’ll always come back to Texas.

Besides family, what brings you back to Lake Travis?

I think just the peace of being around water. I’ve been blessed to be in California, near the water. So being here, growing up around the water, there’s just a great community of people that have kind of shaped me into who I am. And then the church that I’ve come to know the Lord with, and been able to continue to help with, is here.

You got started with soccer. Do you still play?

For fun. I recently played in the Alex Morgan and Mia Hamm charity soccer game, and that was like the coolest thing of my life because they’re both legends. There are a couple of Premier League ex-players, like Stu Holden, Breck Shea, Alexi Lawless, and Jimmy Conrad, who played in it. It was pretty sweet. I kind of balled out. I was on the team with Alex Morgan. I played her a through ball, and I hit it way too hard. I felt bad. And she just stopped running, haha. I was like, “That’s on me.”

You have the game-winning field goal from a famous Red River rivalry game. Can you describe how you felt at that moment?

Leading up to the kick, I kind of black out when I go out on the field. I remember there was also the bit before where I winked at my teammate, Joseph. I try to keep it lighthearted in those moments because at the end of the day, it’s a game. I remind myself of that and try to have fun through all those moments. 

For me, I know I’m loved regardless of what happens. So, if I miss it, there should be a bunch of fans who don’t love me. To be very honest with you, I don’t care if they love me or not. I’m not doing it for other people. I do it because it’s a way I can honor God with a gift I’ve had, and I know my family loves me regardless of what’s going on. So that opportunity is just a way to remind myself of that, and I’m doing this for my teammates, my family, and for God at the end of the day. As long as those people are happy with me and they know the work I’ve put in, kicking kind of just becomes easy. 

So running out on the field, nothing was going on in my mind. Literally just blank. I remember kicking. We operated super-fast, so a normal field goal up time is like 1.3 seconds from snap to kick. We got that kickoff at like 1.09, which doesn’t seem like much, but that’s a significant difference because that kick should have been blocked. Seeing the pictures after it was like, damn, I don’t know how that wasn’t blocked. And then I ended up playing with Kenneth Murray, who was at OU, who was the guy who should have blocked it, and he didn’t jump. And so I got to make fun of him when we were on the Chargers together.

Do you ever play with some of those OU rivalry players?

Oh yeah. My very first game in the NFL was with the Eagles, and Jalen Hurts, post-game, said, “You know, maybe something good can come out of Texas.” But it’s cool once you’re in the NFL, you have those fun rivalries where you talk trash with guys in the locker room. But everybody also knows what it took to get there, so it’s not like a crazy thing.

From that moment, you go undrafted, and you bounce around between a few teams. Were there any moments where you felt like this was going to happen? How did you remain so resilient?

When I got signed to the Rams, I was kind of told that I was going to back up their punter and kicker that year because both were really good guys. Matt Gay just came off an All-Pro year and so I was kicking and punting. And they kind of liked me as a punter. A lot. And I was doing well. I thought I was punting very well and could punt in the NFL. But when they cut me. I was literally sleeping on a random Tuesday after our first preseason game. It was a day off. And my phone started vibrating. They said, “Hey, Cameron, you need to come in and meet with Les and Sean, the GM and head coach.” And I was like, Damn, they’re cutting away today. My parents were in town staying at a friend’s house in Newport, and I had to call them on my way to the facility. I said, “I got good news and bad news. Good news, I’m coming to hang out with you guys for the week. Bad news, I’m cut.”

It was kind of funny showing up there because your parents don’t know how to react to the news like that. And for me, it was a bummer, but I was hopeful for another opportunity. There was a lot of prayer that went into my decision to pursue the NFL or to stay at Texas for another year, because I had an opportunity to stay for one more year. So I trusted that and leaned back on my faith, thinking, Hey, this is happening. I know it’s going to be okay because I’m trusting Your plan with this. Let’s just focus, and I’ll keep working. And if the door opens, I need to be ready for it.

So I stayed ready for the doors to be open. I ended up going to the Ravens for the last preseason game. I showed up on Friday at noon, had a workout at 4 p.m., signed at 5 p.m., went to the hotel at 6 p.m., got introduced to the team, played the next day at 6 p.m., and then flew home Sunday morning. I was at home for four weeks, living out of a suitcase, ready for a phone call. Then the Eagles called during week four on a Tuesday. I flew out while on my way to a concert. I was like, “Mom, I need you to take me to the airport.”

How do you like your new home in LA?

I love it. It’s hard to beat beach life. I get to live in a vacation home, basically. I live there year-round and enjoy it during the season. Yeah, it’s a hard life to beat–-being able to live near the beach and go down and enjoy the water and the weather there. But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, I’m going to move back to Texas.

Why is that?

I just think Texas is an awesome place to raise your kids at the end of the day. I want my kids to be in Texas and grow up here. I think the South has a different level of respect for things that I love. Saying yes, ma’am, and yes, sir. Even in California, if I say yes, ma’am or yes, sir, people are like, “Oh, you’re from the south or something.” And it’s like, really? That’s a pretty normal but respectful thing to say to people. They kind of mock you for it in a way at times. But being able to have a foundation of good people around you is what Texas brings you. I think it’s a beautiful area . . . you can get hot in the summers, but you just find ways to deal with it.

Can’t go wrong with the BBQ either.

Oh, low key, I grew up going to Rudy’s so much. I think Rudy’s is good, just like a staple. It’s always easy. Good breakfast tacos. And just a quick stop. I like bringing people there because it’s also like you just pull into a gas station, and people who aren’t from here are like, “What the hell are we doing?” Then they’re like, “This is good barbecue.” It’s a fun spot. Terry Black’s is obviously a good one. I’d say Terry Black’s like my favorite. I like Rudy’s. And then Opie’s out here is pretty fun to go to. They have butter beans you can scoop in your little Styrofoam bowl. And the cobbler! Love some cobbler. I’m more of a sweets guy. I like the sweet side of BBQ more than the meat.

You were nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, which is a huge deal because you’ve only been with the Chargers for such a small period of time. It shows the kind of impact that you had on them. Please tell us about your community involvement and the causes that you support.

I started getting more involved in the community when I first got to the NFL. I’d done some stuff at Texas and enjoyed it. I served at church, did fun things, helping with kids. That’s kind of where my passion’s been, serving kids and making sure kids have fun with what they’re doing. But my friend’s dad, Chris Lozano, told me while we were out golfing, “Come ride with me for a little bit.” And I was like, “Oh boy.” He said, “You are blessed to be a blessing to others. God’s given you money and time. It may be to help somebody else. So make sure, with the time you have and the money you have, you’re doing something for people.” It changed my mind from when I have free time, to saying yes to every single thing that gets brought to me if it’s community-related. Why wouldn’t I go do this? I have the time to serve people, and I think that’s the most valuable thing that people can do, is just spend time with others. Money’s awesome for people, but at the end of the day, I think if you had to choose between money and time, a lot of people would say time’s more important for making somebody feel valued.

For me, it’s been finding ways to help people feel valued. And so, I started my foundation Wholeheartedly last June. The whole idea for Wholeheartedly: I want to be wholeheartedly involved in every conversation I have when I’m at events, when I’m doing things, just because I want that person to feel like they’re the only person in the world right now when I’m talking to them; that they know that I’m wholeheartedly involved in wanting to be in their lives. The idea was to help middle and high school kids serve more in their communities and find ways to discover their passions in service. I think a lot of high school and middle school kids have great ideas, but don’t have the support system around them. I think whether you’re in a rich or poor area doesn’t really matter. Your parents are either around or not; no matter where you grow up or how much money you have, money can only kind of temporarily solve your problem. But if you don’t have people supporting you, then you can’t really think you’re accomplishing much in life. I try to get kids to want to dream about helping others and see the things that they want to fix in their community, and support that in any way I can.

I started at Hermosa Beach this year during the season. We’re funding eight different school projects. One of my favorites is a group of girls in a veteran Girl Scout troop who crochet beanies for premature babies…there are certain dimensions they need. These girls heard about this cause and were like, I want to do this. I’ve never heard of this cause, but I was so happy they wanted to do it. So, whatever they need, I’ll fund. Being able to fund that with them, stop by and drop stuff off with them at the Ronald McDonald House, and just kind of see where people’s passions are–-it’s really incredible that these were 14-year-olds or 13-year-olds. Most people in the world would go their whole lives not knowing this happens.

Is there anything that we can do to help?

I think as I get the website and everything going, it’ll be a lot easier. I should have a website and Instagram up and running soon. And then trying to figure out the best way to get kids involved. Right now, we are doing it through a school; it’s hard to do things through school sometimes. We’re trying to figure out ways to do it through different clubs outside of schools, and get it going right now.

You’re pretty open about your faith. Who instilled these values in you?

My fiancée Annie. She got me going to church. I’d been to church once in my life before. I did not grow up around it. And then, when I started dating her, she was like, “Well, we’re going to church on Sunday.” And I was like, have fun. I didn’t pray at football games. It wasn’t me. She kept prying at me to go with her and her family. And so I started going; you kind of do what your girlfriend wants to do. And then I got challenged like two years into it, hey, let’s make a choice to go all in or all out. TJ Morelli at Austin Ridge, said, “Let’s start meeting.” So I’d meet with him on Sundays. He challenged me to dive into my faith and ask him all the questions I wanted to.

What I learned was that you can be walking away from God as much as you want, but God’s always one step behind you. When you want to turn around and have that relationship, He’s right there with open arms for you. I found that to be totally true in my life when I made the decision to give my life over to God. I had a lot of great people around me at Texas who helped with that, like Kevin Washington, who is our player development guy. He led a Bible study for us, and I spent a lot of time with him, just kind of growing, seeing how he was as a man, and trying to replicate that.

You always have joy because God is there in your life. That was our Bible study this year with the Chargers, too. We read through James. It talks about joy through all circumstances in life. Wins, losses, injuries, everything. You need to find that there’s always joy in those moments. Look for those things. It’s not saying you aren’t going to have your emotions. There’s going to be things that make you frustrated, but there’s always a piece of joy in any sadness you have. Try to find ways to remember that.

Do you see a re-emergence in public faith or are there still challenges with this in the mainstream?

I think you see a lot more people sharing their faith right now. And it’s really cool. I think in the basketball world, there’s a lot of people that like that. They have a lot more interviews you can see because they play so much more often. But there are a lot of people, when you’re scrolling through social media, and you’re like, “Oh, look what this person shared about faith.”

When you have an opportunity to share your faith and share why people should have a relationship with Jesus, I think that’s really important. And I think in the sports world, there are a lot of people who are able to do that. News-wise, you don’t see it as much. And then there are always going to be people who try to shut it down. I mean, it talks about it in the Bible. People are going to hate you, and people are going to try to come at you. It’s important for people to keep pressing on and showing the greatness that comes with being a follower of Jesus, and to try to live that path and that way of life.

What’s your advice for an aspiring athlete, whether it be a kicker, quarterback, or anything?

Have fun going through the process of all your training. What you do on the field is really cool on game days, but I play 20 games a year and probably train 150 times. I’m doing so much more training with nobody watching than I am with the 20 times. And I enjoy my time training as much, if not more, than I do playing because it’s when I get to be outside, quiet with myself, and find time to grow and work through things in my personal life, whatever they may be. Find that escape within your sport.

And then finding an escape from your sport is very important as well. You can get really burnt out and overdo things. For me, it was always soccer, having a balance between the two. But now it’s finding ways to get together with teammates, play board games, and just have a good time–-barbecue, go to the beach, be out here at the lake–-and step away from it, so you aren’t thinking about it.

Just have fun. I think having fun is most important. It’s like what we talked about earlier, take the pressure off yourself. No matter what level you’re at, it’s a game. It always feels like it’s the biggest thing in the world right now. It’s huge. It’s awesome. It’s a great time. But whether you do great or don’t, that shouldn’t change who you are as a person. Go out there, have fun, put your best foot forward, and make sure the work you’ve put in is enough so that if you don’t succeed, you aren’t going to be like, ‘Oh, I could have done this.” Work hard enough so when you don’t succeed, because you will not succeed at some point, you’re not going to regret what you’ve done.

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Cover Photo Cameron Pitts.

Martin Ramirez is a brisket-eating, Shiner-loving, road-tripping enthusiast of all things Texas. This Dallas-born writer / adventurer is ready to take his ‘78 El Camino to find the best in food, fun, and fitness throughout the Lone Star State.