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Oregon's Injured Dixon Knows All About Sunshine

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Despite being derailed en route to a possible Heisman honor, the love overshadows the pain for Oregon QB Dennis Dixon.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 30, 2007

Updated: 12/29/2007 11:46 pm

EL PASO, Texas - Within days, after a crushing injury that would have shattered anyone's world, the letters began arriving.

They were from servicemen, from former players, from people who said they didn't even care about sports, from fans all over the world.

But for Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, the one-time Heisman Trophy contender whose season ended Nov. 15 with a torn ACL at Arizona, the most meaningful correspondence came from elementary-school children.

"They touched my heart," Dixon said.

When I saw you fall down, I cried.

Dixon can't play in Monday's Sun Bowl against the University of South Florida. But he knows all about sunshine.

Keep smiling. You are the best quarterback in the history of Oregon.

"I have no regrets - none," he said. "I loved playing for Oregon. It means a lot that people might remember me."

I had to miss school when I went to the hospital. But I got better. You'll get better.

"I can't be negative about it," he said. "Too many people are supporting me. I have to be strong."

'It Wasn't Fair'

At Oregon's final home game, 24 seniors were introduced. Then emerged the 25th senior - Dennis Dixon - dressed in blue jeans, a black Oregon coat and sneakers.

Above the roar, the Autzen Stadium public-address announcer gave a final salute.

From San Leandro, California, OUR Heisman Trophy winner, Dennis Dixon!

Dixon pounded his heart three times, raising his right hand to each corner of the stadium.

"I had been riding an emotional roller coaster," Dixon said. "But I felt the love. The love was bigger than the pain."

More than two weeks earlier, with the one-loss Ducks at No. 2 in the BCS standings, Oregon rolled into Tucson, Ariz., bearing down on a national championship. As for the Heisman race, Dixon, a dual-threat quarterback, was running near the top of everyone's straw poll.

But he had a secret, one that was endorsed by Oregon coach Mike Bellotti. Twelve days earlier, against Arizona State, doctors discovered an ACL injury. His season - literally - was hanging by a thread. Dixon told Bellotti he wanted to take a chance. He wanted to play. And the coach didn't stop him.

Early on against Arizona, with the Ducks leading 8-7, Dixon faked a handoff and rolled to his left. The knee buckled. No one touched him. Dixon collapsed.

"I was turning to run with the receiver, but I heard this gasp from the crowd," Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason said. "When I looked back, I saw him and I knew."

At Ann Arbor, Mich., where Dixon had 368 total yards in a 39-7 September thrashing of Michigan, Wolverines running back Mike Hart had a gasp of his own as he watched.

"It was tragic," Hart said. "It wasn't fair."

The injury's seismic nature also reached Gainesville. Another football life was about to change forever.

"He would've had a great shot to get the Heisman," said Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the trophy's first sophomore winner. "Then he was done. It makes you appreciate all that you have. Don't take it for granted. It can be gone, just like that."

Getting Up, Moving On

Picture USF without Matt Grothe.

Picture Florida without Tim Tebow.

Now you have an idea of what Oregon has endured.

"It would've been like that in 1993 at Florida State when we won the national championship, if we had lost Charlie Ward," said USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham, a former Seminoles assistant. "We wouldn't have won it."

The injury removed Dixon from the Heisman radar, even though he still finished fifth and received 17 first-place votes. The Ducks (8-4) were upset by Arizona, jump-starting a three-game losing streak, so you could argue that no player was more valuable.

Pac-10 coaches agreed, naming Dixon the league's first-team quarterback and offensive player of the year.

As for the Heisman, well, how can you not wonder what might have been?

"Tim Tebow brings something to the game that nobody else brought, and I respect that," Dixon said. "I would've loved to have been there at the Heisman ceremony in New York. Just being mentioned was an honor. I appreciate everybody who voted for me.

"But that's it. You don't bring it back. It's done. I don't let it get into my head because I know God has a plan for me. I have options."

Dixon, who has a 3.3 grade-point average in sociology, was a finalist for the Draddy Award, college football's academic equivalent of the Heisman.

He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and spent last summer playing minor-league baseball.

He still hopes to be drafted in the NFL.

"I'm not going to cry about it," Dixon said. "It was never about the Heisman. It was about being the best I could be. And I feel I did that - down to the last play. Besides, I don't have time to cry. I'm a coach now."

He couldn't resist a smile.

When you are Dennis Dixon, even while unable to play at the Sun Bowl, you fight through the clouds.

You find the sunshine.

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