Dennis Dixon

Dennis Lee Dixon, Jr. (born January 11, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Oregon.

Early years
Dixon was the starting quarterback for San Leandro High School's football team beginning his sophomore year. In his senior season of 2002, Dixon threw for 2,426 yards and 30 touchdowns, leading his team to a 12-1 season. Dixon completed his high school career with 5,951 yards and 79 touchdowns, guiding San Leandro to a 36-3 record, with his only losses coming in three straight California North Coast Section 4A championship games to perennial powerhouse De La Salle.

Dixon was a consensus 4-star recruit, and was ranked among the top passing and rushing quarterbacks in the nation. He eventually decided to attend the University of Oregon, stating that "I am going to Oregon with only one purpose, and that is to win a national championship."

Dixon was also a highly recruited baseball player, and was initially drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 20th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft.

College career
Dixon opted to grayshirt (attend school part-time and retain eligibility) for the 2003 season and played his freshman season in 2004 behind Kellen Clemens. He appeared in six games, passing for 73 and rushing for 40 yards. In his sophomore season of 2005, he was expected to play primarily in a backup role during Clemens's senior season. However, against Arizona, Clemens broke his ankle, and Dixon came into the game, though he later left with a concussion. With Clemens out for the season, Dixon split time with fellow sophomore QB Brady Leaf and guided the Ducks to four regular season wins and a second place finish in the Pac-10, before dropping a 17-14 loss in the Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma.

Prior to his junior season in 2006, Dixon was named full-time starter by head coach Mike Bellotti. He led the Ducks to a 4-0 start, including a 34-33 comeback victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. After a win over Arizona State, the Ducks lost 48-24 to Cal before Dixon's hometown crowd. After being benched in favor of Brady Leaf, Oregon went on to lose three of their four final games and finished with a 7-6 record. Despite his shortened season, Dixon still finished the season fourth in the conference in total offense (219.3 yards per game). Dixon was named the league’s second-team academic all-conference quarterback. In June 2007, he graduated from Oregon with a degree in sociology and a 3.27 grade point average.

In 2007, Bellotti again named Dixon, now a senior, the starter prior to the season. The season started off quickly for Dixon against Houston, in which Dixon accumulated 141 yards rushing, the most ever by an Oregon quarterback. The following week against Michigan, Dixon threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for another, generating 368 yards of total offense. Dixon was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week and USA Today National Player of the Week.

In the next two games, he led the Ducks to big wins over Fresno State (where he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another), and Stanford (where he completed 27 of 36 passes for 367 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for another).

Against Cal, Dixon threw his first 2 interceptions of the season, but led the Ducks down the field in the final minute for a potential tying score before Cameron Colvin fumbled the ball through the end zone in the final seconds for Oregon's first loss of the season.

Wins in the following weeks over Pac-10 powers USC and Arizona State pushed Oregon to a #2 ranking in the BCS poll and first place in the Pac-10. During the Arizona State game, he left the game with a knee injury, but was cleared to play two weeks later against Arizona. In the first quarter of that game, he ran 39 yards for a touchdown, but a few plays later, his left knee buckled and he left the game because he suffered an injury, and the Ducks went on to lose 34-24. It was then revealed that Dixon had torn the ACL in his left knee against Arizona State and aggravated it against Arizona. In the last game of the season against arch rival Oregon State, they lost and the Beavers broke the streak of the last 10 years in which the home team had always won. Without Dixon, and following an injury to backup Brady Leaf as well as a long list of injuries to the entire Duck team, the Ducks lost the last two games of the season, but went on to defeat South Florida 56-21 in the 2007 Sun Bowl as Dixon watched from the sideline and continued to cheer on his team.

After undergoing surgery to repair his torn ACL, Dixon walked with no apparent limp at the NFL Combine headquarters in Indianapolis in February. Dixon was unable to perform any Combine drills, but worked out at Oregon's Pro Day and held impressive individual workouts later.

Baseball career
Following his junior year at Oregon, Dixon was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the fifth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Dixon hit only .176 in 74 at bats with two Atlanta Braves rookie league teams, and returned to Oregon for his senior football season in 2007.

Pittsburgh Steelers
In the 2008 NFL Draft, Dixon was taken in the 5th round (156th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was speculated that he could be used in the manner that the Steelers used Antwaan Randle-El (a college quarterback turned NFL receiver).

Dennis passed for a combined 12-for-24 in passing attempts in two 2008 preseason games, in addition, he ran for a 47-yard touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. On December 28, 2008, Dixon completed his first official NFL pass to Hines Ward—the reception was Ward's 800th.

Dixon was deactivated for most of the 2008 season as the third-string quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich; he received a Super Bowl ring after Super Bowl XLIII.

Dixon made his first career start on November 29, 2009 against the Baltimore Ravens after injuries suffered by Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch a week earlier moved him up the depth chart. In the game, the Steelers went on to lose 20-17 in overtime. Dixon finished with 12 completions out of 26 passes with one touchdown and one interception for 145 yards and also ran for 27 yards on three carries, including one run for a touchdown. However, his one interception was in the overtime period, allowing the Baltimore Ravens to kick a field goal for the winning score.

Dixon wore the number 2 after he was drafted, however after the trade of wide receiver Santonio Holmes, Dixon took number 10, his old number from college, which he currently wears.

With Roethlisberger being suspended for four games by the NFL to start the 2010 season, Dixon competed with Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch for the starting job- Dixon initially looked to have lost it after tossing two interceptions in his only preseason start- but after a concerning knee injury to Leftwich and concerns about Batch's durability, Mike Tomlin named Dixon as the starter on Sept. 6, 2010. Leftwitch was later released. Dixon was injured while playing against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. This injury was later diagnosed as a tear of the meniscus in Dixon's knee. As a result of this, Charlie Batch was called to start in Week 3, Leftwich was resigned after it had been determined that his injury was a less severe sprain of his MCL, and Dixon was put on Injured Reserve on October 13 to make room on the active roster for Ben Roethlisberger, whose suspension ended after Week 4.

Awards

 * 2007 Pacific 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year
 * 2007 first team All Pac-10 Conference
 * Received 17 first-place votes for the Heisman Trophy and finished fifth in the overall voting, while being the frontrunner in votes prior to the Arizona game.
 * Finalist for the Draddy Trophy, Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award.
 * Winner of NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award.
 * Hayward award, given to the state of Oregon's best amateur athlete.