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Oklahoma football: Former Sooner Ricky Dixon on College Football HOF ballot

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 28: Members of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad perform before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 49-27. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 28: Members of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad perform before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 49-27. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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Former Oklahoma football All-American Ricky Dixon is on the 2019 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

The Dallas, Texas, native is one of 76 former college players who are on the 2019 Hall of Fame ballot. This is his third year on the ballot. He is one of five former Big 12 players on this year’s College HOF ballot.

Dixon was a standout defensive back at Oklahoma from 1984-87 and was named a consensus First Team All-American in 1987. That same season, he was named the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the best defensive back in college football. Dixon was the second player to win the award, which was first presented in 1986.

Dixon played a key contributing role his sophomore season in Oklahoma’s 1985 national championship win over Penn State and intercepted two passes in the 1987 game between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma, billed as the Game of the Century II. Unlike the Game of the Century 1, between the same top-two-ranked teams, the Sooners prevailed the second time around, in 1987, winning 17-7 at Nebraska.

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Several years ago, when he was writing for the Oklahoma City Oklahoman, Jason Kersey (who is now covers the OU Sooner beat for The Athletic) related a story about when Barry Switzer gathered a group of his 1984 freshman, away from the rest of the team. After doing so, Kersey wrote, “He (Switzer) pulled this skinny kid to the front.

“‘Don’t let his size fool you,’ Switzer told a group that included Troy Aikman, Keith Jackson and Lydell Carr. ‘He (Dixon) will probably end up being better than any one of you.'”

Dixon ranks second at Oklahoma in career interceptions with 17.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected the OU All-American defensive back with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played six season in the NFL, five of which were with the Bengals. He was with the Los Angeles Raiders in his final NFL season, in 1993.

In 2013, Dixon was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease, which doctors told him was likely caused by multiple concussions he sustained while playing football.

The announcement of the 2019 class to be inducted into the College Football HOF will take place on Jan. 7, 2019.

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