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By ERNEST HOOPER
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2000
CINCINNATI -- The father told his 8-year-old son never to take his eye off the football. Then he decided to see if his son was listening.
In the yard, he threw a pass near a large tree. The father knew the tree would come into his son's peripheral vision, creating a unique challenge to the advice he had offered. The son didn't falter, snaring the pass, then colliding with the tree.
The son's face was bloodied and scarred, and his mother was none too happy with dad. But the father? Well, he was a beacon of pride.
"That's when I knew he had it," Ron Dixon Sr. said.
Ron Dixon Jr. still has it. Instead of colliding with trees, he's colliding with Bears and Eagles. But he's still keeping his eye on the ball. And Ron and Diana Dixon are still keeping an eye on their son.
On Sunday, the Giants rookie receiver capped his team's first touchdown drive with an impressive 34-yard reception at Chicago's Soldier Field. He also had a 12-yard end-around on the drive. Mom and dad were there and got to tell their story to an interested person at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport on Monday morning.
Dixon is an underdog you can root for with ease. He emerged from Wildwood, where they just added a third traffic light, and unheralded Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn., to become the Giants' third-round pick. On the day of the draft, he was eager to go to Busch Gardens, convinced that Mel Kiper had correctly tagged him as a player who would go undrafted.
His father convinced him to hang around, and in the third round the Giants called. Draft experts and writers questioned the pick and publicly wondered how this small-town unknown could succeed in the Big Apple. So far, Dixon has proven them wrong. He has had an impact as a returner and third receiver, and there's nothing but upside in his future.
People familiar with Wildwood will tell you talent abounds in the area, but only a few athletes go to college. For the ones who've made it, such as Colts defensive tackle Ellis Johnson and CFL kick returner Marvin Coleman, there are 10 or 12 other talents who get caught by the pitfalls of academics and disinterest.
The difference with Dixon? Well, you can't undervalue the guidance of the love of his parents, who seldom, if ever, have missed his games. The Dixons would watch their other son, Brian, play for Wildwood High last year, then drive through the night to see Ron, sometimes as far as Oklahoma and Illinois.
Brian now is a redshirt freshman at USF, and the Dixons are flying instead of driving each week. What hasn't changed is their pride. They're easy to spot in any airport: Just look for the couple wearing Giants blue.
ON THE RUN: Why would an NFL team bother to spend a high draft pick on a running back again? The Denver Broncos have perfected the art of mining low rounds for talented ball carriers by selecting Terrell Davis (sixth round, '95) and Olandis Gary (fourth round, '98).
The latest find? Rookie Mike Anderson (sixth round, '00) out of Utah. The 26-year-old former Marine never played in high school, but the Oakland Raiders are wishing he never played at all after watching him rush for 187 yards on 32 carries.
"Everybody dreams about having a game like this," Anderson said.
People may say anyone can run behind the Denver line, but give Anderson his due and give the scouting staff credit. The Broncos tab backs who combine size, speed and a direct running approach.
BILLS DUE: Longtime Bills special-teams coach Bruce DeHaven was fired after Tennessee pulled off the Music City Miracle. Of course, if Wade Phillips had allowed the clock to run down and then kicked the potential winning field goal, there would not have been time for the Titans' incredible kickoff return.
Nevertheless, someone had to take the fall, so DeHaven was fitted for goat horns even though his units had never been a chronic problem and in some years were among the league's best during his 12-year stint in Buffalo.
So wasn't it interesting Sunday to see the Bills' special-teams unit basically blow the game against the Jets? Buffalo fumbled two punts in the fourth quarter, had a field goal blocked in the third quarter and allowed Kevin Williams to return a kick 97 yards for a touchdown.
New special-teams coach Ronnie Jones is catching a lot of heat, but what about Phillips? He's the one who fired DeHaven and hired Jones, who had worked almost exclusively as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in college.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Jets-Bucs: Much will be written about Keyshawn Johnson, but let's not forget that Vinny Testaverde is having something of a homecoming. With two fourth-quarter comebacks and a Hail Mary at the end of the first half Sunday, Testaverde has put together the makings of a magical season. It'll be interesting to see how he fares against the league's most opportunistic defense.