Andre Jamar Dixon (born February 19, 1986) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was signed by the

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

as a first round draft pick in 2010. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Early years

Dixon attended

New Brunswick High School New Brunswick High School (NBHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the main secondary school of the N ...

. He rushed for 1,018 yards as a senior with 20 touchdowns and earned four varsity football letters.

College career

Dixon enrolled to

and was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his freshman season in 2005. In 2006, he played in four games and appeared in each of the final three contests as a kickoff returner. In 2007 Dixon missed the first two games of the year but he returned to gain 809 rushing yards on 160 carries (5.1 average) with three touchdowns while also catching 24 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown. His 280 receiving yards are the most by a UConn running back since Chad Martin had 319 in 1998. One of his best season performances was against

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, when he rushed for a career-high 167 yards on a career-best 32 carries, posting 210 all-purpose yards. He split game time with Donald Brown. He was named to the second-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

along with

Tyvon Branch Tyvon A. Branch (born December 11, 1986) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft and has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals ...

. For the 2008 season, Dixon sprained his ankle in the preseason, opening the door for Donald Brown to step into the starting role. In December 2008 Dixon, was suspended indefinitely from the football team following an arrest on drunken-driving charge. He was reinstated to the team shortly before the Huskies played the

2009 International Bowl The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) and the Buffalo Bulls at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Divi ...

on January 3, 2009. In the 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl, Dixon was named player of the game, and finished with 126 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Professional career

New York Giants

Dixon was signed as a rookie free agent by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

where he was briefly on the practice squad, but was released before the start of the season.

Hartford Colonials

Dixon tried out for the

of the United Football League. He was later drafted in the first round of the 2010 UFL Draft by the

as the number two overall pick. Dixon made his debut September 18, 2010 at home against the

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional American football team based in Sacramento, California that played in the United Football League. The franchise originated as the California Redwoods, and played its home games in San Francisco and ...

in which he had a game high 94 rushing yards on 21 attempts.

Sacramento Mountain Lions

On August 19, 2011, Dixon signed with the

. Dixon was cut by the Mountain Lions on December 26, 2011.

Calgary Stampeders

In the off-season before the start of the

2013 CFL season The 2013 CFL season was the 60th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 56th season of the Canadian Football League. The pre-season began on June 12, 2013 and the regular season began on June 27, 2013. Regina, Saskatchewa ...

Dixon signed with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was released prior to the start of the season.

Blacktips

Dixon signed with the Blacktips of the

Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The lea ...

(FXFL) in 2015.

References

External links

Connecticut Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Andre 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from New Brunswick, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey American football running backs New Brunswick High School alumni UConn Huskies football players Hartford Colonials players Sacramento Mountain Lions players Blacktips (FXFL) players