John G. Nix (born November 24, 1976) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He also was a member of the Amsterdam Admirals in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and played in the Arena Football League (AFL). 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 ...

at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Early years

Nix attended

George County High School George County High School is a public high school in Lucedale, Mississippi Lucedale () is a city in George County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lucedale was founded in 1901 ...

, where as a senior he made 75 tackles, while receiving second-team All-state and district's most valuable defensive lineman honors. He was also invited to play in the Mississippi/Alabama High School All-Star Game. He also practiced

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, finishing third in the state's

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

competition.

College career

Nix accepted a football scholarship from the University of Southern Mississippi. He became a starter at

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

as a redshirt freshman, posted 45 tackles, while helping his team to a 9–3 record and a 41–7 win over the University of Pittsburgh in the

1997 Liberty Bowl The 1997 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 1997, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 39th edition of the Liberty Bowl, the game featured the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Background Even though ...

. The next year, he started 9 out of 11 games, collecting 47 tackles. As a junior, he was limited throughout the season with a toe injury, making 21 tackles and 2 sacks, while helping his team win the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

championship with a 9–3 record and a 23–17 win over

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

in the 1999 Liberty Bowl. As a senior, he registered 33 tackles (7 for loss), 4 sacks, helping the team rank second in the nation in total defense and to win 28–21 over Texas Christian University in the

2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl The 2000 Mobile Alabama Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the second edition of the game. With title sponsorship from GMAC (now Ally Financial) it was officially ca ...

. He finished his college career with 146 tackles (65 solo), 9 sacks and 22 tackles for loss.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Nix was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round (240th overall) of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. As a rookie, he was the backup of

Brandon Noble and recorded 22 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. He is better known for causing a key fumble that helped the team win 9–7 against the Washington Redskins in week 5. The next year, he played 14 games, finishing with 21 tackles, 9 quarterback pressures and one forced fumble. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, with the arrival of new head coach Bill Parcells, he was waived on August 25.

San Francisco 49ers

On August 26,

, he was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco 49ers and released five days later.

Cleveland Browns

Nix was signed as a free agent by the Cleveland Browns on December 23,

. He was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, where he started 10 games at

, while recording 21 tackles and two sacks. He was cut from the Browns on September 5,

Arizona Cardinals

On September 8,

, he signed as a free agent with the

. He was cut on October 6, after being inactive in 3 games.

Montreal Alouettes

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he joined the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He began the season as a starter on defense until he injured his shoulder during the eighth game. He played one more season for Montreal, before leaving to join the Arena Football League back in the United States.

Arena Football League (2007–2010)

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Nix signed with the Las Vegas Gladiators and registered 2 tackles and one sack in two games. He was traded to the New York Dragons on March 13, earning Arena Football League (AFL) All-Rookie honors after playing in 15 games, while making 10.5 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks (tied for the team lead) and two quarterback pressures. In eight games in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he recorded 8 tackles and one fumble recovery.

Personal life

His favorite place to go while on vacation is Amsterdam, and his favorite restaurant is the Waffle House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, John Living people 1976 births People from Lucedale, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football defensive linemen Southern Miss Golden Eagles football players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players Arizona Cardinals players Amsterdam Admirals players Montreal Alouettes players Las Vegas Gladiators players New York Dragons players Dallas Vigilantes players