Kenneth Dixon (born January 21, 1994) 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 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 ...

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, and was drafted by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in the fourth round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

Early years

Dixon attended

Strong High School Strong High School (SHS) is a comprehensive public high school based in the town of Strong, Arkansas, United States. SHS provides secondary education for more than 200 students in grades 7 through 12. Strong is one of public high schools in Uni ...

Strong, Arkansas Strong is a city in Union County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 558 at the 2010 census. Geography Strong is located in the southern part of Arkansas. (33.109856, -92.358353). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city ...

. During the team's state title run in Dixon's senior year 2011, he ran for a state record 3,153 yards and 39

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. For his season efforts, he was named "Mr. Football" in the state of Arkansas. Dixon also competed in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

at Strong. At the 2011 7AA District T&F Meet, Dixon threw the

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 ...

over , won the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump, and also placed 2nd in the 100-meter dash. He also was an outstanding

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, leading his team to the district championship as a junior. Regarded as a three-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Dixon was considered the eighth best player in the state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. He committed to

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

to play

on January 6, 2012, choosing the Bulldogs over

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and Ole Miss.

College career

As a true freshman at Louisiana Tech in 2012, Dixon ran for 1,194 yards on 200 carries and set an NCAA freshman record with 27 rushing touchdowns and 28 total touchdowns. As a sophomore, Dixon played in 10 games, rushing for 917 yards on 151 carries with four touchdowns. During his junior year in 2014, Dixon became Louisiana Tech's all-time leader in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. For the season he had 1,299 rushing yards on 253 carries with 22 rushing touchdowns and six receiving touchdowns. As a senior, he rushed for 1,070 yards on 197 carries and 19 touchdowns. He finished his career with an NCAA record 87 career total touchdowns, however the record was later broken that same season by Keenan Reynolds.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Dixon was drafted by the Ravens in the fourth round, 134th overall, in the

. He played in 12 games as the Ravens' second running back behind

Terrance West Terrance West (born January 28, 1991) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Towson and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. West has also played for the Tennessee Titan ...

. He ran for 382 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 30 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. On March 9, 2017, Dixon was suspended the first four games of the 2017 season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. On July 25, 2017, it was revealed that Dixon had suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. The injury required surgery, and 4–5 months to recover, forcing Dixon out for the 2017 season. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2017. On September 12, 2018, Dixon was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in Week 1. He was activated off injured reserve on December 1, 2018. Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 333 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Dixon was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 31, 2019, after suffering a fractured knee. He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 6.

New York Jets

On December 18, 2019, Dixon was signed by the

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

. He was waived on August 19, 2020.

Toronto Argonauts

Dixon signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the CFL on December 29, 2020. He was released on July 27, 2021.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bioLouisiana Tech Exposure bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Kenneth 1994 births Living people People from El Dorado, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas American football running backs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Baltimore Ravens players New York Jets players Toronto Argonauts players