Anthony La’Mar Dixon
Position: Safety
University of Charleston
How’d you end up at your current school? What was the recruiting process like?
Getting to the University of Charleston was a long process and grinding. You see me, I came from JUCO. My junior college was in California. Orange Coast College was the starting point for me after my high school career. Keep in mind, JUCOs’ in California are no joke. I had no scholarships, I had no meal plans, and I had no housing. I basically just had the opportunity to go and further my education through financial aid while getting an opportunity to continue my football career through Orange Coast College. All of this essentially means that, JUCO made me understand grind to a different extent. From sleeping on floors with 7 teammates in one apartment, to working at Raising Canes just to eat, pay bills, and bring food back to the house, to grinding both on and off the field because nothing was given. All of this played a vital role in my recruitment process and on how I ended up at the University of Charleston.
You see, my JUCO was solely focused on recruiting for the upcoming seasons. Therefore, when I was a sophomore, the coaching staff did not help me get recruited at all. I understood how to do it myself. I emailed over 5000 schools. NAIA, D III, DII, DI, DI-AA, and HBCU’s. Any university level that had a football program, I emailed, I contacted, I texted, I called. Spending hours every single day for 4 months straight gave me hope. Then when the University of Charleston called, Coach Freeland offered me a full ride scholarship to come and play for him. After he told me that, I told him to send the letter of intent. I told him I did not need a visit. I told him, I don’t care where the school is located or how good the program is. Send the information and I’m ready to play for you.
From sleeping of floors every day, struggling, grinding, and working hard with my brothers night in and night out, to now knowing I had a bed to go to, a room, consistent food, a University that I can strive in and perform at my best, gave me all the confidence in the world. From then I knew I can take football to the highest level with God behind me.
What gives you an advantage over other athletes ?
Anthony La’Mar Dixon is the definition of an aggressive energy player. Connecting that mentality to my position being a safety allows me to fly around each and every play at a very high level. This gives me a huge advantage over other athletes because consistency is key. Being able to be in the fit, be around the ball carrier, or making the play each and every snap of the ball, is a trait that is second to none. Energy players are effort players, and you cannot teach effort. That is what separates me from others.
What does being a student of a game mean to you?
Being a student of the game, simply means mental preparation. Watching film is one thing, watching highlights of yourself is what typical athletes do, and watching your opponent is what’s expected. But, how I approach my mental preparation truly embodies what it means to be a student of the game. For instance, when I watch film or study film, I take a step away myself on the film. I watch my line backers, I watch my corners, I pay attention to my D-linemen. Being able to see the grand scheme of the defensive call is important to execution. Knowing where everyone will be and why they will be there, is very advantageous when trying to execute at a high level. Then when you take it a step further, watching film allows you to pick up tendencies.
Obviously, being able to see the opponents tendencies on 1st and 10, 3rd and long, boundary checks, QB reads, Run pass options, what type of running back is in the back field, motions, shifts, receiver tendencies, and even play calling tendencies based on the flow of the game comes with my mental preparation. But more importantly, being a student of the game correlates to my own tendencies that I display through film. Film shows all strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, being able to check, fix, and monitor my own techniques in man coverage, my QB reads, down and distance, staying in the post, staying low in my backpedal, filling the alleys correctly, run support, gaps and fits, and my own overall performance, is very important. Being a student of the game means to connect film studies on my opponents and execute those studies while correcting my own tendencies.
How does being a DB reflect itself in your personal life?
My position in football is a perfect reflection of my life. On paper I might be a safety. But, in reality I see myself as a defensive ATH. Being able to play nearly every position on the defensive side of the field is important to me. Either if it’s a safety, strong safety, corner, nickel, will linebacker, or even middle linebacker, I thrive the most through the versatility I display. This correlates to my upbringing is why I am the man I am today. Being from Watts, California, all the poverty, gangs, violence, drugs, and projects didn’t just grow on me, it was apart of me. Being versatile in my life continuously placed me on the right path even though I was on the wrong route at times. That’s why on the football field, I fly around and be everywhere at once while displaying this physical form of aggression and energy. Having everything bottled up through my life and my life experiences, having football to express my built-up emotions, tensions, and aggression, is very important to me. That is why I am proud of versatility being my biggest accomplishment throughout my football career. Not only I do my job at a high level. I also know each and every positions’ responsibility and show that I can execute other roles on the football field. Just as I executed and maneuvered through the roles I had to manage during the trials and tribulations that took place in my life.
How would you describe your work ethic?
Competitive would be a great word to describe my work ethic. I don’t know how to stop working, training, and grinding because I constantly feel this itch on my neck that tell me that someone or something is out working me. Its hard for me to nap, sleep, or rest because I fear that I will let myself down, my family down, my loved ones down. This mentality saved my life, my football career, and myself, Anthony La’Mar Dixon. Having a competitive work ethic allows me to compete with the man in the mirror while pushing myself further in life. This competitive mentality enables me to not care anymore. I don’t care about if you have a better job than me, I won’t stop till I achieve the highest status in life. I don’t care about getting beat on a 1 v 1 rep because I know I will come back even harder than I did before. I don’t care if you think you are outworking me because you will have to kill me to beat me, I don’t care what Anthony La’Mar Dixon is saying back to me in the mirror, I just know I won’t stop till every weapon formed against me shall not prosper, even if that weapon can be me at times.
What do you consider to be one of the more important things you learned from the coaching staff?
Patience is one of the important things I learned from the coaching staff. When I first got to the University of Charleston, my mentality was not ready. I thought bringing my JUCO mentality, grind, grit, and “dawg” mentality was going to get me the same success I had in Junior college. I was wrong and I had a lot of growing up to do within the game of football. I was too eager, I was too impatient, I was too uncontrollably aggressive. I didn’t know how to display my true potential. Being this prideful young man, I had a lot to learn. Thankfully the coaching staff helped me understand the progress behind patience. As I began to wait for my timing, work on my deficiencies, and mature through the game of football, I began to learn how to control the emotions on my sleeves. The entire process of growth came from patience, which made me ready for what God had in store for me.
How did you hear about the National Scouting Combine?
As soon as my senior season at the University of Charleston was over, I immediately began to email, message, tweet, contact, and call every professional football program, establishment, and opportunities. Since I don’t have an agent just yet, research has been my number 1 method of finding about any and every showcase combine. All my hours of research allowed me to come across the National Scouting Combine.
Why did you choose the National Scouting Combine?
I choose the National Scouting Combine due to the opportunities that it brings. My goal, dream and aspirations around football has always been to become a professional football player. I’m not trying to chase the NFL. I’m trying my hardest to show that I can become a professional football player. If that’s the NFL, CFL, XFL, USFL, AFL, or oversees, I will be blessed with any opportunity that comes. My philosophy behind include, as long as God allows me to run, jump, and attack this game I love so much at a high level, then I will never give it up. Therefore, choosing the national scouting combine was a blessing since I can go out there and give it my all towards making my goal a reality.
What do you hope to show people at the combine?
I hope to show people, scouts, professional teams, professional organizations, my family, and most importantly myself that my name is Anthony La’Mar Dixon, and that this person does not care about if he is too small, not tall enough, or doesn’t have the intangibles to play the game. Anthony La’Mar Dixon wants to show that his heart alone can make him win against anything and anyone. He wants to show that his energy, his effort, and his aggression is a mentality that is second to none. In the end, Anthony La’Mar Dixon’s mentality is what he wants to leave a mark on at the combine through his level of play.
What was your Major?
Major: Sports Business
Who is or has been the most influential person in your life?
Back when I was in elementary school, my life could have gone a lot of different routes. Knowing where I came from, Watts, California, as a kid, there were many mischievous things I used to do, for example, running around the projects. Sports came into the picture when I met Mr. Langston. Mr.Langston changed my entire upbringing and influenced my life dramatically. Mr. Langston had an after-school program at Verban Dei Highschool next to my elementary school, 112th street elementary school, called Urban Compass. Back in 3rd grade he found me running around the projects with the wrong crowd and saw potential in me. Within a week of meeting him, he met my dad, my sisters, he started pulling me away from the negative influences, he started taking me to and from Urban compass. He was the one to introduce me to the beautiful game of football.
The list can go on and on with all the fruitful things I started to experience throughout my childhood because of him. Ever since then, I began to fall in love with the sport of football and started to put my creative mind to great use. If it wasn’t for Mr. Langston, I would have never known about the corrupted system that was pinned against young black men in poverty. He taught me how the system was designed for us to fail in life. In doing so, as a kid, he taught me the value of changing your life for the betterment of myself and for my family. That’s when he began to see that football was a serious factor for me, so he began to educate me on athletic scholarships, college, and making it out the projects. His influence changed my overall perspective on life, and I will forever be grateful of the lessons, blessings, and hardships I had to go through with him while growing up.
If not football, then what?
If not football, my motto in life has always been to stay as close to the game as possible. With my Sport Business degree, I can do just that. Whether if its being a football coach, an athletic trainer, a personal football trainer/developer, media manager for a football team/organization, a facility manager for a football team, sports broadcaster, or even a sports analyst. All these things I can pursue if my athletic career is finished or if there is not athletic career to begin with.
Secondly, if not football, I have a military based family. My dad was in the marine for 17 years, my uncles have been in the air force, and army, my two brothers are currently in the navy and army, and my cousins have recently retired for the army as well. So, with my college degree, I am also considering enlisting in the air force or the marines. I know my dad will be very proud of me and since he passed away, I would love for him to look down on me and see that his son is a soldier as well.
If you could make a positive impact on all of society what would it be and why?
To be that positive impact within the society that we live in today, I would be that example that symbolizes how people don’t need to follow societal trends in order to be accepted in life. That’s the biggest lesson I paid attention to my entire life. For example, in order to play football, you must be a certain height, certain size, etc. In order to be successful in life, you must have a certain amount of money, status, etc. In order to be beautiful, you must look like a certain thing, someone, etc. These societal stigmas piss me off the most.
Because of the comparisons that life judges us by, we tend to forget who we really are, what we really like, and what we really want to do in life. By following my goal of being a professional football player and fulfilling my goal, for the next person that is looking to do the same thing, they can look to me and say, “he did it so I can do it too”. That’s the type of positive impact I am trying to create for this society, especially around sports. No need to be discouraged by political comparisons, expectations, and people’s opinions. As long as you stay true to yourself, you can leave your own unique imprint that stands above the societal trends that are limiting us. That’s the positive impact that I will want to have on all of society.
What is something unique about you that people would find interesting?
One thing that people would find interesting about me is that I used to dance. Dancing has been apart of my upbringing. It took off at Locke Highschool. Hip Hop, krumping, breakdancing, basically anything Chris Brown did, I replicated, except singing of course. From performing in front of my entire school, going to different schools to performs, dancing at pep rallies, dance battling, talent shows, and dance competitions, you name it. Dancing and playing football throughout high school placed me in a category of my own and I took it very seriously. Making a choice was the hard part. Taking football seriously while dancing was hard for the body to manage. Especially trying to lift weights then going to dance for the school was very hard to keep up. In the end, I stopped dancing to fully commit to football.
If you had the opportunity to play another sport professionally, what sport would you choose?
I can see myself becoming a professional boxer or MMA fighter if I had the opportunity to play another sport professionally.
Are you involved in mentoring, a charity or do you “give back” or ”pay it forward” in your community?
Back when I was at the University of Charleston, I would take part in community service acts for Labor of Love, Enlighten Day of Living, and Give for Gold. I would go out in the community with some of the football players and clean parks, pick up trash, clean preschools, help raise money for the University, help in recreational centers, host YMCA basketball and football events for the youth, and provide food to the homeless.
I would like to go back to my community, Watts California, and provide football and flag football clinics to children and young adults that are going through the same cycle I went through. I want to make that impact that Mr. Langston made on me when I did not know the right direction.
