Derrick Dillon (born October 28, 1995) is an

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Early life

Dillon attended Pine High School in

Franklinton, Louisiana Franklinton is a town in, and the parish seat of Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,857 at the 2010 census. The elevation is an average of above sea level. Franklinton is located north of New Orleans. A Frankli ...

. Dillon initially committed to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

but switched his commitment to

College career

Dillon redshirted his freshman year and played eight games, primarily on special teams as a redshirt freshman. As a sophomore in 2017, he rushed for 86 yards on 15 rushes and added 125 yards on 14 receptions. Dillon caught a 71-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown reception against Auburn in 2018. He also had a 49-yard touchdown pass from

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, O ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

victory over UCF. Dillon caught 22 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns as a junior. He underwent hip surgery in February 2019 and missed spring practices. Dillon caught two passes for 22 yards against

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in the 2019 College Football Playoff Semifinal. As a senior in 2019, Dillon made 15 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He started three games when Terrace Marshall Jr. was out with an injury. Dillon participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl. in his career, Dillon caught 51 passes for 634 yards and four touchdowns. In a makeshift pro day after the LSU event was cancelled, Dillon ran a 4.29 in a 40-yard dash.

Professional career

New York Giants

After going undrafted in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

, Dillon signed an undrafted free agent deal with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He was given a $15,000 signing bonus in addition to a guaranteed salary of $25,000 for the 2020 season. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released from the practice squad on September 8 and re-signed again on September 16. He was released on December 1, 2020. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Giants on January 5, 2021. He was placed on injured reserve on August 3, 2021. Dillon was cut by the Giants on August 11.

Tampa Bay Bandits

Dillon was selected in the 15th round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

by the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal ...

. As a

Dillon finished the season with 28 receptions for 386 yards, and one touchdown. As a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

, Dillon had 19 returns for 447 yards.

Cleveland Browns

On August 1, 2022, Dillon signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. He was waived by the Browns on August 15, 2022.

Memphis Showboats

Dillon signed with the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

of the USFL on January 11, 2023. On May 20, 2023, in a 22–0 win over the Pittsburgh Maulers, Dillon returned a missed 59-yard field goal attempt for a 109-yard touchdown. Dillon's performance earned him the USFL's Special Teams Player of the Week. Dillon caught his first touchdown of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

on May 28, 2023, against the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducin ...

in a 64-yard catch and run from

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Cole Kelley. The Showboats won the game 23–20. On June 17, 2023, during the final week of the USFL season against the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

, Dillon returned the opening kickoff for a 90-yard touchdown. Despite Dillion's efforts, the Showboats lost the game 27–20, and were eliminated from the playoff contention. Dillon finished the season with 28 receptions for 340 yards, and one touchdown. Dillon also had 23 kick returns for 753 yards, and one touchdown, plus a 109-yard touchdown via missed field goal return. He was later named Special Teams Player of the Year. He was released on March 10, 2024.

Career statistics

Personal life

Dillon's father Earl Cotton died on March 7, 2018, due to complications from a bacterial infection. Dillon has two sisters.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Derrick 1995 births Living people People from Franklinton, Louisiana Sportspeople from Washington Parish, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football wide receivers LSU Tigers football players New York Giants players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players Cleveland Browns players