D'Cota Dixon (born November 20, 1994) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

before signing with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. After being released by the Buccaneers, Dixon signed with rugby squad the

American Raptors The American Raptors were a professional rugby union team that was based in Glendale, Colorado. The team played in two seasons of the transcontinental Super Rugby Americas competition from 2023 to 2024, before withdrawing from professional rugby a ...

Early life

Dixon was raised by a single mother who was sometimes beaten by her boyfriend; he and a brother were eventually placed into foster care. His father was a drug addict for much of Dixon's young life until he died of a heart attack when Dixon was in high school. After struggling with anger issues early in life, Dixon eventually became more mild-mannered, citing his

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. Dixon was a three-star recruit out of

New Smyrna Beach High School New Smyrna Beach High School (NSBHS) is a public high school located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, United States. About The school mascot is the Barracuda, commonly referred to as the "Cuda." The high school opened in 1963 on what is now calle ...

New Smyrna Beach, Florida New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The downtown section of the city is located on the west side of the Indian River and the ...

. He committed to play for

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

over offers from

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and more.

Football career

College career

Dixon started his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons on the

Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Bi ...

team, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors his junior year. Injuries hampered his senior campaign, but he was still invited to the 2019

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. After his senior season, Dixon was named the

Jason Witten Christopher Jason Witten (born May 6, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 17 seasons, primarily for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He currently is the head football coach a ...

Collegiate Man of the Year award for exceptional character.

Professional career

On May 13, 2019, Dixon signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. On August 8, 2019, Dixon was placed on injured reserve. Dixon was waived by the Buccaneers during final roster cuts on September 5, 2020, and was signed to the practice squad the following day. He was released on October 20.

Rugby career

In 2021, Dixon signed with the independent rugby union team

Glendale, Colorado The City of Glendale is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in an exclave of Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,613 at the 2020 ...

as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. Dixon was recruited by his roommate and Raptors player Justin Barlow, who was recruited at a regional NFL combine. The Raptors competed independently, having left

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

in 2020. Dixon played the fall 2021 and spring 2022 campaigns with the Raptors.

References

External links

Wisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, D'Cota 1994 births Living people American football safeties Players of American football from Volusia County, Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Wisconsin Badgers football players American Raptors players Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Florida