Derrick Dillon (born October 28, 1995) is an

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 wit ...

wide receiver for 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 m ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at

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 ...

Early life and high school

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 Franklin ...

. Dillon initially committed to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

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 football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heis ...

in the

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

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 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. 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 throug ...

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 o ...

. As a wide receiver 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 position ...

, 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. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

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

Memphis Showboats

Dillon signed with 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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

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 introducing ...

in a 64-yard catch and run from

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 thei ...

, 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.

Career stats

USFL

Regular season

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 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