Dorin R. Dickerson (born March 31, 1988) 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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

. He was selected by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in the seventh round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. He was also a member of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

Early life

Dickerson attended West Allegheny High School in Imperial, Pennsylvania, where he played a variety of positions, including

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)#Offense ...

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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and

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 ...

. As a senior, he rushed for 1,429 yards on 182 carries (7.9 avg.) and scored 30 touchdowns, while also having 22 receptions for 423 yards (19.2 avg.) with six touchdowns. On defense, he intercepted four passes. Dickerson was named AP Pennsylvania Class AAA Player of the Year following his senior season. Considered a four-star recruit by ''Rivals.com'', Dickerson was listed as the No. 5 prospect from Pennsylvania in the class of 2006. He chose Pittsburgh over

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

College career

In his initial year at Pittsburgh, Dickerson played in eight games as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, primarily seeing time at wide receiver and on the kick return unit. As sophomore he was switched over to defense, and played in all 12 games as a reserve strongside linebacker and had 15 total tackles. His junior year was his first season at tight end, and Dickerson played in 13 games, starting two. He had 13 catches for 174 yards (13.4 avg.) and two touchdowns. In his senior year, Dickerson had 45 receptions for 508 yards (11.3 avg.) and 10 touchdowns. He received

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, ''CBS Sports'', the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

, the ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', and the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

Professional career

Houston Texans

Dickerson was selected by the Houston Texans in the seventh round of the

. He dressed in 7 games for the Texans in the 2010 season, but did not record any stats. He was released during finals cuts on September 3, 2011.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On September 12, 2011, he was signed by the

to their practice squad. He was waived a few days later.

New England Patriots

On December 7, 2011, the

announced that they signed Dickerson to their practice squad. He was placed on practice squad injured reserve on January 25, 2012, shortly after the Patriots won the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

. The Patriots would lose to 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 ...

21–17 in

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Buffalo Bills

On May 14, 2012, he was signed by the

. He dressed in 11 games for the Bills in the

2012 NFL season The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowbo ...

, and recorded 9 receptions for 117 yards. He was released on August 30, 2013.

Detroit Lions

Dickerson signed with the

on October 14, 2013. He was released on October 19, 2013. He was re-signed on November 19, 2013. He made his first catch for the Lions against the Green Bay Packers, for 26 yards. He suffered a concussion in the second half of a game against the

, but did not report it until dropping a pass in overtime. A few days later on December 26, 2013, Dickerson was placed on injured reserve due to his concussion.

Tennessee Titans

Dickerson signed with the

on June 19, 2014. He was placed on injured reserve on August 6, 2014. He signed a futures contract with the Titans on January 5, 2015. On July 30, 2015, Dickerson was once again placed on injured reserve after hurting his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

Personal life

Following his football career, Dickerson was a weekend and pre-game host for the

Pitt Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

and

on 93.7 The Fan. He then worked as community outreach manager for the Mascaro Construction Company. It was announced on November 19, 2020, that Dickerson would become the director of project development for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

on the Lower Hill redevelopment project. Dickerson's uncle Ron Dickerson was the first ever African-American coach at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

and his cousin Ron Dickerson Jr. was a player for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

and current football coach. Dickerson tried out for the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

in 2018 in honor of his late mother who was a major wrestling fan.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerson, Dorin 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football wide receivers American football tight ends American football fullbacks Pittsburgh Panthers football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Pittsburgh Steelers players New England Patriots players Buffalo Bills players Detroit Lions players Tennessee Titans players