I Need to Get This Out There: Why the Dennis Dixon Hurt Will Stick Forever

As I watch the Ducks play UCLA, the announcers say they have a special guest, and I think it's the usual Phil Knight New Jersey talk. But it wasn't—it was a man who at one time made opposing defenses shake in their cleats. Yes, I'm talking about Dennis Dixon.

There, I said the name that makes me cringe. Oregon made arrangements to fly the now-Pittsburgh Steeler to Autzen to be an honorary captain.  

I, however, was not excited about seeing Dixon back in Autzen. It brought back some great memories and some not so great memories. Yes, the memories of the three fake handoffs and then a deep pass for a touchdown, or the best statue of liberty you will ever see, or the Dixon to Dickson touchdowns that made you scream "I'm a Duck and I'm proud!"

Then, suddenly, the image of "That A**hole" with hunting gear screaming "Go Cats," followed by the play were Dixon went down and brought the heart of every duck down with him.  

The reason I wrote this article was that I came to the realization that our quarterback hopes rode on him. Before that, Joey never won the Heisman and he looked absolutely awful in the pros. Akili has long since faded away, but the hurt of him being a draft bust still makes Ducks fans frown. I mean, Joey is an embarrassment, but Smith got cut from the Canadian league—the Canadian league, really?    

How We Got Here

Ducks fans knew that Dixon was special when he first put on an Oregon uniform. He got a little exposure early in his sophomore (redshirt) year against Houston; he ran a couple quarterback sneaks and people thought, "Well, this guy can run a few trick plays."

On Oct. 22, they got a wake-up call. Starting quarterback Kellen Clemens suffered a college career-ending injury (sound familiar?) and two sophomores, Brady Leaf and Dixon, were tossed the Oregon quarterback torch.

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