Syracuse Football Alumini In The NFL Part 5: Riley Dixon

This will be a series discussing Syracuse football players in the National Football League. Here’s one of the most successful SU players in the NFL.

If you’d like to see any of the previous editions you can do so here:

The Syracuse football team has not had a lot to cheer for the past couple of seasons and this time of year is the down period for college football fans that have to wait two months until the Spring Game.

Let’s continue our walk down memory lane together and discuss the former Orange players who are still lacing up on Sundays.

Riley Dixon – Denver Broncos.

Let me kick this off by saying Riley is one of my favorite Syracuse players of all time. Huh? What is Paul Sr saying now? Did he hit his head? Does he know that Riley was a punter? Ok, ok well let me help erase that minimum wage look off your face as I lay it out for you.

So yes Riley is a punter.

Let us get some of the statistics on the table for you right off. Riley Dixon was selected in the seventh round by the Denver Broncos at number 228.

He was the second of three punters selected in the draft. The other two punters drafter were

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Drew Kaser by the San Diego Charger at pick 179 and Lachlan Edwards by the New York J-E-T-S at pick 235.

He had the best rookie campaign of any punter in NFL history with a record 41.3 yard average net per punt and was selected by the Professional Football Writers of America All Rookie Team for 2016.

The hidden stat that defines punters is even more impressive; 31 percent of all of his punts pinned Denver’s opponents inside their own twenty yard line.

He is a home grown hero born in Central New York (Oneida, NY) and attended Christian Brothers Academy right here in Syracuse.

In the spirit of Rudy he earned a spot on the roster by walking on in 2011. In 2013 his hard work earned him a well-deserved scholarship. I won’t bore you with a pile of statistics of his punting career at Syracuse I will summarize it as follows: his senior year he was a finalist for the Ray Guy award for the best punter in the nation and he holds the record for longest career punt at 75 yards! Soak that in for a moment 75 yards! Three quarters of a football field.

Finally the reasons he is my favorite are the statistics you were never associated with a punter…he had 4 unassisted tackles credited to him which for the uneducated or slow out there means he was the last line of defense to the other team scoring on a punt return.

He also was the master of the fake punt/field goal, making 4 of 4 attempts his Junior and Senior year when we ran for three first downs and a 42 yard scamper for a touchdown. Not to mention a touchdown pass on a fake field goal.

Next: Syracuse Football Recruiting Sitdown: Nykeim Johnson

To wrap this all up Riley Dixon is one of my favorite Syracuse players of all time because he was a smart hard working student that would make whatever contribution he could to his team. In the world of today’s college athlete we could all use a few more Riley Dixon’s.

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Syracuse Football Alumni In The NFL Part 5: Riley Dixon

By Paul a. Esden Sr. | Feb 28, 2017

This will be a series discussing Syracuse football players in the National Football League. Here’s one of the most successful SU players in the NFL.

If you’d like to see any of the previous editions you can do so here:

Riley Dixon – Denver Broncos.

More from Inside the Loud House