Editor's Note: The Marist Athletics Department is continuing to highlight its Senior Awards finalists. From April 20-May 15, a feature story will be presented on each finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.

Female Sportsperson Finalists: Megan Fergus (Volleyball) | Sydney Ford (Women's Rowing) | Alana Gilmer (Women's Basketball) |  Denise Grohn (Women's Cross Country/Track) | Rebekah Hand (Women's Basketball) | Samantha Mehalick (Women's Lacrosse) | Anais Mathes (Water Polo) | Ali Milam (Softball) | Juliet Nowak (Swimming & Diving) | Claire Oberdorf (Softball/Women's Basketball) | Alexa Svensson (Women's Soccer)
 
Male Sportsperson Finalists: Raislan Aiken (Swimming & Diving) | Matthew Blaszczyk (Men's Rowing) | Samad Bounthong (Men's Soccer)

POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Grant Dixon emerged as a leader early in his time with the Marist football program.
 
Dixon has earned a reputation as a high achiever both on and off the field. His contributions grew each season, and he is a finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.
 
"If you look at the way he looks at life, how he sees opportunities and how he goes after them," head coach Jim Parady said, "the biggest thing is, he's never satisfied. He's always looking for growth in any area of his life. He always wants to be improving, and he wants other people to improve along with him."
 

 

Road To Marist

Dixon started playing football when he was eight years old, but was involved in multiple sports growing up. He would frequently be around his father's basketball practices, and played basketball in addition to baseball and lacrosse.
 
When Dixon reached his junior year of high school, his dedication turned more to football. He played both sides of the ball with a goal of becoming a collegiate quarterback. However, the fastest way for him to see the field involved focusing on the linebacker position.
 
To do that, Dixon realized he needed to get bigger and stronger. Standing 6-foot-3, he weighed around 185 pounds in high school. The goal was to maintain his natural speed and athleticism while increasing his strength. This involved extra attention to deal in his workouts under the direction of Marist Strength & Conditioning Coach Aaron Suma.
 
"I followed Coach Suma's workouts to a T," Dixon said. "It was about getting stronger. Everyone (coming in to college) is the biggest, strongest, fastest guy … so you have to separate yourself from the pack."
 

Nicknames

Dixon was one of 30 freshmen who joined the Red Foxes for the 2016 season. He was also one of 26 who did not see any playing time in his first year on campus. However, Dixon used his red-shirt season to bulk up and improve his play on the field through scout team practice reps.
 
"The meal plan in the café definitely helped me," Dixon said. "Scout team helped me. I took it as a challenge. I made myself better, my teammates better, and the offense better."
 
Although Dixon remained relatively anonymous on game day wearing a red jersey with the number 63, he was evolving into someone his teammates gravitated toward through his work ethic. And then the nicknames started to come.
 
The first, Dixon recalled, was "Dad." He figured that mostly derived from wearing jeans and a sweatshirt often during his freshman year.
 
Shortly thereafter, the one that stuck was "Captain America," as he earned a reputation as someone who was always doing the right thing on and off the field, and did whatever was asked.
 
"I guess it just caught on during sprints and workouts," Dixon said. "It was the older guys, the seniors who started joking about it. Once Coach Suma heard it, it just started catching on. I'm not going to disagree, but I appreciate it."
 
His head coach felt like the moniker was earned as well.
 
"That was built on everything he did," Parady said. "He carries it well. He's just one of the guys, too, which is nice."
 

Team Leader

The growth in Dixon's game from one season to the next has been clearly evident. A similar correlation was seen in his work in the weight room.
 
"I have had the pleasure of coaching close to 2,000 student athletes in my time as a Strength & Conditioning coach, and I have never seen such a linear physical progression in an athlete as I have in Grant," Suma said.

By the dawn of the 2017 season, Dixon bulked up to 217 pounds. He switched to a more conventional linebacker jersey number (47), and the time was running out for him to remain anonymous on the field.
 
As a sophomore, Dixon earned reps mostly behind three-time All-Pioneer Football League (PFL) linebacker Willie Barrett. He made an impact with 39 tackles, six stops for a loss of yardage, and three sacks.
 
The respect for Dixon within the program continued to grow. A week-and-a-half prior to the start of the 2018 season, Dixon was selected a team captain. He became one of just four players in Parady's tenure, which started in 1992, to be named captain in his junior year – and the first to accomplish the feat with three years of eligibility remaining.
 

 
"I'm a keep my head down, work hard, push my teammates type of a guy," Dixon said. "For the most part, I speak up when I need to do. I'm not a yell all the time motivator."
 
Another one of the four junior captains in Parady's tenure came to Marist in the same recruiting class as Dixon – offensive lineman Dan Wittekind. Their shared work ethic helped improve the culture in the program.
 
"Grant is all around a great person," Wittekind said. "He always does the right thing. He's a total players' captain. He'll have your back no matter what. He does the work. Sometimes after a Wednesday practice you don't want to lift, but similar to myself, he just does it, because he know he has to. He's one of the best friends I've made at college."
 
Meanwhile, Dixon's play on the field as a junior once again showed an upward trajectory. In the second game of the season at Bryant, he had nine tackles and returned an interception 62 yards for his first collegiate touchdown. He started all 11 games, and was named Honorable Mention All-PFL.
 

Senior Season

Dixon was even better in 2019, his second year as a captain.
 
He led the Red Foxes 86 tackles and 10.5 stops for a loss of yardage. He had 13 stops in each of his last two games of the season, and also registered four sacks en route to being named First Team All-PFL.
 

Congratulations to Grant Dixon for his first-career All-PFL First Team honor!!! #GoRedFoxes #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/fl6F2h5bh8

— Marist Football (@Marist_Fball) December 3, 2019

 
It was also a season in which Dixon savored the personal experiences. He particularly enjoyed the Red Foxes' hard-fought 27-21 win at Davidson on Oct. 26, in which he contributed nine tackles, two stops for loss, and a sack.
 
The team's season finale at Valparaiso on Nov. 23 marked the final game as a Red Fox for some of his friends. Fellow linebacker Colin Moran initially joined the program as a walk-on, and made his first collegiate start against the Crusaders. In the second quarter, Moran picked off a pass for his first collegiate interception.
 
"I don't think I've ever been more excited for a teammate in my life," Dixon said.  "We both worked hard every chance we got. Last game, his first start, it was awesome to see."
 
The Red Foxes led 19-14 with Valparaiso driving in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Fifth-year senior safety Andrew McElroy then sealed the victory by returning an interception 90 yards for his first collegiate touchdown.
 
"All the years I've been here, he's been a great teammate & great friend," Dixon said of McElroy. "He never said a lot, but he was a leader. The last play of his career was awesome."
 
Dixon will be returning to the Red Foxes for the 2020 season for his fifth year of eligibility. He has the opportunity to be selected as the first three-time captain in Parady's tenure.
 

High Marks Off The Field

In addition to his strong play on the field, Dixon has been consistently successful in the classroom as a Business Administration major.
 
"It's not something he has to think much about," Parady said. "It's who he is as a person. He's a great athlete, and he's great with academics and community service. He's well-rounded."
 
In 2019, he was named a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District selection. In each of the last three seasons, he has been selected to the PFL All-Academic Team, which is voted on by the league's sports information directors, with a First Team honor in 2019 and a Second Team award the two prior years. Both awards take athletic and academic accomplishments into account.
 

Proud to announce 2?? CoSIDA Academic All-District selections for @Marist_Fball: Grant Dixon & Jack Griffith! #GoRedFoxes https://t.co/DJDKZaM1bv

— Marist Athletics (@MaristAthletics) November 14, 2019

 
Dixon has been named to Marist's Dean's List three times for having a grade-point average of at least 3.6 during a semester. In all four of his years at Marist, he was named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll for having a grade-point average of at least 3.0 during the Fall semester while the team is in-season.
 
Dixon's philosophy in succeeding off the field was positively influenced in high school by a line from current East Stroudsburg head coach Jimmy Terwilliger.
 
"Before you compete, be a scholar in the seat."