Freshman running back a hit in Starkville

By

Posted 8:05PM on Thursday, September 14, 2006

JACKSON, Miss. - Anthony Dixon seemed too good to be true to Sylvester Croom. So the Mississippi State coach decided to test the freshman halfback during preseason practice with more than 30 carries in a row against one of the best run-stopping defenses around his own. Dixon didn't falter. ``Nothing fazes the boy,'' Croom said. So it should have come as little surprise when Dixon played last week with nothing more than a glove between the then No. 4 Auburn defense and his broken finger. Just days before, Dixon had surgery to place a pin and four screws in his left pinkie. Yet he led Mississippi State in rushing for the second straight game and is now the unquestioned starter for the Bulldogs (0-2) as they host Tulane (0-1) on Saturday. ``What he did last week, playing with that hand like that, that's impressive,'' Croom said. ``I mean not many guys would've done that. And I mean he really, really wanted to play and he played well. I was really concerned about asking a freshman to do that, you know. He has not been intimidated.'' Dixon said he is amazed he never took a direct hit to the finger. But it never crossed his mind to miss the game once the initial pain of the break and resulting surgery began to subside. His mother, Velma Dixon, was making the 2.5-hour drive north from Jackson, and she was coming whether he was going to play or not. He wasn't about to let her sit there and watch him wander the sideline. ``Looking at all the sacrifices she made for us made me say when I broke my pinkie, 'Man, I can go out there and do it because my mama, she did so much,''' Dixon said. ``I believe I'd be letting her down because I know she wants to come up and see me play on Saturdays.'' Anthony Dixon is the first of Velma Dixon's four sons to go to college. The next, Antwon, 17, has made an oral commitment to Croom and the Bulldogs. Younger brothers Rashun, 16, and Deshun, 15, are also promising athletes. But if Anthony Dixon is any measure, Croom thinks the boys are also promising young men. He sees one overarching reason for that. ``I tell you what, I'm going to give all the credit to his mama,'' Croom said. ``I really am because I think a lot of it's got to do with the way she raised him ... because the guy is a disciplined, hardworking, mentally tough individual, which is very unusual for a young man that age.'' Velma Dixon works two jobs as a bus driver and school detention supervisor that require a stern personality. She recently gave up a third and fills all her free time watching over her sons or driving them to an endless string of football, baseball and basketball games. ``Still after all of that, they're looking for mama to cook a meal,'' Dixon joked. She's had four children and at least two jobs since the age of 21. Since splitting with the boys' father, Anthony Williams, 10 years ago, her daily challenge has been to keep her sons on the right track. ``I'd rather spend my time and energy on them doing something positive than bailing them out of jail or something negative,'' Velma Dixon said. ``I'll run 24-7 as long as they're doing something positive for themselves and trying to make something of themselves. ``But when it comes to foolishness, oh no. I'm not for it. I know where my kids knock on wood are every day. If a coach calls for them, hey, they're in their room.'' Anthony Dixon said his father helped instill in his sons a work ethic about sports. In later years, that job has been taken over by mom. ``Once they got divorced and she became a single mother it was really on her all the time,'' Anthony Dixon said. ``She talked to us a lot of nights to try and keep our minds focused.'' It is that focus that perhaps impresses Croom and Dixon's teammates the most though his 6-foot-1, 229-pound frame and bullish running style command attention as well. ``AD is in a whole other world, man,'' quarterback Tray Rutland said. ``He's classified as a true freshman, but I don't see true freshman in Anthony Dixon. He just brings a package to the team. I had a year of watching Jerious Norwood. He kind of reminds me of Jerious Norwood the way his style of running is and the way he tries to hit the hole, things like that. That's a big plus for him. He's a big back and he can move quickly.'' Norwood finished his career as Mississippi State's all-time leading rusher and is making a splash for the Atlanta Falcons as a rookie. Dixon knew the expectations for the team's next starting halfback would be high, but that didn't deter him. He came into his freshman year simply hoping to contribute as a backup to Brandon Thornton. After a single game he earned the starting job and has been the team's most consistent offensive threat with 137 yards rushing and an average of 4.7 yards per carry. He thinks he has found the home he was looking for during the recruiting process. And Velma Dixon is sure of it. If she can't be there to guide Anthony into adulthood, she was sure Croom could do the job from the moment he came to visit the family. ``He was the only coach who came in and sat at the kitchen table and ate dinner with us,'' she said. ``All the other coaches came in and said their little speech and then they were gone.'' (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)