He has Bible scripture tattooed on his left arm. He reads Psalms 91 every morning before he brushes his teeth. He also spends some of his free time reading the Bible. The key word is free. Faith and prayer carried Marcus Dixon through prison and gave him a second chance and the opportunity of a lifetime.
Even if Dixon doesn’t make the Dallas Cowboys’ roster – an undrafted free agent is a long shot – he knows he’ll be successful. Anything less would be disservice to the many people who helped him reclaim his life after trumped up charges in Lindale, Georgia resulted in Dixon spending nearly 15 months in prison after being convicted of statutory and child molestation as an 18-year-old high school senior.
Life has always been a struggle for Dixon. His father left when he was a youngster, and his mother battled drug addiction. His grandmother, Glenda Reynolds, raised him until he was 10. That’s when Dixon asked Ken Jones, who had been his Little League all-star coach, if he could move in with Jones and his family – wife, Peri, and son, Casey. Dixon had become good friends with Casey Jones that summer.
The Joneses are White. When it comes to race relations for small southern towns stuck in the 1950s, that is a combustible mix. “This is just a little redneck country town,” his long time friend since middle school said.
Dixon was a grade A student at Pepperell High School and excelled on the football field to the point where he had been offered a full scholarship at Vanderbilt University, but due to his court case and conviction he was unable to take on this opportunity. “I always felt like it was cool to make all A’s and B’s,” said Dixon, whose high school GPA was close to 4.0. “I never thought it was cool to fail classes. I treated school like it was a football game.”
Four days after signing with Vanderbilt, a 15-year-old White classmate accused him of raping her in an empty classroom. He said it was consensual sex. Prosecutors charged Dixon with rape, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, sexual battery, statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. Dixon represented by a public defender who was handling his first defense case, was acquitted of rape, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and sexual battery. All of that indicates the jury believed Dixon. But according to state law, the girl was underage, and the jury found Dixon guilty of statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. Statutory rape is a misdemeanor; aggravated child molestation is a felony that carries a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.
Dixon believed his life was over. And it might have been without people like Atlanta attorney David Balser, who took Dixon’s case pro bono after reading about it. And Reverend Terrell Shields, who led a protest and raised money for Dixon’s defense team. And Hampton University president William R. Harvey, who enrolled Dixon in his school after Vanderbilt, had rescinded its scholarship offer and other schools stayed away. “I was told it was a slam dunk case against him, but after going to court and listening to the evidence, I found that not to be true,” Reverend Shields said. “I spoke to the district attorney, and she really lit a fire under me when she said, ‘A person born at risk is destined to fail.’”
The story made national news. It was featured on Oprah, HBO’s Real Sports and ESPN.
Dixon was imprisoned until the Georgia Supreme Court, ruling 4-3, said Dixon should have been prosecuted solely on the statutory rape charge, which carries a maximum of one-year sentence. He was immediately released.
Upon his release from prison Dixon enrolled at Hampton University with a football scholarship. Hard work has always been part of Dixon’s profile. He was a regular on the dean’s list at Hampton. He became a starter midway through his freshman season and ended his career as a three-year captain.
Dixon, 6-4, 294 pounds, attended the NFL scouting combine and repeated his story to any coach or general manager who inquired. Most scouts figured he would be a late-round draft choice or a priority free agent. But, with NFL teams placing so much emphasis on character these days, Dixon knew it was possible he might not get drafted. On April 27, 2008, Marcus signed a three-year, $1.1 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. “For a young man, he has seen a lot of life,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “I know he wouldn’t recommend it for anybody, but I’ve always thought that I’d rather be in a foxhole with people who’ve had some hard times.”
Dixon enjoyed every aspect of his first mini-camp weekend with the Cowboys. He spent a portion of the first day taking pictures of the locker room on his cell phone and e-mailing them to his mom. In a couple of months, training camp will begin and Dixon will officially go about the business of making the team. Perhaps, then, it will be an even bigger story.
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