Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312110016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When he lifts weights, it is in the morning, when Virginia's weight room is practically deserted. He can be reached only through some of his old teammates, who screen his calls. He has been urged to join the Cavaliers at the upcoming Carquest Bowl but doesn't want to cause any distractions.
"I've been trying to lay low," Dixon, a senior from Jamestown, N.C., said. "It seems, everywhere I go, I have to answer questions."
For almost three weeks, Dixon has declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding his suspension prior to UVa's final regular-season game against Virginia Tech.
"When it first happened, I couldn't believe it," Dixon said. "I was really bitter. I knew I couldn't talk about it rationally. Now that I've talked to some [academic] people, I can see where the deans were in a tough situation."
Dixon has heard various rumors, many of them false. He did not commit an honor offense. Plain and simple, he saw that he was not going to pass enough classes to earn his degree this fall and stopped going to class.
"I want to graduate," Dixon, an offensive guard, said. "And I want to graduate from UVa. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done what I did."
Dixon had missed so much time in one of his classes that he knew he wouldn't pass. A failing grade would have caused his grade-point average to fall below the required level and possibly prevented him from returning to UVa.
As a result, he planned to drop all of his classes and return sometime after the spring semester, when his time will be occupied by workouts with National Football League scouts and a trip to the NFL "combine."
"Without a doubt, being a football player and having a name did not help in this case," Dixon said. "When Mark Dixon is not going to class, the professor knows it. He couldn't let me miss more classes than anyone else."
The school did not announce that Dixon had been suspended until Nov. 19, ostensibly after the final appeal process had been exhausted, "but," he said, "I knew going into the Clemson game [Nov. 13] that it was my last game."
Dixon was not at Scott Stadium the next week to see Virginia play Virginia Tech.
"That would have been too tough," Dixon said. "It was almost like I didn't feel I was wanted. I felt a little like I had been betrayed by the institution. I would have loved to play my final home game, but I'm not here to bash anyone. The coaches did what they could."
Dixon watched on TV as the Hokies beat Virginia 20-17. One of the key plays came in the third quarter when the Hokies, leading 17-10, stopped UVa on fourth-and-1 from the 3-yard line.
It was one of the few times all season that the Cavaliers had run to the right in a crucial situation.
"No doubt about it, that's when it really hit me because I knew the play wasn't going where it usually goes," Dixon, a left guard, said.
Danny Wilmer, the Virginia assistant who recruited Dixon, was eager to have the full story told.
"I don't think it's good when a young man does not take care of business academically," Wilmer said, "but Mark's not the first person, athlete or non-athlete, to let things slide.
"It hurt him a lot. He feels like he let some people down. It's a shame it had to come down to this, but it hasn't been devastating to his career or the program. He's had a great career here."
Dixon had hoped that he might be in line for some postseason honors, but he had been disappointed before, most notably in 1992, when he was a second-team All-ACC selection.
"I don't know that I played much better this year than I did last year," Dixon said, "but I think that my name started to get out. I wouldn't say I expected to make these teams because I've come not to expect anything anymore, but I felt I deserved to."
Dixon's spirits were lifted the day after the Tech game, when he was named to The Football News All-America team. He subsequently made first-team All-ACC and was named first-team All-American by the Football Writers' Association, United Press International, the Walter Camp Foundation and The Associated Press.
"It's good to be known for something other than being booted," Dixon said.
He became UVa's sixth consensus All-American and would have been unanimous if he had made the Kodak team, which picked Virginia Tech center Jim Pyne and four offensive lineman, all of whom happened to be tackles.
"When I saw all those tackles, I wondered how fair it was," Dixon said. "Tackles usually get more exposure. There's more congestion at guard."
The AP All-America team is recognized on the Bob Hope Christmas Special, which meant Dixon got an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for the filming. He had his picture taken with Hope but said the best part was schmoozing with the other players.
"It helps," he said, "but it doesn't take away the bitterness of not being able to play in my last college game. I've been playing with some of these guys like [offensive tackle] Jim Reid for four years. I always thought we'd go out together."
by CNB