Jordon Dizon
Encyclopedia
Jordon Dizon is an American football
linebacker
who is currently a free agent. Dizon played college football
for the University of Colorado
. He was voted runner-up for the 2007 Butkus Award, given each year to college football's best linebacker. Dizon was selected as a consensus first-team All American
by the Walter Camp Football Foundation
,
the Associated Press
, Sporting News, ESPN
, and Rivals.com
for the 2007 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was named the Big 12 Conference
's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. A four-year starter for the Buffs, Dizon finished his collegiate career as the second-leading tackler among all active players.
on his native island of Kauai, Hawaii. Playing running back
and linebacker for the school of 860, Dizon rushed for 1157 yards (1,058 m) and 13 touchdowns in only five games as a junior, registering 75 stops on defense. During that year, Dizon rushed 37 times for 376 yards (344 m) and five touchdowns in a 55-0 win over Kapaa -- all career highs. Injured through most of his senior season (two games played: one carry, 12 yards (11 m), one touchdown; nine catches, 250 yards (228.6 m), three touchdowns), the Buffaloes were the only program to extend Dizon a scholarship offer, although he was recruited by other Big 12 and Pac-10 schools. He committed to play in Boulder on July 8, 2003, despite never having visited the state of Colorado
. Dizon also lettered in basketball, track, and soccer during his time in high school.
as a true freshman at Colorado, but was moved to linebacker before the season began. On September 4, 2004, playing against Colorado State University
, Dizon became the first true freshman in school history to start a season opener at inside linebacker. Playing in all 12 games as an 18-year old, Dizon easily set the school freshman record for tackles in a season with 82. Over the next two years, Dizon continued to rack up the tackles, posting 61 in 2005 and 137 in 2006. The latter number was most tackles made by a CU player in nearly a decade (Ryan Sutter
had 170 in 1997).
As a senior, Dizon recorded the best statistical season for a Buff linebacker since Matt Russell
's 1996 Butkus-winning campaign. Dizon lost the 2007 Butkus Award by an undisclosed number of votes to Ohio State
's James Laurinaitis
, despite tallying 57 more total tackles, 81 more solo tackles, and 2.5 more tackles-for-loss than the Buckeye junior. Dizon's numbers also came against superior competition, as Colorado played the 15th hardest schedule in the nation, while Ohio State's strength of schedule ranked 62nd.
During 2007, Dizon posted a single-game career-high in tackles against CSU (22) and set the single-season school record for third-down stops (3DS), with 19 in 12 games. Rarely leaving the field for the Buffs, Dizon missed only 34 of Colorado's 830 defensive snaps during the 2007 season. His 160 tackles were nearly double the next closest player on the team (safety Dan Dykes registered 83), and he finished his senior season with the most total tackles of any player on any Division I team in the nation. Colorado linebackers coach Brian Cabral
, who recruited Dizon out of high school, called the senior "the most complete, every down player that I’ve ever coached."
. His 34.5 inch vertical jump also impressed scouts, while Dizon's meager 12 repetitions lifting 225 pounds was considered poor for a linebacker.On April 26, 2008, Dizon was chosen 45th overall in the 2nd round of the 2008 draft by the Detroit Lions.
changed defensive schemes, moving Dizon back to the outside linebacker position. During the 2009 off-season, Dizon has earned high praise from Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham
and linebackers coach Matt Burke, the latter of whom noted, "Jordon’s probably been one of the hardest workers I have. He works really hard at it. He wants to do better, he wants to do it right and he really works at it. I’ve been really pleased with the work he’s done."
Dizon tore two tendons in his knee and damaged a third during the 2010 NFL preseason. He was placed on injured reserve
on August 16, 2010.
Detroit Lions released Dizon on July 28, 2011.
. He attended Waimea High School in Kauai, Hawaii, the westernmost high school
in the United States
. Growing up in Kauai, Dizon often hunted wild boar with only a knife. He is an avid golf
er, shooting sub-80 before his senior season began. Dizon is sponsored by Under Armour. Six days before the NFL Draft
, he was arrested for suspicion of DUI
. Thus far, he has pled not guilty to the charge.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
who is currently a free agent. Dizon played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. He was voted runner-up for the 2007 Butkus Award, given each year to college football's best linebacker. Dizon was selected as a consensus first-team All American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
by the Walter Camp Football Foundation
Walter Camp Football Foundation
The Walter Camp Football Foundation is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA. The organization also presents various awards.-Awards:*Walter Camp Player of the Year*CT Player of the Year...
,
the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Sporting News, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, and Rivals.com
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...
for the 2007 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was named the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. A four-year starter for the Buffs, Dizon finished his collegiate career as the second-leading tackler among all active players.
Early years
Dizon attended Waimea High SchoolWaimea High School
Waimea High School is a public high school in Waimea on the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. It was established in 1881 and serves grades 9 through 12. According to the Detroit Lions official website, it is the western most high school in the United States of America and therefore, the...
on his native island of Kauai, Hawaii. Playing running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
and linebacker for the school of 860, Dizon rushed for 1157 yards (1,058 m) and 13 touchdowns in only five games as a junior, registering 75 stops on defense. During that year, Dizon rushed 37 times for 376 yards (344 m) and five touchdowns in a 55-0 win over Kapaa -- all career highs. Injured through most of his senior season (two games played: one carry, 12 yards (11 m), one touchdown; nine catches, 250 yards (228.6 m), three touchdowns), the Buffaloes were the only program to extend Dizon a scholarship offer, although he was recruited by other Big 12 and Pac-10 schools. He committed to play in Boulder on July 8, 2003, despite never having visited the state of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Dizon also lettered in basketball, track, and soccer during his time in high school.
College career
Jordon Dizon first played safetyDefensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
as a true freshman at Colorado, but was moved to linebacker before the season began. On September 4, 2004, playing against Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...
, Dizon became the first true freshman in school history to start a season opener at inside linebacker. Playing in all 12 games as an 18-year old, Dizon easily set the school freshman record for tackles in a season with 82. Over the next two years, Dizon continued to rack up the tackles, posting 61 in 2005 and 137 in 2006. The latter number was most tackles made by a CU player in nearly a decade (Ryan Sutter
Ryan Sutter
Ryan Allen Sutter was the "winner" chosen by Trista Rehn on the TV show The Bachelorette. Sutter, a Colorado firefighter, and Rehn were married in a televised wedding on ABC on December 6, 2003...
had 170 in 1997).
As a senior, Dizon recorded the best statistical season for a Buff linebacker since Matt Russell
Matt Russell
Matthew Russell is a former American Football linebacker who played for the Detroit Lions in 1997. He is currently the Director of Pro Scouting with the Denver Broncos -Early Playing Career:...
's 1996 Butkus-winning campaign. Dizon lost the 2007 Butkus Award by an undisclosed number of votes to Ohio State
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
's James Laurinaitis
James Laurinaitis
-St. Louis Rams:Laurinaitis was drafted in the 2nd round 35th overall by the St. Louis Rams. On July 29, 2009, he signed a four-year, $5.1 million contract. The deal contained $3.3 million guaranteed...
, despite tallying 57 more total tackles, 81 more solo tackles, and 2.5 more tackles-for-loss than the Buckeye junior. Dizon's numbers also came against superior competition, as Colorado played the 15th hardest schedule in the nation, while Ohio State's strength of schedule ranked 62nd.
During 2007, Dizon posted a single-game career-high in tackles against CSU (22) and set the single-season school record for third-down stops (3DS), with 19 in 12 games. Rarely leaving the field for the Buffs, Dizon missed only 34 of Colorado's 830 defensive snaps during the 2007 season. His 160 tackles were nearly double the next closest player on the team (safety Dan Dykes registered 83), and he finished his senior season with the most total tackles of any player on any Division I team in the nation. Colorado linebackers coach Brian Cabral
Brian Cabral
-External links:...
, who recruited Dizon out of high school, called the senior "the most complete, every down player that I’ve ever coached."
College stats
| Tackles | Fumbles | Passing Game | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Plays | UT | AT | TT | For Loss | 3DS | Forced | Recovered | Sacks | Hurries | PBU | INT |
| 2004 | 12 | 597 | 51 | 31 | 82 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2005 | 12 | 475 | 42 | 19 | 61 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | 12 | 679 | 80 | 57 | 137 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | 12 | 796 | 120 | 40 | 160 | 11 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| TOTALS | 48 | 2547 | 293 | 147 | 440 | 35 | 48 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 2 |
Awards and recognition
- 2004
- Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year
- Defensive Freshman of the Year (Big 12 Coaches)
- Second-team Freshman All-AmericaAll-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n (The Sporting NewsThe Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
, Rivals.com) - Honorable mention All-Big 12 (Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
) - Freshman All-Big 12 team (The Sporting News)
- 2005
- Honorable mention All-Big 12 (Big 12 Coaches)
- 2006
- Second-team All-Big 12 (Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
) - Honorable mention All-Big 12 (Big 12 Coaches)
- First-team All-Big 12 (San Antonio Express-News)
- Butkus Award watch list
- Second-team All-Big 12 (Associated Press
- 2007
- Consensus First-team All-American
- Walter Camp Football Foundation
- The Sporting News
- Associated Press
- ESPN
- Rivals.com
- Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
- First-team All-Big 12 (Big 12 Coaches, San Antonio Express-News)
- Butkus Award Runner-up
- Lott TrophyLott TrophyThe Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. IMPACT is an acronym for: integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community, and tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the personal character of the winning player as well as...
semifinalist - Second-team Academic All-Big 12
- Mid-season All-American
- Sports Illustrated
- Rivals.com
- Phil Steele's College Football
- Mid-season All-Big 12
- Consensus First-team All-American
2008 Draft
During CU's pro timing day, Dizon ran the forty yard dash in 4.59 seconds—which would have registered among the five fastest times recorded by a linebacker at the 2008 NFL CombineNFL Combine
The National Invitational Camp or NFL Scouting Combine, as it is more widely known, is a week-long showcase, occurring every February in Indianapolis, Indiana's Lucas Oil Stadium , where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general...
. His 34.5 inch vertical jump also impressed scouts, while Dizon's meager 12 repetitions lifting 225 pounds was considered poor for a linebacker.On April 26, 2008, Dizon was chosen 45th overall in the 2nd round of the 2008 draft by the Detroit Lions.
Detroit Lions
Dizon's first season saw the rookie struggle to find consistent playing time. He finished the season with 31 total tackles, 14 of which came on special teams. When hired in January 2009, coach Jim SchwartzJim Schwartz
Jim Schwartz is an American football head coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.-Early life:Born just outside Baltimore, Maryland, Schwartz attended Mount Saint Joseph High School, an all male Catholic school, where he played football.Schwartz was a four-year letterman at...
changed defensive schemes, moving Dizon back to the outside linebacker position. During the 2009 off-season, Dizon has earned high praise from Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham
Gunther Cunningham
Gunther Cunningham is an American football defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. Cunningham has presided over some of the most successful defenses in NFL history , typically ranking at the top of the league in many statistical categories.Cunningham was born in 1946 in war-torn Munich,...
and linebackers coach Matt Burke, the latter of whom noted, "Jordon’s probably been one of the hardest workers I have. He works really hard at it. He wants to do better, he wants to do it right and he really works at it. I’ve been really pleased with the work he’s done."
Dizon tore two tendons in his knee and damaged a third during the 2010 NFL preseason. He was placed on injured reserve
Injured reserve
The injured reserve list is a list of reserved players who are injured and unable to play for a period of time, used most prominently in the National Hockey League and National Football League . It is used because these leagues have a maximum number of players on the team roster, so placing a...
on August 16, 2010.
Detroit Lions released Dizon on July 28, 2011.
Personal
Dizon graduated from the University of Colorado in May 2008 with a degree in economicsEconomics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. He attended Waimea High School in Kauai, Hawaii, the westernmost high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Growing up in Kauai, Dizon often hunted wild boar with only a knife. He is an avid golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er, shooting sub-80 before his senior season began. Dizon is sponsored by Under Armour. Six days before the NFL Draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
, he was arrested for suspicion of DUI
DUI
DUI is a three letter acronym that may stand for:* Driving under the influence * Democratic Union for Integration — the largest ethnic Albanian party in the Republic of Macedonia* Data Use Identifier...
. Thus far, he has pled not guilty to the charge.
See also
- Colorado Buffaloes footballColorado Buffaloes footballThe Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...
- 2005 Colorado Buffaloes football team2005 Colorado Buffaloes football teamThe 2005 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The previous year's team won the Big 12 North Conference. That marked the third Big 12 North championship for the Buffaloes in four years...
- 2006 Colorado Buffaloes football team2006 Colorado Buffaloes football teamThe 2006 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The previous year's team won the Big 12 North Conference. That marked the fourth Big 12 North championship for the Buffs in the past 5 years. The team has...
- 2007 Colorado Buffaloes football team2007 Colorado Buffaloes football teamThe 2007 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Dan Hawkins in his second season at Colorado and played their home games at Folsom Field. Colorado finished 6-7 after losing in the...
- 2007 College Football All-America Team2007 College Football All-America TeamThe 2007 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, ESPN, CBS Sports, College...