Dixon forgoes scholarship to play baseball

Thursday, June 7, Dennis Dixon was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball draft. Last Wednesday, six days later, he signed the contract. Upon doing so, he has to forgo his athletic scholarship because of the $150K he will receive through his baseball contract. Today, he's flying down to Florida to work out with the Braves' rookie-level guys for a few weeks, then he'll catch up with the Danville Braves for the remainder of the summer. He assured everyone at Oregon that he would be returning to the team for fall camps and the next season. From The Register Guard:

Dixon will have a playbook, game film and a football with him for the summer, and pledged to endure a workout plan designed by UO strength and conditioning guru Jim Radcliffe. But it won't be the same as living, socializing and practicing with his teammates every day, he acknowledged.

"Yeah, I'm worried about it," Dixon said. "It's always a thought in your mind," that if he struggles in the fall, his participation in baseball might be blamed.

"I don't want that to happen, so I'm going to bust my butt, do whatever I can in both sports just to be better."

Dixon said his football teammates have been supportive of his decision to try baseball, and he plans to maintain regular contact with them over the summer. UO head coach Mike Bellotti and coordinator Kelly have been supportive as well, though they've cautioned him not to jeopardize his eligibility in any way.

First of all, good for him that he's talented enough to be a college quarterback and get drafted to play baseball. Good for him. But you know who it's not good for? The Ducks! Even though not much goes on during the summer in football, he is going to miss that whole amount of time with coaches and teammates. Plus, it doesn't help that we have a new system under Coach Kelly that Dixon is/was the leader of. And I don't think that this quarterback, as athletic as he may be, is going to benefit when thrown into the new system pretty much blind. I don't know about you guys, but I still hate interceptions. I'm not exactly sure that I would be as quick as these coaches seemingly are about letting him jump back in after the summer. Now, I'm in no position to question the coaches, but as I've been campaigning for years, make Costa the starter!

All in all, I don't blame Dixon for taking $150K to play baseball for the summer. He graduated on Saturday, and this is his job out of college. Pretty damn good. However, as a Duck, I am a little upset at the whole situation. The way to make it all better? I won't even remember this if Dixon leads us to a solid bowl game.