Former Arizona Players Finding Success Outside of the NFL
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Former college players do not always have to make it to the NFL to have a successful career outside the Division I NCAA level, that much has been proven with former Arizona Wildcats Jayden De Laura and Drew Dixon bolstering the respective teams they play for in the Indoor Football League.
Dixon was a local phenom when he played at Sabino High School as a quarterback. He was recruited in the Rich Rodriguez era for the 2017 class and redshirted that year played for the Wildcats for four seasons, three of those under Kevin Sumlin.
After Sumlin was fired and Jedd Fisch took over as head coach, Dixon made the move to hit the transfer portal soon after on December 31, 2020.
Dixon finished his time with the Wildcats with 17 receptions, 189 yards and two touchdowns across two years
One year later and Dixon found himself at Limestone University, a Division II school in Gaffney, SC. He quickly became a standout with the program, amassing 1322 yards and nine touchdowns in 17 games played.
Dixon said that playing in front of the crowd that cheered him on at Sabino and Arizona gives him "That Tucson Pride". He then added, "So, you know, being able to play in front of Tucson, my home city, you know, I take pride in it for sure."
Dixon signed with the Sugar Skulls in the offseason leading up to the 2025 season, appeared in 14 games, caught 43 receptions, gathered a team high 619 yards and nine touchdowns.
On the final home game of the season, Dixon caught a 43 yard touchdown, the longest one of the season for him. It seemed fitting for Dixon to score across the field on the final home game of the season.
The @sugarskullsfb offense ties the game up at 14 on this @jorgereyna_11 to @Drew1Dixon connection for 6! 🔥 #TheIndoorWar #TheMajorLeagueOfIndoorFootball #IFL pic.twitter.com/jxKQYdw1gk
— Indoor Football League (@IndoorFL) July 20, 2025
"I had to over so, you know, we've been working in practice all day how to run against the defense," Dixon said. "You know, just stair step in the middle and break it off and he tried to undercut it, caught it, and score,
The Sugar Skulls were in the hunt for the final playoff spot to the second to final game of the season, where a 49-24 loss to the No. 1-seeded Bay Area Panthers knocked them out of contention. Tucson finished the season 6-10.
Quarterback Jayden de Laura transferred to Arizona in 2022, the start of the Jedd Fisch era, after a year with Washington State that saw him win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors.
De Laura started all 12 games for Arizona and threw for 3685 yards, which is the third most in the team's history, and 25 touchdowns
The 6-foot-0, 207-pound Honolulu, HI native's most notable game came against Washington, where he threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-39 loss to the Huskies.
De Laura upset the UCLA Bruins, who were ranked No. 12 at the time. He threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns and a season high completion percentage of 78.6 percent in the 38-24 win at the Rose Bowl.
De Laura also passed for a season-high 484 yards and six touchdowns in a 43-20 win over Colorado at Arizona Stadium.
De Laura started the first four games of 2023, but an ankle injury that he suffered at Stanford saw Noah Fifita take over the offense in a come-from-behind victory at Palo Alto.
Fifita went on to lead Arizona to a 10-3 season and a 38-24 victory in the Alamo Bowl over No.12 Oklahoma.
De Laura originally chose to transfer to Texas State for the 2024 season, but a lawsuit from a second-degree sexual assault case in 2018 led him to pull out of that on January 24, 2024 and test the waters of going pro.
De Laura is now headed to the 2025 IFL playoffs as a key part of the Vegas Knight Hawks' offense. In 12 games played, de Laura threw for 1222 yards, 26 touchdowns and two interceptions in a 10-6 season and a No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
The biggest question De Laura asked himself after a year away from football was "How can I be better when I come back?" he told reporters after a win in Henderson, NV against the Arizona Rattlers.
He added, "That was one of the things I really harped on myself. And then kind of just being there for everybody, not just getting caught up too much in the moment, just being grateful that I'm playing football again."
Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.