Raiders FB Dixon Was a Real Double Threat
In this story:
Fullback Hewitt Dixon of the Oakland Raiders is another standout player from the ten seasons (1960-69) of the American Football League who has been overlooked and almost forgotten over the years.
Dixon was selected out of Florida A&M in the 11th round (No. 151 overall) of the 1963 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and in the eighth round (No. 60 overall) of the AFL Draft by the Denver Broncos,, the team he signed with.
After playing in only five games as a rookie and having three unproductive seasons in Denver, Dixon signed with the Raiders in 1966, and his career took off once he donned the Silver and Black.
The man known as “Hewie the Tank” joined with Raiders star running back Clem Daniels to form perhaps the best backfield in the AFL while being selected to the league’s All-Star Game in 1966, ’67, and ’68 was an All-AFL selection in 1970 and also played in the Pro Bowl that season after the AFL-NFL merger was completed.
The 6-2, 235-pound Dixon, a former tight end who had the exceptional speed for a man his size, stepped up after Daniels sustained a career-ending knee injury late in the 1967 season.
In the AFL Championship Game that season, he took over as the Raiders’ primary running back with Daniels out and ran 69 yards for the first touchdown of the game and finished with 144 yards on 21 carries in a 40-7 trouncing of the Houston Oilers at the Oakland Coliseum.
Dixon also led the Raiders with 54 yards on 12 carries as they lost, 33-14, to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“It’s not the same as having both of them back there, but Hewritt has really stepped up since we lost Clem and kept our momentum going,” Managing General Partner Al Davis said of how the Raiders didn’t skip a beat with Dixon as the primary back as the Raiders rolled to a 13-1 regular-season record in 1967. “He can really run for a guy his size and gives us another deep threat.”
Dixon, who took on rookie Charlie Smith as his running mate in the backfield in 1968, scored on pass plays of 76, 62, 59, 48, 46, 41, and 37 yards during his career with the Raiders. His best season came in 1968 when Daniels did not return because of his knee injury, and Dixon rushed for 865 yards on 206 carries, with two touchdowns, and caught 38 passes for 360 yards and two more scores.
After rushing for 861 yards, a touchdown on 197 carries, and catching 31 passes for 207 yards and another score in 1970, Dixon surprisingly retired at 30 when he still seemed to have plenty left in the tank.
However, in that last season, Dixon scored the first touchdown for the Silver and Black in their initial appearance on Monday Night Football, sweeping left behind a block from guard Gene Upshaw and running 39 yards for a score on the Raiders’ first offensive play of the game. Dixon rushed for 164 yards in 18 carries that night in a 34-20 over the Washington Redskins at the Oakland Coliseum.
In five seasons with the Raiders, Dixon rushed for 2,960 yards and 13 touchdowns, he also was a huge threat running down the field in Davis’ famed “Vertical Passing Game,” catching 190 passes for 1,750 yards and ten scores.
And with other teams who ran the ball more, he really could have piled up the rushing yards.
After he retired following that 1970 season, Dixon settled in Los Angeles and spent many years aiding youth offenders at Eastlake Juvenile Hall before dying of cancer far too young at 52 in 1992.
If you want to look at that list of Raiders in the Hall of Fame, you can find it WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
The NFL Scouting Combine is scheduled for Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST, is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. From 12 p.m. EST on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EST on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EST on March 15.
The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EST on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.
Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
