Nixon's Collegiate Football Dreams

Although his brother Michael didn't think he would ever be good enough to play college football, David Nixon, the 6-foot-3, 221-pound linebacker had something else in mind.

"Ever since I was 12, I continually bet my older brother Mike five bucks that I was going to play football in college. It was my dream," Nixon said. "When it finally happened, Mike was on his mission and didn't pay up. I still haven't seen any of the $2,000 or so that he owes me."

Nixon was born March 16, 1985, the sixth out of ten children, to Clair and Laura Nixon in College Station, Texas, where he spent his childhood days. The only year he didn't live in College Station was when his father took a sabbatical to teach at a university in Boston, Massachusetts.

He played football and basketball his whole life, including high school, aside from the one year in eighth grade when he lived in Boston where they didn't have football.

"I wanted to be a linebacker ever since my brother Will was," he said. "I also wanted to be the person doing the hitting instead of being hit."

After his freshman year of high school, he seriously considered quitting football and focusing on basketball.

"I had a passion for basketball, so it was a hard decision," he said. "But the football coaches talked to me a lot and convinced me to keep at it and it's a good thing that they did for what I have now accomplished."

In addition to playing football and basketball throughout high school, he ran track and played baseball in junior high.

Texas has a football tradition like no other state in the country. When in high school, Nixon said that they would have an average of 9,000 people in the stands and also had about 25-30,000 people attend their rivalry game held at Texas A&M's stadium.

Nixon credits his being recruited to the great coaches that he had in middle school and high school. Texas A&M was the first university to recruit Nixon, which happened in March of his junior year. After that, he got many more offers from universities all over the country, including LSU, Arizona, Kansas State, Purdue, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, TCU, SMU and others.

After receiving attention from numerous universities, Nixon narrowed his choices to Texas A&M and BYU.

"I was thinking about A&M because I loved growing up there and it's where my family was," he said. "The coaches called me every week to see how I was doing and gave me top-notch treatment."

Even though Texas A&M was appealing, BYU had the "x-factor" that made his decision.

"I chose BYU because of the atmosphere and the great football tradition," he said. "I think that's why a lot of athletes choose to come here, because of what goes on, what you feel. The actual football season only goes on for about three months, whereas you need to live your life the whole 12 months. There's more to life than football."

Nixon officially signed with BYU and played in all 12 games his freshman year in 2003. He left the following January to serve an LDS Church mission to Quito, Ecuador, following in his four older brother's footsteps.

"Serving a mission was amazing," he said. "Being able to teach people about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ--there's nothing else that could come out with such satisfaction. I could get trophies or earn first-team All-America honors, but it's nothing compared to seeing someone being baptized a member of the Church."

While living in a foreign country for two years where he couldn't practice, he tried his best to keep in shape through using make-shift 150 pound weights made out of cement which he used the first 18 months of his mission.

The last six months they were told that they couldn't use the weights anymore, but luckily he had rubber bands. He would use those and do push-ups and sit-ups every morning.

Despite the effort he put into staying in shape, he lost about 28 pounds and got back in December 2005 a trim 197 pounds.

"Fortunately I got back home three months before starting spring ball so I could get in shape," he said. "Even though I lost a lot of strength and speed while on my mission, I don't regret it one bit. It was by far one of the best experiences of my life and obviously something that will help me for the rest of it--which I think is most important."

Nixon flew back home December 22, 2005, the day of the BYU bowl game. "My flight came in to Houston around 4 p.m. and our connecting flight to College Station was cancelled. The game started at 7 p.m., so we rented a car to drive home and we got there about 6:15. I had an interview with the Stake President at 6:30 where we talked and he released me. I got home about 7:15, I threw off my coat jacket and started watching the game with my family."

Nixon came back to BYU at the beginning of this semester where he now hopes to compete for a position in the Cougar lineup.

"There are many great linebackers out there. I have a lot of competition," he said. "I just hope to make a contribution to the team in some way because it looks like we're going to be really good this year. I can feel it. It's going to be a fun year and I just hope that I can be a part of it."

While football is a big part of his life at BYU, Nixon has many other goals and aspirations. He is majoring in business, looking to go into finance or accounting and would like to one day be the CFO of a company or an accounting firm.

Nixon is excited to return to the BYU program under the leadership of head coach, Bronco Mendenhall.

"Bronco demands a positive attitude and expects a lot from us; which is the way it should be," he said. "As hard as Bronco's coaching style may be, it gets the job done. We aren't the best athletes in the country, but I know that if we work our tails off we can be a successful team. Bronco is trying to emphasize that."

While his brother may never pay up, he will still be giving his all on the football field and completing his long-awaited dream.