Debut thrills spill over for Stamps lineman
By WES GILBERTSON, QMI Agency
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CALGARY - Calgary Stampeders defensive lineman Kevin Dixon could hardly contain his enthusiasm.
Almost 4,000 km away in Florida, he figured his mother, Tonya McCoy, would be even more amped up.
“She’s been my backbone, my support and everything. She’s going to be real, real excited when she finds out I’m playing. I haven’t told her yet,” Dixon said.
“She’s going to be off the top, way more than I am. She might want to run out there and play, as well.”
Dixon will make his three-down football debut in Friday’s clash with the B.C. Lions, likely as a member of Calgary’s defensive front four.
With B.C.-born Corey Mace sidelined indefinitely with a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Stamps are counting on Dixon to create a ruckus on the interior. Dixon was stashed on Calgary’s practice roster for the opening week of the regular season but will be activated for Friday’s road trip.
It’s been about two years since the final snap of his collegiate career. The 6-foot-2, 260-pounder had a free-agent tryout with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks last spring and is now hoping to make McMahon Stadium his long-term football home.
“It means a lot,” Dixon said. “I played a lot in the pre-season games and just to come out here and to play a real regular-season game for the Calgary Stampeders, and me getting this chance to come out and play a lot, I’m so excited.”
