Day of the Dawg

Popular and outspoken NFL cornerback Hanford Dixon offers an inside look at the turbulent, exciting, and frustrating Cleveland Browns seasons of the 1980s.

A three-time Pro Bowler and co-inventor of the Dawg Pound, Dixon recalls both the roller-coaster on-field action and a culture of drug use that permeated the NFL and led to the tragic death of a teammate. He shares in detail …

What it was like to be a first-round NFL draft pick fighting for the starting job in training camp …
What it took, mentally and physically, to play the toughest game at the highest level for a storied franchise …
The adrenaline rush of whipping up a frenzied crowd of 80,000 rabid fans in Municipal Stadium …
The thrill of being one game away from the Super Bowl—three times! …
And the crushing disappointment of losing those big games.

Dixon refers to himself as “a top-notch, speedy, loud-mouth, cocky, shutdown cornerback.” That gives an idea of his outsized personality as well as his willingness to say exactly what he means. He’s not shy about delivering praise or criticism where he thinks it’s due—to teammates, coaches, officials … or himself. This Dawg tells it the way it was.

Author Biography

Hanford Dixon played his entire NFL career (1981-1989) for the Cleveland Browns after being the 22nd pick in the first round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He was selected for the Pro Bowl three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1988. His habit of barking at teammates, fans, and opponents inspired the “Dawg Pound,” the name still used for the vocal and excitable end-zone section of fans at Browns games. He was selected as a member of the Cleveland Browns Legends in 2003. He and teammate Frank Minnifield were selected as the No 2 “Best Cornerback Tandem of All-Time” by NFL.com. Dixon was born in Mobile, Alabama. He attended The University of Southern Mississippi, and was later named to the Southern Mississippi All-Century Team and inducted into the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. A regular commentator and analyst for Browns broadcasts on television and radio, he has also served as the head coach of the Lingerie Football League’s Cleveland Crush. Randy Nyerges is a writer, a musician, and a certified tutor in the Cleveland Public Schools. He previously worked in media relations in Washington, D.C, and has held several staff appointments in the United States Senate. He graduated from Kent State University with a degree in journalism.