Checotah and University of Oklahoma football standout Greg Dixon passed away on Sunday, Nov. 17. Dixon was 58 years old and battled cancer for a long time.
Dixon helped Oklahoma win the 1985 National Championship, 3- Big 8 Championships (1985, 86,87) three Orange Bowl titles and the 1988 Citrus Bowl title.
Dixon graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Law. He worked in the Oklahoma City and McIntosh county D.A.’s office and was the Setting Judge for Cleveland, Garvin and Mc-Clain counties and was a successful attorney.
“The summer before his senior season he, his dad Leon who was the baseball coach, and I discussed what would be best for Greg. Greg was going to get a job to help with college. Leon made him this offer: go to the stadium and work out on a program I would design from 8-12 Monday through Friday; eat lunch then go to the gym and work out for another four hours. Leon and Barbara would pay him an hourly wage similar to what he would earn if he had a job. He did this religiously every day. We installed the single wing to utilize him as the spinner back and Bill Osmand as fullback.
Greg had developed to 6’ 2” and 210 pounds. Bill was close to that. We were undefeated through six or seven games but lost both of them to injuries in the same game. Greg did well enough before the injury (high ankle sprain) that OU coach Barry Switzer still gave him an offer,” former Checotah head coach Ray Grandstaff said.
“Greg was like a brother to me. He was my best friend from kindergarten on. He was a real man who walked the right way every day. He was just a model of consistency and dedication over his lifetime in his faith, to his family and his friends. What a great person that God placed in my life,” Bill Osmond said.
In a prior interview with Dixon he said that he will always remember a quote that coach Switzer said everyday before practice, “Every day you get up, you either get better or you don’t.”
“Greg was as good of a player that I ever coached. He had a terrific attitude and an even greater work ethic. He was here every day to work out and some days he would be waiting for me to open the doors to our workout facility,” said Grandstaff.
Dixon is the son of Leon and Barbara Dixon and was inducted into the Checotah Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.
Greg is survived by his loving wife Gina Dixon of the home; son, Elijah Ben Dixon of Norman; daughters, Jordan Dale Terry and husband Kyle of Washington and Hannah Lynn Treadaway and husband Isaac of Washington; mother, Barbara Dixon of Checotah; sister, Tina Swayze and husband Jerry of Purcell; brother, Dru Dixon and wife Kelli of Talala; four grandchildren, Mia and Griffin Terry, and Lottie and Shepherd Treadaway, several nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of other family and friends.
Over 700 people attended Dixon’s funeral giving a testament of what kind of gentleman he was.
