For a guy as humble as Jordon Dizon, who’s considered the best defensive freshman football player in one of the best conferences in the country, the individual awards are even sweeter if it’s followed by team success, which means a
For a guy as humble as Jordon Dizon, who’s considered the best defensive freshman football player in one of the best conferences in the country, the individual awards are even sweeter if it’s followed by team success, which means a Fiesta Bowl appearance.
“Winning the Big 12 North and playing in the (conference) championship game and having a chance to go to the Fiesta Bowl has been a great experience for me during my freshman year,” Dizon stated. “Those things might even be more important (than winning the award).
Fresh off the biggest individual honor in his young football career, as the Big 12 Conference’s Freshman of the Year, Waimea’s Jordon Dizon put yet another award on his sleeve with conference honorable mention honors.
Even his biggest supporters, his mom (Darla Abbatiello) and dad (Clifford Dizon), are extremely happy for their son’s success.
“I am very proud of him and there are a lot of people on Kaua‘i who are proud of him too,” Abbatiello said.
Jordon’s dad, Clifford, who is a frequent visitor to the Kaua‘i Athletic Club, seems overwhelmed the amount of support people around Kaua‘i show for Jordon.
“Yeah, Everytime I go around while working, people stop me and ask me about Jordon and sometimes, it’s hard for me to get through a day without someone telling me how proud they are of him, but I don’t mind it at all,” Clifford Dizon said.
Dizon, who took the college football world by storm, complied 78 total tackles and set CU’s all-time freshman tackle record two games ago when he surpassed J.J. Billingsley’s mark (68) from 2002. To go along with his 49 solo stuffs, the 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker is third in tackles for CU this year and has five stops for losses (one sack).
Originally recruited as an “athlete” out of high school, Dizon entered camp in August scheduled to play safety. But five practices into the week, he was moved to linebacker so he could be closer to the ball.
Realizing his big-play mentality, ability to lay down hard hits and nose for finding the pigskin, CU’s coaches wasted no time in letting Dizon roam around the line of scrimmage. As the youngster zoomed up the depth chart in practically unprecedented fashion, he became the starting “Will” ‘backer just six practices later, and has never looked back.
“I came (to Colorado) not knowing what to expect. I’d never watched a college football game before. Just coming in here to do my part and help our team has been great. This really isn’t something that I ever would have expected when I first got here.” The ‘Buffs and Sooners will kick off Saturday from Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium at 3 p.m. HST on ABC.