INSIDE: MORE COVERAGE OF OU AND OSU FOOTBALL, INCLUDING STORIES ON RICKEY DIXON AND BARRY J. SANDERS,

NORMAN — The brightest spot in Rickey Dixon’s summer came in early June when he learned he was on the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame ballot.

For the former Oklahoma cornerback diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in July 2013, it was a humbling moment.

With 75 former FBS players vying for 12 spots in the induction class, everyone’s odds are slim to make the final cut.

Dixon’s wife Lorraine has no idea if her husband will make this year’s class, but she knows that because his time is growing short, being inducted this year would be incredible.

“I just think it would be a moment,” Lorraine said. “It’s something that’s indescribable. I think he would compare it to getting into the University of Oklahoma, and having Barry Switzer recruit him and then making it into the NFL. Not many people have those moments. So, gosh, I think it would just be overwhelming, and I don’t know if we could even capture the words for it. It would be ‘wow.’”

As an All-American, the Sooners’ first Jim Thorpe Award winner and the fifth player taken in the 1988 draft, Dixon, who also finished with 17 interceptions in his career, is more than qualified to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

“If I belong in the Hall, Rickey Dixon definitely should be there,” said Keith Jackson, Dixon’s former teammate and a member of the 2001 College Football HOF class along with legendary Sooners football coach Switzer.

Formal voting for the 2017 class closed June 20, and winners will be announced in Tampa, Florida as a part of the College Football Playoff National Championship festivities in January 2017.

In the interim, however, there’s a push being made by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Football Foundation to get Dixon enshrined this year.

The process to make the Hall of Fame is a bit convoluted. Though the vote is used as a guideline, it doesn’t necessarily dictate the final class, and chapters of the NFF push for their local candidates to be included. The Honors Court, made up of a 17-person committee, ultimately decides the 12 players and two coaches who get selected.

There are more than 120 chapters of the NFF, and each year chapters nominate former players to be considered for the Hall of Fame ballot. After a long process of screening, the ballot is put together and more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers vote on their selections. Once the results are counted, the Honors Court deliberates and puts together the final class.

“He’s deserving of the College Football Hall of

OU FOOTBALL JOURNAL

CORNERBACK PARRISH COBB LIVING UP TO HYPE

NORMAN — Just a few months ago,

was planning on staying in his hometown of Waco, Texas, for training camp.

But after Baylor’s tumultuous spring and summer brought on by a sexual assault scandal caused head coach Briles, athletic director and university president to lose their jobs, the four-star cornerback and many other recruits chose to leave the program.

Cobb, originally an OU signee before he flipped to Baylor, flipped back to the Sooners on July 1 and is fitting in nicely with the secondary corps, defensive backs coach said.

“The buzz is accurate man,” Cooks said. “Parrish has just got some tools that you just can’t coach. He’s very athletic, he’s very quick twitch and an unbelievably fast learner. He’s really progressed. He missed a little bit early in camp because he had a quad Fame, without a doubt,” Switzer said. “He has the record, too. And eventually some day he will be, but I just hope that he’s with us.”

Lying on an angled Sleep Number bed to make breathing easier, Dixon spends most of his time watching hours of inspirational television and football games on ESPN Classic.

And on his good days, Dixon emerges from his room on his motorized wheelchair. His 8-yearold daughter Alana climbs up in her father’s lap and together they ride up and down the street in front of the house. Sometimes, they’ll tether her bike to the motorized wheelchair and he’ll pull her along the same route.

It’s a far cry from his days as a ball-hawking cornerback at Oklahoma, but for Dixon, it’s just part of an ever-changing reality.

“I think from the time last year when he went to OU to the present, there’s been a dramatic difference in his condition,” Lorraine said. “Even now, back about a year ago, he was able to feed himself and bathe himself and take care of himself. He’s not able to do that right now.”

There’s no way to put it gently: Dixon’s condition is rapidly deteriorating.

When Dixon came to Owen Field to be honored with Oklahoma’s 1985 national championship team in October 2015, he could walk and talk.

His distance was limited (injury). Now that everything has healed, he’s really starting to show over these last 10 days, 12 days, that he’s very explosive and very capable of learning the system.”

With the starting cornerback spots likely already claimed by senior Austin and junior Cobb, described as a “pure corner” by Cooks, will have to work hard to carve out a spot in the rotation. But despite his youth and inexperience, Cobb is likely to grab some playing time this year along with fellow freshman Parnell

“I don’t see either one of those guys not traveling and not participating in some aspect, either on special teams or at some point in the season getting involved in some part of the rotation,” Cooks said.

In a list released earlier this week, and his words were brief, but he still clung to those abilities as ALS ravaged the motor neurons in his brain and spinal cord.

Now, less than a year later, the former Oklahoma great can only get around with the help of a motorized wheelchair and his verbal communication is nearly non-existent. His limited hand function prevents him from texting much, but he’s learning to communicate with a machine controlled by his eye movement.

Though Dixon has remained upbeat, the severity of his condition and the limits it has placed on him have taken a toll on his outlook.

“He’s having a really tough time of it right now,” Lorraine said as she prepared to go on a short vacation to celebrate her sister’s retirement. “When I was going on the cruise and realizing that he can’t come because of his condition, I think it kind of hit him, like bam, ‘I can’t do a lot of things anymore.’

“I think for him, (the Hall of Fame induction) would just be so moving, almost overwhelming because I don’t know how he would be at a later date. Now, he’s still a little mobile even though his voice is gone and his hand movement and stuff. He can still move around a little bit. I don’t know how he’ll be in the next couple of years.

“Now, I could see him really trying to make that push to get there. It would be overwhelming.” ESPN recognized Oklahoma football as one of eight blue-blood programs.

Though the Sooners checked in at first place on the list, they also share the top spot with four other programs: Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC.

Twelve ESPN writers ranked every current FBS football program on a scale of 1-10 meant to measure the school’s complete impact on college football history. The writers cited Oklahoma’s seven national titles and 14 undefeated seasons as pretty strong qualifiers for top royalty status.

To qualify for the No. 1 ranking, programs had to earn 10s across the board. To be considered a true blue-blood, ESPN stipulated that the average score had to be at least 9.5. The top 11 schools had average scores of at least 9.

Oklahoma and Texas were the only two current Big 12 programs to earn a spot in the top-8 rankings.

OSU FOOTBALL JOURNAL

AUSTIN HAYS IS READY TO LEAD AND PRODUCE FOR COWBOYS

STILLWATER — Cowboys senior receiver simply has to look in the mirror to confirm one major improvement from his freshman year.

“Well, I’m about 30 pounds heavier than I was,” said Hays, who’s now listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds. “I don’t know if y’all remember me as a freshman, but I was pretty skinny. So I’m 30 pounds heavier and I have a lot more experience.

“You learn so much, just communication skills, how to be a leader, how to work hard, how to fight through pain. And I think I’m just better in all those aspects.”

Hays is listed as the backup to at one outside receiver spot, but also has the flexibility to play on the inside as well.

For his career, Hays has 61 receptions for 659 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 22 passes for 200 yards and a score last year, when he posted at least one catch in 11 games.

With out indefinitely while recovering from foot surgery, Hays could find his role enhanced this season. Already, he’s filling a bigger leadership role.

“I think my main focus really, the last three years, has been to stay healthy and develop my body and get it in the best shape I can to stay healthy contribute, whatever my role may be,” Hays said. “Obviously, with

being gone, that leadership role is taking place for me this year, which I haven’t done in the past. And that’s been fun.

QUOTABLE John Helsley FORMER COWBOY SENTENCED TO PRISON

Devon Thomas,

a former Broken Arrow standout and one-time Cowboy, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Thomas, once a heralded recruit, pleaded no contest to multiple charges associated with cases filed in 2014 and 2015, according to court records. He was sentenced for his part in two armed robberies in Tulsa County.

Prosecutors charged him with robbery with a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of a firearm after juvenile adjudication after robbing a man of money and his clothes at gunpoint in a May 2014 case. Thomas was charged with robbery with a firearm after juvenile adjudication and assault with a dangerous weapon for a July 2015 incident in which he pointed a pistol at a man and demanded, “Give me everything you have,” before pulling the man from a car and beating him until he momentarily lost consciousness.

Thomas spent one semester at OSU in the spring of 2014, before being removed from the team in the summer following his arrest.

As a running back at Broken Arrow, Thomas ran for a school-record 1,840 yards as a sophomore. He never approached those numbers again and off-the-field incidents became more prominent than production, although he remained a high-rated recruit.

OSU receiver returner:

“Every time I’m back there I’m just trying to score. I want to have a big game and give great field position to the offense, so every time I’m back there that’s what I’m trying to do.”

on his role as a punt

OU CONSIDERED BLUE-BLOOD FOOTBALL PROGRAM BY ESPN