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Don't forget it! Utes' Dyson is Rising Star
By Linda Hamilton, Deseret News
Dec. 13, 1999
Andre Dyson has amnesia. That's what Manny Hendrix thinks, and he says that's a good thing. Hendrix played cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys for six years, so when he tosses out words like "amazed" and "shocking" to describe the skills of Dyson, a junior cornerback for the Las Vegas Bowl-bound Utes, it's legit. Hendrix, a former Ute basketball star, sees Dyson following big brother Kevin Dyson, Utah's highest-ever NFL draft choice and now a receiver with the Tennessee Titans, into the pro game. "No question," Hendrix says of that. "I've watched him play the last three years, and he's improved each year. He definitely has the ability to play at the next level." Amnesia is a big reason Hendrix says that. Dyson's possible ticket to the NFL lies in, says Hendrix, "his ability to cover man to man. He has what they call in the professional world no conscience — he's got amnesia. You have to have amnesia because when you get beat, you have to forget about it and come back and play the next play. "Of all the guys out there, he definitely has that great talent, which is a negative in society, but in the football world, it's a plus," says Hendrix, who as Utah's director of athletic relations works closely with the athletes helping them adjust to college life and career possibilities. Dyson also understands, more than most, what's happening on the field, Hendrix says, citing "his ability to read offenses, especially for a guy who's a junior. I've been amazed. I've talked with him quite a bit, and his mentality — it's shocking for a guy that young to be so confident." Hendrix points to the last game, Utah's 20-17 win at BYU that gave the Utes a piece of the first-ever Mountain West Conference championship and helped them get into the Dec. 18 Vegas Bowl, as a prime example of Dyson's smarts and nerve. Dyson had two interceptions in that game, with the second one sealing the win with 1:09 left and the Cougars having gotten to Utah's 42-yard line. "They're driving down to possibly win the game or get in position to tie the game, and he's jumping hitches (routes). You don't do those things. If you make a mistake, it's six points," says Hendrix, noting that BYU guessed wrong when it jumped a route and Utah's Cliff Russell sailed right on by for a 70-yard touchdown reception. "He understands what an offense is trying to do to him instead of just reacting to what he sees, and that's what separates him from a lot of defensive backs," says Hendrix. Dyson tied senior teammate Jay Hill, the other corner, with six interceptions , second in the Mountain West, the Ute record is eight in a season. They probably split votes in the All-MWC balloting, each being named to the second team. Dyson tied the Utah record of 17 pass breakups in a single season, and with 30 already in his career, he has an excellent chance at breaking the school career mark of 42. He is already second on that list. This all makes little impression on Dyson. Despite enormous but quiet self confidence, he says he never really thought about a pro career until the last year. "If I have the opportunity, I'm going to take it, of course," he says. "It's not something I need." What he needs is to have fun playing. "I'm still a little kid," he says. He calls himself a perfectionist when planning for his immediate future but has no long-term goals in mind, preferring to see what comes up. If the NFL doesn't chase him down, he'd like to work with kids or in broadcasting. Andre is the youngest of four Dyson children raised by their mom, Susan Hall, in Clinton. Middle brother Patrick is a safety and kick and punt returner for the Utes, and all three boys and their sister were year-round athletes who excelled at Clearfield High. Dyson's first loves were always basketball and soccer, but he was captain of the CHS football team, defensive player of the year and an admirer of the late Walter Payton. He set a Clearfield 40-yard dash record (4.41 seconds). He says sports kept the Dyson kids straight, though Patrick, the most talented football player of the bunch, is more of a free spirit than he and Kevin. Andre grew up wanting to stay out of trouble so as not to cause his single working mom any grief. His parents divorced when Andre was 2. She began as a bank teller and now is one of the company's top executives in the state, he says proudly. "My mom instilled good behavior in us. She worked so much. It was like she'd leave (for work) and never come back," he says. "I didn't want to make it harder on my mom." Kevin, says Andre, was like the father of the family, and, "me and Kevin are probably the biggest mama's boys there are. And my sister is just like my mom." Andre got into football reluctantly. Kevin and Patrick were signing up for a kids' football program and forced him to register, too. They told him, "Don't be a baby." Andre finally really warmed to football in the last year, when thoughts of being a senior soon and of possibly playing in the NFL struck. Now he practices harder and studies opponents more and can't wait for spring ball so he can start improving again, thinking he needs to tackle and catch better. "I dropped a bunch of interceptions," he says. He would some day like to line up against Kevin in a pro game and says, "If I can guard him, I can guard anyone in the Mountain West Conference."
Andre and Kevin worked together all summer in Salt Lake, and Andre listened appreciatively as his big brother taught him tips he'd learned in his first NFL season (1998). The older Dyson taught his brother about proper stances and little techniques he'd picked up and how to read the quarterback and receivers, what they're trying to set up against the cornerbacks — the kind of knowledge that is so impressive to Hendrix.
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