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DB Dustin Fox (National Champion)

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Hall of Fame game is important homecoming for GlenOak grad Fox.

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Dustin Fox

By Todd Porter
CantonRep.com staff report
Posted Aug 07, 2009

Getting to come back home doesn?t mean Dustin Fox gets to come home.

When the Buffalo Bills swoop into town ? their hotel is in Cleveland ? time won?t allow Fox to stop by and see his pregnant wife, Nicole.

Buffalo?s team busses practically will pass right by Fox?s Stark County house, but Sunday night?s Hall of Fame Game against Tennessee is all the homecoming he will get with family and friends in the stands.

Quite frankly, this is a business trip for Fox.

?Basically, I?m either on a roster or I?m probably done this year,? Fox said. ?It?s real important to me.?

Fox is listed in the back half of Buffalo?s eight safeties and needs an impressive preseason to make the final 53-man roster.

?When you come to camp, you don?t count the numbers in your group, because there are 31 other teams times however many positions are available,? Fox said. ?Not every team is as stacked as your team. You?re always fighting for a spot on your team, no matter who you are. ... At the end of the day, you just have to give yourself a chance to keep playing.?

Fox is in his fifth NFL season, but because of injuries and time in and out of camps, his salary status is that of a third-year player. That?s something he has going for him in that his salary for a backup safety and special-teams player is affordable. In other words, teams don?t want to pay fifth-year minimum salary to a backup defensive back.

Fox?s motivation to make this Bills team is at a personal high. He and Nicole are expecting their first child, a girl, due Dec. 1. He was in Canton when he learned the Bills would open the 2009 season around the corner at Fawcett Stadium, where he played his home games at GlenOak High School.

Fox and McKinley graduate Reggie Corner are believed to be the first Stark County high school tandem to play on the field in the same game as pros.

?It?s going to be interesting,? Fox said. ?I have been there since I was 17 years old. It?s been 10 years. Wow. To play on the field you played on in high school and then play on it at the highest level is special. It?s something I will remember for the rest of my life, because I plan on living in Canton for the rest of my life.

?Every time the Hall of Fame Game comes around I can say I got to play in that.?

How much Fox will play is uncertain. He?s listed at free safety behind starter Donte Whitner, veteran backup Ko Simpson and injured rookie Jairus Byrd, who is recovering from a sports hernia. The Bills have about $2 million in guaranteed signing bonus tied up in Byrd, so he?s a virtual shoo-in to make the roster.

Buffalo will keep four or five safeties with Whitner and Bryan Scott starting. Backups Simpson and George Wilson make four. If Byrd opens the season injured, Fox could earn a spot.
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Hall of Fame game is important homecoming for GlenOak grad Fox - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com
 
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FOX?S CHANCES

Dustin Fox and Reggie Corner will play for the Bills in tonight?s Hall of Fame Game. It is believed to be the first time two players from Stark County high schools returned to their home field and played for the same NFL team in the Hall of Fame Game.

Corner (McKinley) is listed on the depth chart as a starting cornerback. Fox (GlenOak) is the fourth-team free safety and locked behind veteran players and a second-round draft pick. But he is playing well, and if things don?t work out in Buffalo, he could end up in another organization.

?Dustin is doing well,? Bills receiver Lee Evans said. ?He?s switched positions from corner to safety, and he?s still learning. ... It?s good we have five preseason games for guys to get a look. Even if players don?t make this football team, they have the opportunity for someone else to pick them up.?

BENEFITS

When Buffalo signed Fox and added him to its active roster last season, it made Fox eligible for the NFL Player?s Association pension and health-care benefits. The league has a great benefits policy which will give Fox coverage for 10 to 15 years.

?Once you get four years in, they put $100,000 in an account for you to use to pay for health insurance,? Fox said.

Players have to spend three seasons in the league to be eligible for the pension. A fourth season gets them an annuity.

?It was a huge relief last year because I was at home until like Week 10,? Fox said. ?Those last few games got me over the hump.?
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Sunday Special: Boom! Collinsworth in booth - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com
 
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This was inevitable considering Buffalo's DB depth...glad they let him play in Canton


Bills waive DB Fox
Chris Brown, Lead Journalist
Posted Aug 12, 2009

The Bills parted ways with fifth-year defensive back Dustin Fox Wednesday. Fox spent the better part of the last two seasons with the Bills serving mainly as a reserve safety and special teams player.

Fox appeared in 11 of his 12 career games in a Bills uniform, but was facing a numbers game at free safety where he was running with the third unit.

His role on the team became even more uncertain when Buffalo re-signed safety Antwain Spann on Tuesday. Fox and Spann were being rotated in the third string free safety role, and Spann has a strong reputation on special teams.
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Bills waive DB Fox
 
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Former Buckeye, NFL player blogs on newsnet5.com
Newsnet5 exclusive

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CLEVELAND - Welcome to the "Real World"

It's been nearly 12 months since I've put on a football helmet and it is finally starting to catch up with me. After spending five seasons in National Football League, this is the first fall of my life where I won't be participating in a football training camp.

Ah yes, the dog days of summer. The days of 95-degree weather and carrying 20 pounds of equipment over the scorching hot artificial turf. I never in my life thought that I would actually miss those days. But I do.

However, football has been the least of my worries lately. I've recently started working as a medical sales rep in Cleveland, where most of my days are spent in surgery wearing a surgical cap and scrubs instead of wearing a helmet and pads. It's definitely a change of pace. Not a bad way to make a living, but definitely different.

People who play in the NFL in my opinion take it for granted. I mean, how few people get paid to play a kid's game? It's amazing when you think about it. I have been truly blessed throughout my life and career up to this point. Obviously, I would have loved to play longer, but how many kids growing up get to experience what I was able to? For that opportunity, I am truly thankful.

So here I sit today almost 28 years old, happily married for six years with an 8 month old baby girl at home. Another reminder of just how good life really is. For 27 years, football has been the only thing I knew, and for the last 12 months I tried to put it out of my head. Until last night that is.
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Former Buckeye, NFL player blogs on newsnet5.com
 
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Dustin Fox remembers night OSU shocked college football world
By Todd Porter
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Sep 08, 2010

COLUMBUS ?

Like it or not, the Buckeyes forever will be linked to the Hurricanes. Dustin Fox is just glad that when he?s asked about the 2002 national title game against Miami, he can speak proudly about Ohio State?s improbable 31-24 win.

No. 2 Ohio State will host Miami on Saturday afternoon in the first meeting since the two programs matched up in one of the most memorable BCS national title games in history. Fox, who works for Biomet, said he is asked about that game an average of three or four times a week.

?It was a blur,? said Fox, who also works as an Ohio State analyst for WEWS-TV in Cleveland. ?I don?t remember a lot from it. I remember my interception, and I remember being on the sideline and when we threw the ball to Chris Gamble and he didn?t catch it.

?I remember I threw my head down and thought, ?You?ve got to be kidding me. We put in all this work and got this far and couldn?t capitalize.? ?
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Dustin Fox remembers night OSU shocked college football world - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com
 
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Gesture by son's hero is one that can never be repaid
By Anonymous
Letter to the Editor
Posted Sep 21, 2010

I?ve been cutting hair at 30th St. Plaza Barbershop for almost 20 years, And in that time, I?ve seen many acts of random kindness and generosity.

Recently one was given to me that I don?t think I?ll ever be able to repay.

Dustin Fox, the local GlenOak and Ohio State standout, who has been a customer of mine for more then half the time I?ve been in the plaza, did something for me that some fathers can only dream of for their sons.

My son has been listening to me talk about Dustin his entire life, so Dustin is somewhat of a hero to him.

Not too long ago, their paths crossed at the shop, and he was in awe. With some kind words of encouragement and playful badgering, Dustin made an impact on my son?s approach to football.

He recently made time in his busy schedule to come and watch a game. The look on my son?s face when he saw Dustin standing next to me was priceless.

He played in that game knowing that one of his heroes was watching and cheering for him.

Even though they lost, Salvatore was grinning from ear to ear, knowing Dustin was there to watch him play, and it was his best game thus far.

Dustin has been a good customer over the years, but more important, a very good friend. I?m certain my son will never forget that game.

Funny thing about single acts of random kindness: Most go unnoticed, but when it?s bestowed on your son, you?re forever grateful.

Thanks, Dustin.

JOE IANNI, PERRY TOWNSHIP
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http://www.cantonrep.com/opinion/le...-by-sons-hero-is-one-that-can-never-be-repaid
 
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