Keisean Nixon Has Become One Of The Green Bay’s Packers’ Biggest Cinderella Stories In Years

Desmond Howard barely made the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster in 1996. Five months later, he was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXI.

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila played in just five games as a rookie in 2000 and showed few signs of being a dominant pass rusher. One year later, KGB finished fourth in the NFL with 13.5 sacks.

In 2007, running back Ryan Grant was buried on the bench the first two months of the season. Then in the final nine games, he ran for 929 yards and eight touchdowns and helped power the Packers to the NFC Championship Game.

And in 2021, Rasul Douglas was sitting on Arizona’s practice squad one month into the season. Amazingly, Douglas finished the year with five interceptions for Green Bay, brought two of those back for touchdowns and was named a Pro Bowl alternate.

That quartet ranks among the Packers’ greatest Cinderella stories of the last quarter century. And now they have company.

In a move that barely made a blip on the NFL’s offseason radar screen, the Packers signed cornerback Keisean Nixon on March 26, 2022. Nixon had spent three largely non-descript seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, where he made two starts and had 38 career tackles — including 18 on special teams.

Today, Nixon is the most dangerous kickoff returner in the NFL. And he has played an enormous role in turning Green Bay’s special teams from a league-wide laughingstock to a unit capable of helping the Packers win football games.

“Things you don’t count on: Keisean Nixon,” Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I knew he was talented, but maybe didn’t see game-breaker.”

But that’s exactly what Nixon is.

The latest example came during the Packers’ 41-17 destruction of Minnesota Sunday afternoon. With Green Bay trailing, 3-0, early, Nixon returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown.

It was the Packers’ first kickoff return for a TD since Week 1, 2011, when Randall Cobb had a 108-yard return for a score against New Orleans. And it completely changed momentum in a must-win game for Green Bay.

“Any time that you have a returner that’s capable of taking it to the house, that energizes the guys blocking for him,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “Those guys are doing an outstanding job and I really think now, it’s been a long time coming, but we have a legitimate threat anytime somebody has to kick off to us.”

Boy, do they ever.

Nixon has more return yards than any player in football with 930. He’s averaging an NFL-best 30.0 yards per return.

Nixon leads the league with five kickoff returns of 50-plus yards — and no other player has more than two. That’s also the most 50-yard returns by a Packer since Allen Rossum in 2000 and the most by an NFL player since New York Jets wideout Andre Roberts in 2018 (six).

And perhaps the craziest part of Nixon’s rags-to-riches story is he didn’t get a chance to display his skill set until Week 7.

Green Bay gave 2021 third round draft pick Amari Rodgers every chance to be its return man this season. But when the pedestrian Rodgers failed miserably — and was eventually released on Nov. 15 after fumbling five times — the Packers turned to Nixon on kickoffs.

Today, Packer Nation is irate it took so long.

Nixon leads the league with 10 kickoff returns of 30-plus yards, which is the most by a Packer since 2000. In the last two weeks alone, Nixon has a 105-yard return for a touchdown and a 93-yard return (vs. Miami).

And Nixon has brought an aggressive, attacking style to a unit that’s simply tried not to be a liability for several years now.

“You never know what’s going on personnel, stuff like that,” Nixon said of why it took half the season before he got a chance to return kicks. “I just waited for my moment. It’s my moment.”

Really, there was nothing from Nixon’s past to suggest he could be this type of return man.

Nixon had a pair of kickoff return touchdowns while playing junior college football at Arizona Western Community College. But despite his 4.42 speed in the 40-yard dash, Nixon didn’t do any returning his final two collegiate seasons at South Carolina.

Nixon returned six kicks during his first two years with the Raiders, but averaged just 14.0 yards per return. When Green Bay hired special teams coordinator Rich Bissacia last offseason, he lobbied to add Nixon to the roster — but that was largely to help improve Green Bay’s coverage units.

Instead, Nixon has been a hidden treasure who’s completely changed Green Bay’s approach to special teams.

“For a long time here, and I don’t mean this as disrespect but it’s just the facts, for a long time when that ball’s up in the air on a kickoff, I’m thinking, ‘Stay in. Stay in. Don’t bring it out,’ ” Rodgers said. “Because not a lot of good stuff happened. But I always tell Kei when he’s about to go out there, ‘Bring it out. Bring that out.’

“Just because he brings an extra type of juice to our football team and you can (win) with guys like that, guys that care about it, guys that are tough and guys that make big-time plays. He’s the type of player I wish I’d had over the course of my career because you feel real good going to battle with a guy like that.”

The Packers didn’t think they’d have Nixon for their battle with Minnesota.

Nixon suffered a groin injury against Miami in Week 16, and after Friday’s practice, it didn’t look like Nixon would be cleared to face the Vikings.

But after resting all day Saturday, Nixon felt good Sunday morning and texted his coaches, “I feel like a Ferrari.”

And that’s exactly what Nixon looked like on his long touchdown return.

Green Bay’s blocking on Nixon’s touchdown was sublime. Nixon shot up the middle of the field, made kicker Greg Joseph miss, then outran all of the Vikings to the endzone.

“I didn’t literally have to do nothing but make the kicker miss,” Nixon said. “I just ran straight and guys blocked their ass off. Know what I’m saying. Just got to reward ‘em.”

Nixon has certainly rewarded the Packers these last two months.

And in the process, he’s become one of Green Bay’s greatest Cinderella stories of the past 25 years.