BEAVERTON -- The Oregonian sat down with former Oregon Ducks quarterback and current NFL free agent Dennis Dixon on Saturday at "The Opening," the premiere, invitation-only high school football camp at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton.

"The Opening" features three days of training and 7-on-7 drills for the top 150 prep players from around the country in the class of 2013. Many NFL stars are on campus to help coach the players.

Q: What do you think of "The Opening"?

A: It's something that you can see the best athletes around the country competing in 7-on-7 and get communication and camaraderie amongst each other. It's actually good to see because around my time we didn't have this.

Q: All these kids at "The Opening" have one more year of high school and then they are off to college. What advice do you have for them?

A: Just soak everything in. Take your (college) visits, for sure. You never know what's out there. Everything presents itself in a different way. Just take it with open arms and seize the moment.

Q: What do you think of the 7-on-7 drills?

A: I think it's a perfectly good tool, for someone like myself as far as a quarterback to see what you can get away with in some of these situations. So when a game comes, you dare not to do that... Communication between a receiver and a quarterback goes a long way and it goes along with running backs and tight ends, so 7-on-7 is very valuable for someone like myself.

Q: Do you still come back to Oregon quite a bit?

A: Yes, I do. I actually do train here. I'm here a lot in the offseason. I bounce back and forth between here and California.

Q: Where are you from originally?

A: Oakland, California.

Q: Did you like your time with the Ducks?

A: I did. It was a good four years. I wouldn't trade it for the world. A lot of good people are around my circle and I'm truly blessed. The university gave me a lot of opportunities.

Q: How old are you now?

A: 27.

Q: How tall are you?

A: 6-foot-4.

Q: You were last with the Pittsburgh Steelers. What's the plan moving forward?

A: Right now I'm a free agent. There are a lot of teams out there that are probably interested. Right now I'm just trying to coordinate that with me and my agent and see what the options are. As of right now, people are trying to go to training camp and feel what they have and then after that, I should be getting calls.

Q: Down the road, what do you see yourself doing?

A: I can see myself doing something like coaching maybe. Or something involved with Nike as far as being hands-on with the athletes. I can be the eyes and the ears because I've been there, done that. I can see myself still playing baseball, too. There's a whole bunch of options out there right now. Don't really want to focus on that right now, I want to be able to focus on football and see where that takes me.

Q: You were drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2003. Did you ever seriously consider playing baseball?

A: I did, at one point. As far as high school, I wanted to get my degree, so that's why I didn't pursue it as far as the Cincinnati Reds, but I did get drafted again my junior year in college to the Atlanta Braves. I actually pursued a summer with them and tried the whole summer league before I had to get back for my senior year. I kind of liked it but I had to get back to my senior year.

Q: What position did you play?

A: Right field.

Q: Do you miss baseball?

A: I do a little bit. I'll be honest with you. I can still see myself out there in right field throwing those assists, throwing people out and everything.

Q: What did you think of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly reportedly nearly leaving the Ducks for the NFL?

A: He's a true players coach. I mean, he's down to earth. He's an offensive guru. He wants everything fine-tuned. And he's always open for advice as far as players go and getting them in the right position. He uses your tools with the utmost respect and gives you an opportunity to go out there and seize the moment.

Q: Do you keep in touch with any of your teammates from your time with the Ducks?

A: I do. I do. Some that are in the league right now, as well as some that are working for Nike as we speak right now. My circle is small, but at the same time it's big, if that makes sense. I still stay involved with a lot of people.

--Daniel Mediate; twitter.com/danielmediate