The Forestview graduate has a degree in sociology from UNC-Charlotte, but he's not ready to give up on professional football. On May 7, he tried out for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

MOORESVILLE – With his college football career over, Cortezz Nixon is already thinking of a future away from the game.

But the Forestview High School graduate isn’t quite ready to call it quits on playing, either.

That’s why Nixon was at Mooresville High School on May 7 – hoping to extend his career.

“It’s definitely a long way from those days at Forestview,” said Nixon, who recently graduated from UNC Charlotte. “It’s been a long time coming, even though it’s only been five years. But much of your life can change in five years.

“I didn’t think I’d be in this position, though. Most of the people I grew up with are still in Gastonia, and they’re still friends. But to be a college graduate and still pursuing my dream of playing professional football, it’s just amazing – really, it’s a surreal feeling.”

Nixon was among 160-plus prospects at an open tryout held by the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, the last of five the team holds annually in the United States.

“We’re hoping to find talent,” said Alouettes assistant director of pro and college scouting Uzooma Okeke, a 13-year CFL veteran and 2014 inductee into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

“We’re always trying to upgrade our roster, look for guys who can come in and compete. We’re looking for guys that are hidden, who fell through the cracks for whatever reason, and give them an opportunity to show what they have.”

That’s why Nixon was in Mooresville – to show what he had.

“My agent (Martin Whitley) recommended I come out here,” said Nixon, who also had a tryout with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in early March. “He’s been in contact with some other NFL teams – the (Seattle) Seahawks, for example – but it’s going to depend on injuries and things like that.

“It’s all about opportunities. I want to showcase what I can do. It’s getting down to crunch time. Guys are getting calls, camps are about to start. It’s definitely nit-picking time, time to really put it all to the wall and keep the football career going.”

A two-time all-conference pick in the Big South 3A (2009 and 2010) at defensive back, Nixon was part of a Jaguars team in 2009 that finished 10-3 (then a school record for wins in a season) and produced their first-ever win in the NCHSAA 3AA state playoffs.

Nixon landed an offer from Lenoir-Rhyne, an NCAA Division II program then led by former Duke head coach Fred Goldsmith. But after riding the bench with the Bears in 2011, he transferred to the then-brand new 49ers’ football program.

While Nixon never started a game in three seasons with UNC Charlotte, he saw plenty of action as a reserve cornerback. He played in 33 of 34 games, with one career interception (in 2013).

That’s where Nixon developed his fallback plan in case his football career came to an end. He recently graduated from UNC Charlotte with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and a minor in American studies.

“That was the main thing – getting that degree in case this didn’t work out,” Nixon said. “I’m going to try to milk this as long as I can and see how far I can go. But if not, I’d like to get into some type of social work, maybe work with little kids, just to make sure they get onto the right path.

“I’d also love to be a coach – maybe start off in high school, and see where things go from there.”

In fact, Nixon said having that degree has helped him deal with the pressure that comes with going through the highly-competitive pro tryouts.

“It gives me a more relaxed approach,” Nixon said. “Some of these guys out here, they’ve got all their marbles in this one basket. But me, I’m just out here having fun and doing what I love to do. I’m relaxed doing it, and that helps me perform better.

“When you’re out here with just this as your only dream, your only hope and have nothing to fall back on, it puts a lot of pressure on you. But I love doing this, so there’s no pressure. I’m just out here having fun.”

Still, Nixon – like the rest of the players at the Alouettes’ tryout – wants to keep playing. That’s something Alouettes head coach and general manager Jim Popp, a Mooresville native, is counting on from all the prospects.

“This is a dream for a lot of people, and their last chance,” Popp said. “If we can find one player out of this camp, it was a success. The key is if we can find that one guy.

”It’s football – some different rules, a bigger field, but it’s still the same game. We hope to find a diamond in the rough, and fulfill some people’s dreams. Like I said, if we find one guy out of this camp, we’ve been successful.”

Nixon would like to be that “one guy” – and he’s got his U.S. passport, a necessity for American players in the CFL.

“You’ve got to have confidence when you come to stuff like this,” Nixon said. “That’s one thing I have – I have confidence in my ability, I have confidence in my game.

“Hopefully I can show what I can do, and get a shot. If I do, great. If I don’t, then I’ve got something to fall back on.”