STILLWATER — Jaden Nixon was born in Texas but into an Oklahoma State family.
His father, Jeroid Johnson, played football and ran track for the Cowboys in the mid-1990s. His mother, Tina Nixon, ran track at OSU at the same time, and that’s where they met.
As Jaden grew up, he was inundated with OSU fandom. He attended Mike Gundy’s football camps. When the Pokes were on TV, the game was on in Jaden’s house.
But like many a teenager will do, he rebelled. Not in a dangerous way, but he pushed back against his orange-and-black roots.