GREEN BAY – There is a competition inside Keisean Nixon, a fiery, undeniable spirit that's propelled him from an undrafted free agent with the Oakland Raiders to a Pro Bowl cornerback with the Green Bay Packers over the course of seven seasons.
Zaire Franklin sensed it the first time he met Nixon years ago.
A former seventh-round pick himself who blossomed into an All-Pro linebacker, Franklin knows what it's like to claw your way up a depth chart and stay there in the pressure-cooker that is the National Football League.
When Franklin was traded from Indianapolis to the Packers back in March, it's no secret whom the ninth-year veteran called to get the lay of the land in Green Bay.
Keisean Nixon.
"He's the first person I talked to," Franklin said. "He's been a great resource for me since I've been here. I feel like he's a great teammate. He's a great energy in the locker room. Kei's got that mentality that I feel like you have to have at corner."
In a word…Impenetrable.
Now the third-longest tenured player on Green Bay's roster, Nixon has not missed a game since he signed with the Packers in 2022 – 73 consecutive appearances (including playoffs).
Over the past four seasons, Nixon has gone from a special teams coverage player to a two-time All-Pro kick returner to a starting nickelback and now the team's No. 1 cornerback since 2024.
But on the heels of his first trip to the Pro Bowl, Nixon was still challenged this summer to defend his starting spot in incoming coordinator Jonathan Gannon's defense.
No problem, as the 5-foot-10, 200-pound cornerback spent a brief portion of training camp rotating with Carrington Valentine and Benjamin St-Juste while rookie Brandon Cisse manned the opposite side.
"They drafted a guy young. They wanted him to play and he deserves it," said Nixon, who also was one of the first to reach out to Cisse after Green Bay drafted him in April.
"They had to see what everybody else can do. Kind of figured they knew what I could do. New DC, always gotta prove yourself to new people. But I've lasted three of them, so I'm not really worried about it."
No different than when he came into the league with Oakland in 2024, competition didn't faze Nixon. It continued to forge him. Nixon still came in at 6:30 a.m. like he always does, ready to stack days and compete to the best of his ability.
Not only did Nixon maintain his starting status on the perimeter, the eighth-year veteran also was one of Green Bay's top all-around performers in Sunday's regular-season opener in Minnesota.
Playing all 65 defensive snaps, Nixon recorded five tackles (one for a loss), two quarterback hits, a split sack and intercepted Vikings starting QB Kyler Murray on his very first throw of the game.
"I just loved how he competed, and it was down in and down out," said Head Coach Matt LaFleur of Nixon. "I thought he had one of his most complete games, I would say, in my time here."
On Wednesday, Nixon downplayed his performance. Instead, he pointed towards the fact it wasn't enough to help the Packers leave U.S. Bank Stadium with a victory.
When pressed, however, Nixon voiced a certain level of satisfaction because it showed "what I'm capable of."
One thing Nixon wasn't expecting was how much he'd be involved in the rush plan. He estimates that he blitzed five times, including on his 1-yard tackle for a loss of former Packers teammate Aaron Jones on the first play of the game.
Nixon was active in the box when he played nickel for former defensive coordinator Joe Barry in 2023 and early in the 2024 season under Jeff Hafley, recording 11 tackles for loss and 3½ sacks over those two seasons.
With Gannon's proclivity for sending his defensive backs on blitzes, Nixon has enjoyed how his new DC has put him to work.
"I like the defensive scheme," Nixon said. "We play hard. We run to the ball. I think (the Vikings) only had like 120 yards passing. Eliminating the explosive plays, it could've been a shutout. Just gotta worry about, not the what-ifs, what we can get better at. Find that (stuff) and get to it."
There was a lot of outside noise this summer regarding Nixon, especially when he was running with the No. 2 defense midway through camp. To his credit, Nixon told reporters he'd still be starting Week 1 and that's exactly how things turned out.
To Franklin, who's been voted a team captain since his arrival, there is nobody he'd rather go into battle with than Nixon because he plays his position the way it should be played.
Fittingly, it was Franklin's hit on Murray that helped force the ill-advised throw that led to Nixon's interception Sunday.
And so, it all begins again for the 29-year-old cornerback.
"If you're at corner and you're running up against the best players in the NFL going backwards, playing the most difficult position probably other than quarterback, you've got to feel like you're the best player walking on earth," Franklin said.
"I think Kei's got that mentality and that confidence that can't be shook no matter what and that's what makes him a great player. That's why he's had the career that he's had and overcome so much, because he believes in himself more than anybody could ever doubt him."
