AMAZING STORY
Colts' Tight End Dwayne Allen Talks About His Savior
By Tom Buehring
The 700 Club
CBN.com - Dwayne Allen is a rising NFL talent, a tight end who’s able to keep up with the challenges of playing in one of the league’s elite offenses. Dwayne explains, “For the Indianapolis Colts, the tight end position needs to know everything the wide receivers know, everything the running backs know, everything the offensive line know. And it’s good having that type of responsibility but it is tough.”
While the Colts success has raised Dwayne’s visibility, Pro-Bowl Quarterback Andrew Luck has helped accelerate his improvement. Dwayne emphatically suggests, “Every year Andrew is getting better and better. And so with that, the people around him need to grow with him. It’s kind of a consensus that this is the year. The front office has done a great job of going out and getting players to help us win. The core—the nucleus that we already have in place are experienced and no longer a young team -- we’re expected to be the best.”
Along the way, he’s become one of Indy’s favorite sons! Dwayne says, “Indianapolis is home. Indiana is home. And it was like that since I got here in 2012, the people really embraced me. They say that Hoosier hospitality is second only to southern hospitality. It just so happens I’m a southern boy.”
As a boy, Dwayne was abandoned by his dad, saying, “I didn’t have a physical father in the household growing up; a single parent home, the youngest of 7, low income, government housing some, and funding. I’ve had countless experiences that I probably shouldn’t have had at the age I’ve had them.”
Experiences that now motivate Dwayne to walk alongside inner-city youths in Indianapolis. As the Colts Player Executive for Dream Alive, he actively participates in programs that provide mentoring and community service for young people. Dwayne believes, “Being a blessing to others is only half way fulfilled when only you receive. We’re all meant to give; whatever it is that we have, whether it’s our talents or resources. I’m called to give. I pray about the different opportunities that come my way, and whenever I feel as though the Lord is moving me in a direction, I go. I don’t hesitate.”
Dwayne identifies with what they go through, saying, “I see a lot of myself in them. So I understand what they’re going through. Having someone to look up to. You grow up learning on your own, trial and error. You can only learn so much about the world if you stay inside a 4-block bubble. But once you start breaking out of that bubble, you are able to dream bigger!”
The message Dwayne conveys is clear to them! He says, “Love! That’s the one thing that I want them to get from any interaction with me. Not the, you know, they’re hanging out with the starting tight end of the Indianapolis Colts or any of that. What I want most is for them to know that they’re loved, they’re cherished, they are worth it. Because when I was their age, that’s all I wanted, was someone to really, really love me.”
That yearning for love often led to trouble. Dwayne acknowledges, “Anger has always been an issue. I went to the alternative school for 3 consecutive years, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade because of anger, because of attitude. Here I am with a fresh start in high school and I’m already, two weeks into school; one write-up away from getting sent to an alternative school again.”
As a 6 foot 3 freshman his high school coach recruited him to play football. Anger found an outlet when aggression took the field, bringing enough achievement to earn him a scholarship to Clemson. Dwayne recalls, “It continued to follow me through college. I had to fall in line, and submit. That word ‘submit’ doesn’t go well in my profession, doesn’t go well in my sport. No man wants to submit! And you’re drafted later than you thought you would be. You just come into the league with such a chip on your shoulder.”
The anger carried him through his first season with the Colts. A hip injury in the opening game ended his second season. Dwayne’s growing rage resulted in a sense of helplessness. He finally confronted it. Dwayne admits, “My anger didn’t get resolved until there was a change of heart. And no man can change heart.” But Dwayne learned Jesus Christ could. He was encouraged by Christian teammates that provided him with devotional reading. Dwayne explains, “He reached into my heart and unshackled me from my sin. He reached into my mind, and said, ‘Dwayne, in order for Me to take you where I’m going to take you—you’re going to have to think a little differently.’ There was just a sense of forgiveness and grace.”
In January of 2014, Dwayne exchanged anger for an undying love, recalling, “He said ‘Dwayne, enough. I am real. I am here. And I love you.’ If you tap into something that is everlasting, that is a river that will never run dry, that flows on and on and on, and you come back and forth to it whenever you want to be replenished -- you’ll have fuel forever.”
The Colts Dwayne Allen – has scored from a setback – catching a transforming love and running with it - to help change the lives of others! So what does a Heavenly Father look like to him? Dwayne says, “Someone who loves unconditionally. He’s been able to really reveal what that love is like. Following Christ frees you. It’s the freedom to do what you ought to do. And with that freedom, I’m able to provide for those who are coming up in the same situation as I am. And I’m thankful for that opportunity to be able to serve where I am in the Colts locker room.”
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