As much as I hated the result of Super Bowl LIII, I have to admit I was happy for Dwayne Allen.
The former Clemson tight end became the 27th different Tiger to win a Super Bowl on Sunday night. Allen helped the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.
The win gave the Patriots a record-tying sixth Super Bowl victory, matching the Pittsburgh Steelers, who last won a Super Bowl 10 years ago.
Allen is the first former Tiger to help his team win a Super Bowl since Byron Maxwell did the same for Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII to end the 2013 season.
Though Allen did not catch a pass, he did provide a couple of key blocks in the fourth quarter. The first allowed the Patriots to score the game’s only touchdown when former Georgia running back Sony Michel ran in from 2 yards out at the 7:03-mark of the fourth quarter.
Allen came up big again for New England on the game-clinching drive. The tight end had two blocks that sprung the Patriots’ running backs for first downs, keeping the chains moving and the clock ticking as New England ran out most of the clock and kicked a game-clinching field goal to all but end the game.
Watching Allen earn his first Super Bowl ring was special. Like I said, I was not happy the Patriots tied my Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins, but seeing Allen smiling and celebrating with his teammates after the game made it okay.
Allen, who just completed his second season in New England, has come a long way since his freshman year at Clemson. When he came to Clemson, he did not understand why he had to play behind former Tiger Michael Palmer.
In 2008, his freshman season, Allen redshirted, and he was not happy about it. In 2009, he helped the Tigers’ win their first ACC Atlantic Division title, but he was not happy about playing second string and he spoke out about it, which got him in the doghouse with the coaching staff.
However, it was during that same season when Allen started to understand why he was playing behind Palmer. Though Allen was a better athlete, was stronger and faster, he started to understand why he could not beat out Palmer for the starting job.
Palmer was fundamentally sound. He did what the coaches asked. The coaches loved Palmer because he did his job and he did it well.
Allen finally got it. At the college level, talent alone was not going to earn him playing time. Through watching and learning from Palmer, he understood he had to do everything else well, too.
He also learned he had to change his attitude, which he did. He became a team player and by the time he left Clemson in 2011, Allen was one of the more popular players on the team.
Allen capped his Clemson career by helping the Tigers win the program its first ACC Championship in 20 years. It was the start of the current run the program is on now, the first of eight straight 10-win seasons and five ACC Championships.
In 2011, Allen capped the greatest career by a Clemson tight end at the time, with a single-season record 50 catches for 598 yards and 8 touchdowns. His 50 receptions and 8 touchdowns are still Clemson records.
He was consensus All-American that year and won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end, the first offensive player in Clemson history to win a national award.
In his three seasons as a player at Clemson, two as a starter, Allen caught 93 career passes for 1,079 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.
In the 2012 NFL Draft, Allen was taken in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts with the 64th overall pick. He started for five years in Indianapolis, where he became a fan favorite and a beacon in the community, before being traded to the Patriots prior to the 2017 season.
Last year, Allen played in his first Super Bowl where the Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. However, last night, he became a Super Bowl Champion, and I could not be prouder.
Move over Alabama, Clemson is the new King of College Football. In our new magazine “Little Ole Clemson”: The Best “Little” Dynasty Ever, we examine not just the 2018 team’s run to being “the best ever” but examine the last four seasons and how Dabo Swinney turned Clemson into the new dynasty of college football. We also take a look at the role former athletic director Terry Don Phillips played. We go behind the scenes at the Tigers’ run to a second national championship in three seasons and the previous three national championship runs. It also features stories on the Power Rangers, the 2018 senior class, high quality photos and much, much more.
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