Re: This kid is very

Ultimate Clemson Legend [107505]

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Re: NC is Pearman's area.

Jan 25, 2013, 10:11 AM

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/10/college_athletes_rights_some_a.html
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20130111/SPORTS/301110012/Bart-Wright-Clemson-s-Dwayne-Allen-sheds-shell-grow-into-pro

Bart Wright: Clemson's Dwayne Allen sheds shell to grow into a pro
7:46 AM, Jan 11, 2013 |

CLEMSON – He’s all grown up now, making a good living at what he does best, what he always wanted to do.

The story of former Clemson tight end Dwayne Allen’s emergence into a full-time, big-time starter on one of the most surprising football teams of the 2012 season might have been predicted by his genes, but it was encumbered by his head until he decided to quit fighting himself.

That inner struggle was all gone by the time he submitted his name to the NFL draft this time a year ago, and his eventual selection by the Indianapolis Colts put him on a roster that lived through a storybook existence this season. Coach Chuck Pagano had to leave the team to deal with his leukemia diagnosis, but with a youthful roster building on a 2-14 2011 season, the Colts were one of the great stories in the league.

They went 11-5 behind rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, earned a wild card berth in the playoffs and last week made it to Baltimore, where it all ended after a 24-9 loss to the Ravens.

Looking back, Allen understands that without an attitude adjustment he went through at Clemson, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

“The transition I had to make in college was real rocky,” he said Thursday. “When I came to Clemson I was very arrogant, very lazy, but through the work of the coaches, especially (tight ends coach) Danny Pearman, that arrogance was changed to humility, the laziness became a blue-collar work ethic that allowed me to develop.”

He did that remarkably well. Allen caught four of six passes to him against the Ravens, and over the course of the season he caught 45 balls for 521 yards with three touchdowns.

“By the time I got to training camp, I knew I was prepared, I knew I could make it, or at least I believed I could,” Allen said. “Coach Pearman prepared me for the NFL about as well as I could be prepared. I’ll never forget that.”

Chances are good he won’t soon forget his rookie year, playing with Luck and what it means to be open in the NFL as opposed to what that terminology meant when he was in college.

“There’s never a time you aren’t covered,” Allen said. “In college, we would see on film when guys would be covered on certain routes and the idea would be to stay away from those, but in the NFL, that never happens.

“The consistency (Luck) brought to the practice field and the games, from his drops to timing on throws, to the ball placement, everything he did was what we worked on all week, no surprises on Sunday and that was really impressive to me.”

It’s a different game, a different world, in the NFL and the most noticeable differences for Allen came in an area that surprised him.

“Time management,” he said immediately when asked the biggest change from playing college football. “In college you get the idea that you have a lot on your plate because of practice and meetings and classes, but that’s nothing compared to the daily routine we have.

“I get out around 5 or so and when I get home, it’s like, ‘Oh man, I don’t have enough time tonight to go through all this stuff.’ The amount of film study you have to do can be overwhelming. No two teams are alike; how they come at you is different from week to week, and that’s stuff you have to know.

“You never feel like you put in enough film work,” he said, “but that just makes you want to do more the next week.”

It’s more work than playing college football; that’s why they call it a job. While it’s true that the college game has more pomp and circumstance, more of a celebratory atmosphere around games, that doesn’t mean those things are nonexistent in the NFL; they’re just different.

“It took me a while to figure it out,” Allen said. “Those preseason games were a step up from college, but when the regular season started, it was something way different, a big jump. I still missed that sort of bowl game feeling, or the hyped-up feeling you got in the big college games, but in the NFL those are things you feel on the Monday night or Sunday night games.

“Playoffs are completely different,” he said. “Over the top with emotion.”

He came out of it healthy with a new-found respect for the game and the people at Clemson who didn’t give up on a lazy, arrogant kid because they saw the player that existed beneath the bad attitude.

Now, the attitude is gone and the player is still there, proving he belongs.

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Front Page Story: Tigers likely to flip second Wolfpack commit

Give Reed some credit..

Re: Give Reed some credit..

thought the same....Pearman isn't holding his own

It's becuase of him we lost North

You got proof it's because of him?***

NC is Pearman's area.

Re: NC is Pearman's area.

Re: NC is Pearman's area.

You do realize kids from NC grow up unc fans

Re: You do realize kids from NC grow up unc fans

Re: You do realize kids from NC grow up unc fans

Re: thought the same....Pearman isn't holding his own

Pearman recruited Tajh...***

I hope this guy is under-rated.

This kid is very

What else is he going to do? Give a presser on signing day

Re: This kid is very

Reigning SC 400-meter champion. Had offers from AZ & Wake.***

Re: Reigning SC 400-meter champion. Had offers from AZ & Wake.***

let's hope he doen't have to run a 400 chasing anyone!***

Just updating info. Hopefully not just long distance speed.***

http://rivals.yahoo.com/uab/football/recruiting/player-T.%20

Hopefully turns out like Sensabaugh did

Guess we don't expect to get Alexander

We have a winner here***

Shifty kid, could be an asset in the return game as well.***

Isn't this the guy that put out the word when REED was hired

They are doing their job. Right now they are filling spots

Fell apart? How do figure that? Nkemdiche? It's all good.***

Nkemdiche, Kimara, Robinson, Jenkins, Daniel, Alexander***

It's cute that you added Jenkins and Kamara

Nkemdiche/Kamara... extortion. Robinson... stayed home.

Re: Nkemdiche, Kimara, Robinson, Jenkins, Daniel, Alexander***

Their loss!!

Adrian Baker

TigerBoard POTD