Texas Tech Football: Dakota Allen the feel-good story of the NFL draft

The Los Angeles Rams have made one of the best picks of the draft in Texas Tech football’s own feel-good story, Dakota Allen.

Getting kicked off the Texas Tech football team was rock-bottom for Dakota Allen. He was charged with second-degree robbery, but those were later dropped and he decided to attend the now-famous East Mississippi Community College.

If that school sounds familiar, it’s because EMCC was the subject of the first two seasons of Last Chance U and Allen was a star of the show, quickly becoming a fan favorite.

It was obvious that he was a man of high character on the show, developing leadership qualities and taking players under his wing. No one ever had a bad thing to say about him and he was always respectful despite the circumstances in which he found himself.

Allen went through all of this after a breakout freshman season when he recorded 87 tackles and then came back as a junior, after the coaches welcomed him home in Lubbock, and became a captain, recording 101 tackles. He then had 61 tackles in 10 games as a senior and now he’s an NFL draft selection — by a hair.

The former first-team All-Big 12 team member was selected by the Rams with the No. 251 overall pick, four spots before the end of the draft. He’s now the feel-good story of this year.

Not many kids can go through what Allen went through as a top linebacker in the Big 12 as a freshman to being kicked off the team and going to ‘Last Chance U’ JUCO in Mississippi to getting back on the team and earning All-Big 12 honors. Here’s to hoping he can prove more doubters wrong.