Prior to being taken with the Los Angeles Rams’ final pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Dakota Allen was making headlines as a star on Netflix’s ‘Last Chance U’.
Allen struggled to stay out of trouble as a redshirt freshman at Texas Tech. As a result, he found himself pursuing his football dreams at East Mississippi State Community College.
It was there that he found himself thrust in front of cameras as EMCC was the team featured in the first two seasons of the show. It is safe to say that Allen took advantage of the spotlight during his time there before returning to Texas Tech.
According to Clarence Dennis of the team’s official website, he is thankful for the exposure the show afforded him:
“Honestly, it was a weird experience, but also a great experience. People do recognize me from the show. They recognize me as sort of the good guy on the show,” Allen said. “The whole experience was just amazing and I’m thankful for it because I was able to continue playing football.”
In many ways, being on the show prepared Allen for all the extra stuff that comes with being a celebrity athlete. This will certainly go a long way for him at the next level since there is no shortage of cameras in Los Angeles.
Aside from all the attention that comes with playing in Hollywood, expectations are now higher than ever for the Rams following their Super Bowl run last season. Despite their star-studded roster, the team has indicated that they will be relying heavily on their young talent moving forward.
Allen will have an opportunity to help fill a dire need in the Rams linebacker corps. His familiarity with Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury certainly will not hurt his chances at etching out a role on defense either.
