Dalyn Daeel Dawkins (born December 26, 1994) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Colorado State Rams The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and s ...

Early life

Dawkins was born and grew up in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

and attended

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England * Trin ...

. He rushed for 1,479 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior for the Shamrocks and was named second-team All-State by the ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

''. Dawkins was rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and a four-star by Scout.com and was ranked the ninth-best college prospect in the state for the 2013 recruiting class and committed to play college football for

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

over offers from

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

and

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

College career

Dawkins began his collegiate career at

. As a freshman Dawkins rushed for 115 yards on 32 carries with nine receptions for 84 yards in nine games for the Boilermakers. Following the season, Dawkins announced that he would be transferring to

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in part because of Purdue's pass-heavy offense. After sitting out the 2014 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Dawkins played for the final three seasons of his eligibility with the

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

sophomore, Dawkins appeared in 12 games (nine starts) and rushed for 867 yards on 170 carries and one touchdown along with 178 yards and one touchdown on 24 pass receptions. He rushed for 919 yards on 161 carries with four touchdowns and 20 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown in 12 games (11 starts) the following season. As a senior, Dawkins rushed for 1,349 yards and eight touchdowns and had 100-yards rushing in seven of Colorado State's eight conference games and was named second-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

. He finished his career with 3,185 rushing yards, the third-most in CSU history, on 557 carries with 14 touchdowns and caught 70 passes for 650 yards and three touchdowns.

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Dawkins was signed by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2018. He was added to the active roster on September 18 and made his NFL debut on September 23 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. He was waived on October 8, 2018, and was re-signed to the practice squad. On November 13, 2018, he was promoted to the active roster after the Titans released Jalston Fowler. Dawkins was waived by the Titans on December 3, 2018, and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on December 31, 2018. Dawkins made the Titans' 53-man roster out of training camp for the 2019 season but was waived after Week 1 on September 10, 2019, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 8, 2019. He was waived on October 26 and re-signed to the practice squad. Dawkins was signed to the active roster on December 21, 2019. He was waived on December 23 and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on January 20, 2020. He was waived on August 19, 2020.

Detroit Lions

On October 22, 2020, Dawkins was signed to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

' practice squad. He was released two days later, and re-signed to the practice squad on October 29. He was released on November 4, and re-signed to the practice squad again on November 11. He was released again on December 15, 2020, and re-signed to their practice squad again on December 23, 2020.

Houston Gamblers

Dawkins was selected in the 27th round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

by the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducin ...

. He was ruled inactive for the team's game against the New Orleans Breakers on May 8, 2022, and moved back to the active roster on May 14.

Personal life

Dawkins is the nephew of

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Brian Dawkins Brian Patrick Dawkins Sr. (born October 13, 1973), nicknamed "Weapon X", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played ...

. His father, Ralph Dawkins, played college football as a running back for

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as an undrafted free agent, but never appeared in an NFL game due to injury.

References

External links

Colorado State Rams bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Dalyn 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky American football running backs Purdue Boilermakers football players Colorado State Rams football players Detroit Lions players Tennessee Titans players Trinity High School (Louisville) alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen Houston Gamblers (2022) players