When Darius Allen stood before the Occhiatto Student Center audience at CSU Pueblo on Jan. 20, he told students something they don’t often hear from successful people: He almost didn’t make it.
The former CSU Pueblo football standout, a two-time RMAC defensive player of the year and inductee to the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame, returned to campus as the keynote speaker to celebrate and honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His message was more about transformation than touchdowns or championships.
“When I think about Dr. King, and I think about my life and everything that led me to this point, I think about adversity with moments that, from the outside looking in, look like the end. Some people only hear the successful stories, and they never really hear the part where somebody almost didn’t make it, because I’m one of those people: I almost didn’t make it,” Allen told the audience.
He was 14 years old, sitting in the back of a police car in Lexington, Kentucky. It wasn’t his first time. Allen grew up in what he called “instability,” where the streets offered destructive options and violence felt inevitable. He’d been kicked out of multiple schools, was failing classes, and found himself in court repeatedly.
Something shifted in that moment. He thought about his grandmother, who had taken him in when no one else would. “I felt shame because here’s my grandma, she took me in, and I’m coming back, and I’m bringing her this,” he said.
A judge named Schrader saw something in the troubled teenager that Allen couldn’t see in himself. The judge predicted Allen would play football. At the time, Allen couldn’t imagine it, especially facing 45 days confined to a juvenile rehab facility.
Those 45 days changed everything. Allen witnessed the pain and trauma of other kids in the facility and began to pray for a way out. Then his aunt and uncle in Pueblo called with an offer that seemed impossible. They suggested he move to Colorado to start over. To try something different and become part of the community.
“Dr. King believed in community to create a world where love and justice prevailed and allowed everyone to reach their full potential,” Allen said.
He took that chance and came to Pueblo at 16 years old. It was here that Judge Schrader’s seemingly prophetic vision came true. Allen would later join the ThunderWolves and become one of the program’s most decorated defensive players.
Former Head Football Coach John Wristen, now serving as the Athletics Development and External Relations Officer at CSU Pueblo, introduced Allen before his speech. Wristen led the football program for 15 seasons and watched Allen’s development firsthand. He described Allen as someone with “a dream of being great, a relentless spirit,” and someone who deeply cared for others.
Allen anchored his speech in one of Dr. King’s most enduring quotes about having a dream and about faith, spoken on Sept. 12, 1962, at the Park-Sheraton Hotel in New York City during the centennial anniversary of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
It was Allen’s second time speaking at CSU Pueblo’s MLK celebration. He had spoken at a similar event in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
His story connects directly to Dr. King’s message about transformation, Allen said. He acknowledged that his success came from people who believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself. A judge who saw potential. An aunt and uncle who opened their home. A coach and a university community in Pueblo that gave him structure and second chances.
The celebration took place one day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which also marked the first day of the spring semester at CSU Pueblo. The event highlighted the university’s ongoing commitment to honoring Dr. King’s legacy while providing students with real examples of how his principles continue to shape lives today.
