Each year, every NFL team selects one member to be named Walter Payton Man of the Year, an award that honors a player's volunteer and charity work.
This year's award for the Colts goes to 25-year-old tight end Dwayne Allen, who was given the award Wednesday.
Allen has increasingly become a leading role model in Indianapolis, advocating for literacy, serving as a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Public Library and acting as an educational speaker to root out domestic violence.
Allen had an uncommon path to the NFL, almost dying as a 13-month-old after getting a hold of a bottle of Advil.
He was the seventh and final child of his mother's when she was just 21 years old, and he had little contact with his father, but rather saw his mother fall victim to domestic violence at the hands of three different men.
Congratulations to Dwayne! It's well deserved.
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