01-11-2020, 11:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-12-2020, 04:54 PM by JKortesi81.)
While Otis Allen's life story doesn't start in Detroit, his athletic prominence surely does. The Allen family moved to Detroit when Otis was in middle school. Otis's father, Mason, was relocated to a different branch of his company in order to fill an urgent need, which uprooted them from Dothan, Alabama to the Motor City. Otis's mother Casey had graduated from Martin Luther King High School on Detroit's east side, which all but sealed Otis's fate to become a Crusader.
The move from the 70,000 person "Peanut Capitol of the World" to the largest city in Michigan was a relatively easy transition for Otis, who's outgoing nature allowed him to quickly excel in his new environment. Allen was drawn to literature and writing at a young age, and greatly enjoyed his english and language arts classes throughout his tenure as a middle school and high school student. Otis was a frequent contributor to the school's student newspaper, and would use that portfolio of work to aid his resume to work for the student newspaper of his collegiate alma mater, Michigan State University. But we're getting ahead of ourselves in the timeline. There is still much to talk about regarding Allen's high school athletic rise to relevance.
Otis Allen was always the largest student in his class. Even in elementary school Otis towered over his peers; he would be spoken to by teachers separately about "taking it easy" on the other kids on the playground when they would play tag or keep-away. This height and weight difference would only grow as time went on. This contrast in stature relative to his peers allowed for Otis to dominate most any sport that he attempted during his formative years. Allen was a star center on the basketball team and held a near-perfect record in wrestling. But it wasn't until Allen's middle school held their annual "field day" that Allen became interested in the idea of track and field.
See, Allen's outgoing attitude was supplemented by his self-awareness. Otis understood that he was much taller than his peers, which he could use to his advantage in his post game on the basketball court. He also understood that he was much heavier than his peers. Sports like track and field didn't initially appeal to him because, as he understood it, it was either sprinting for short distances (which he didn't think he'd be good at) or running for long distances (which he knew he wouldn't be good at ). But when Allen saw the field events that were happening, his curiosity was piqued. And while the long jumping, high jumping, and pole vaulting were pretty quickly removed from his list of possibilities, many of the other field events quickly appealed to him. The idea of being a world-class shot putter or discus thrower fit his physical skillset very well, so he gave it a try. He blew his competition out of the water. Allen nearly doubled his peers' shot put and discus throws, and simultaneously found a sport that he truly loved. The only problem was this: Allen wasn't nearly old enough to compete in these events. His school didn't have any opportunities for middle schoolers to be on a track and field team, and he would have to wait a couple years until he could try out for a junior varsity team.
So that is exactly what Allen did. He became obsessed with the sports of discus and shot put, and would spend most of his free time studying the sport or hurling rocks around the yard. His parents regret not presenting Otis with a more formal approach to training at an earlier age, and have the broken car windshields and lawn ornaments to prove it. When Allen's first year of high school came around, he was entirely focused on his tryouts in the spring. The coaches already knew him very well, and he was a lock to be one of the first ninth grade students to be brought onto the varsity team for a field event. Everything was falling into place for Otis, until his father announced that the day after Christmas they would be moving north to Detroit.
The news that the Allen family would be moving crushed Otis. All of his plans to be a star track and field athlete were now up in the air. What if I'm not able to make it onto my new school's team? What if my new school doesn't even have a team? He tried to keep his anxiety from his parents, but they were very aware of the effect that this news had on their son. The next few weeks were chaotic, as uprooting a family and finding a new home on such short notice during the holidays can be, but they made it work. Otis enrolled in his mother's high school alma mater, King High School. The transition to a new school was easier than he expected, which quelled his anxieties and allowed him to re-focus on his primary goal: getting onto the track and field team.
Luckily for Otis, his new high school did in fact have a track and field team. Adding to Otis's luck, tryouts were just beginning for their upcoming season. Otis attended tryouts anticipating a spot on the junior varsity team, but after a nearly record-breaking first shot put throw was almost immediately promoted to the varsity squad. Allen was thrilled; he was now able to truly compete in the sport that he cared for so much.
"Compete" would be a strong word to use in Otis's case, as that would imply some possibility of closeness or struggle to attain a winning outcome. Otis ran the table. In his freshman year, Allen was a regional participant in shot put and discus. By his second year he was a regional champion in shot put. All told, Allen's tenure as a high school athlete would net him four varsity letters, two state championships in shot put, a regional championship in discus, and the state shot put record in back-to-back years. This dominance led to Allen being heavily recruited during his high school years, not only by collegiate track and field scouts, but by his high school's football coach who quickly noticed his physical talents. These attempts at recruiting Otis would be quickly shot down though, as Allen was purely focused on mastering his track and field talents.
Starting his sophomore year and continuing throughout his upperclassman years, Allen was being approached by college coaches and scouts about opportunities to compete for their schools. It initially began with more regional schools that had smaller programs, but by the time Otis won his first state championship in his junior year, larger programs began to reach out to him. At the end of his junior year Allen was approached by the head coach of the Michigan State University track and field team. While their team was not the most prestigious team that had reached out to him, Allen appreciated the proximity to his family that the university provided. The Allen family would eventually visit the Spartan's campus, which Otis's parents quickly fell in love with. Otis enjoyed the campus and facilities as well, and would go on to commit to attending Michigan State during the fall of his senior year of high school.
Following his high school graduation, Allen began preparing for his collegiate experience. He easily chose his major, journalism, and began his offseason by meeting the rest of his coaches and his fellow teammates. Once fall rolled around Allen moved up to East Lansing, away from his family and into the dorm life. Unlike many of his teammates, Otis was not assigned a fellow track and field athlete to room with. His roommate was Samson Brewer, a fellow freshman who was a cornerback for the Spartans football team. Allen and Brewer quickly hit it off, and while most of their time was spent practicing or training with their respective teams, they would occupy most of their downtime together playing video games or watching football.
Almost immediately after meeting, Brewer put a bug in Otis's ear about trying out for the football team. Allen had never seriously considered the idea of being a football player, but he'd had coaches approach him in the past about the idea. He'd dismissed all of these inquiries in the past, but Brewer's persistence had gotten him to consider it. After securing Allen on-field tickets for the Spartan's home opener and giving a tour of the team's practice facilities, Allen was as interested in the idea as he'd ever been.
One day, while Brewer and Allen were eating lunch together in the dorm's cafeteria, a man approached them and sat with them. Unbeknownst to Otis, this was the defensive coordinator for the Michigan State football team. Allen isn't able to recall exactly what was said during this conversation, but it was enough to convince him to formally transfer from his track and field team to the football team, much to his current teammates and coach's chagrin ( this wasn't the first time that a star of theirs had been poached by the more glamorous football team ). Allen expressed his longing to participate in track and field events event again at some point in his life, but for the time being football was his first priority.
Allen, having never played football formally and joining the team at such a late time in the year as a walk-on, redshirted his freshman year. He spent this time truly engrossed in learning the game: much like his study of shot put and discus, he poured his time into mastering his position. Being the raw physical talent that he was, but not yet quite having the finesse required to excel, Allen only played one game his sophomore year. He spent most of this year focusing on cutting weight, dropping nearly thirty pounds and greatly improving his endurance. Allen, ever the stand-out, chose to wear a vintage neck guard under his jersey for the game that he played in, and became a viral social media icon for his looming appearance.
Junior year was a turning point for Otis. He became a starter on the football team and registered 45 tackles and 9.5 sacks on the year, ending the season as a runner up for the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year. While up to this point his nickname of "Tank" was something that was only known by his fellow players, media outlets quickly began to refer to him by it and ran with the nickname for their articles and social media. Allen would be involved in the media as well, and as a journalism major he penned multiple opinion pieces in The State News, Michigan State University's student newspaper. Though he had quite the impressive junior season, his Michigan State team was unable to secure any championships or major bowl games, and Allen ended his collegiate tenure with a 2-1 bowl record. Soon after the season, Allen would declare for the DSFL draft.
Word Count: 1851
The move from the 70,000 person "Peanut Capitol of the World" to the largest city in Michigan was a relatively easy transition for Otis, who's outgoing nature allowed him to quickly excel in his new environment. Allen was drawn to literature and writing at a young age, and greatly enjoyed his english and language arts classes throughout his tenure as a middle school and high school student. Otis was a frequent contributor to the school's student newspaper, and would use that portfolio of work to aid his resume to work for the student newspaper of his collegiate alma mater, Michigan State University. But we're getting ahead of ourselves in the timeline. There is still much to talk about regarding Allen's high school athletic rise to relevance.
Otis Allen was always the largest student in his class. Even in elementary school Otis towered over his peers; he would be spoken to by teachers separately about "taking it easy" on the other kids on the playground when they would play tag or keep-away. This height and weight difference would only grow as time went on. This contrast in stature relative to his peers allowed for Otis to dominate most any sport that he attempted during his formative years. Allen was a star center on the basketball team and held a near-perfect record in wrestling. But it wasn't until Allen's middle school held their annual "field day" that Allen became interested in the idea of track and field.
See, Allen's outgoing attitude was supplemented by his self-awareness. Otis understood that he was much taller than his peers, which he could use to his advantage in his post game on the basketball court. He also understood that he was much heavier than his peers. Sports like track and field didn't initially appeal to him because, as he understood it, it was either sprinting for short distances (which he didn't think he'd be good at) or running for long distances (which he knew he wouldn't be good at ). But when Allen saw the field events that were happening, his curiosity was piqued. And while the long jumping, high jumping, and pole vaulting were pretty quickly removed from his list of possibilities, many of the other field events quickly appealed to him. The idea of being a world-class shot putter or discus thrower fit his physical skillset very well, so he gave it a try. He blew his competition out of the water. Allen nearly doubled his peers' shot put and discus throws, and simultaneously found a sport that he truly loved. The only problem was this: Allen wasn't nearly old enough to compete in these events. His school didn't have any opportunities for middle schoolers to be on a track and field team, and he would have to wait a couple years until he could try out for a junior varsity team.
So that is exactly what Allen did. He became obsessed with the sports of discus and shot put, and would spend most of his free time studying the sport or hurling rocks around the yard. His parents regret not presenting Otis with a more formal approach to training at an earlier age, and have the broken car windshields and lawn ornaments to prove it. When Allen's first year of high school came around, he was entirely focused on his tryouts in the spring. The coaches already knew him very well, and he was a lock to be one of the first ninth grade students to be brought onto the varsity team for a field event. Everything was falling into place for Otis, until his father announced that the day after Christmas they would be moving north to Detroit.
The news that the Allen family would be moving crushed Otis. All of his plans to be a star track and field athlete were now up in the air. What if I'm not able to make it onto my new school's team? What if my new school doesn't even have a team? He tried to keep his anxiety from his parents, but they were very aware of the effect that this news had on their son. The next few weeks were chaotic, as uprooting a family and finding a new home on such short notice during the holidays can be, but they made it work. Otis enrolled in his mother's high school alma mater, King High School. The transition to a new school was easier than he expected, which quelled his anxieties and allowed him to re-focus on his primary goal: getting onto the track and field team.
Luckily for Otis, his new high school did in fact have a track and field team. Adding to Otis's luck, tryouts were just beginning for their upcoming season. Otis attended tryouts anticipating a spot on the junior varsity team, but after a nearly record-breaking first shot put throw was almost immediately promoted to the varsity squad. Allen was thrilled; he was now able to truly compete in the sport that he cared for so much.
"Compete" would be a strong word to use in Otis's case, as that would imply some possibility of closeness or struggle to attain a winning outcome. Otis ran the table. In his freshman year, Allen was a regional participant in shot put and discus. By his second year he was a regional champion in shot put. All told, Allen's tenure as a high school athlete would net him four varsity letters, two state championships in shot put, a regional championship in discus, and the state shot put record in back-to-back years. This dominance led to Allen being heavily recruited during his high school years, not only by collegiate track and field scouts, but by his high school's football coach who quickly noticed his physical talents. These attempts at recruiting Otis would be quickly shot down though, as Allen was purely focused on mastering his track and field talents.
Starting his sophomore year and continuing throughout his upperclassman years, Allen was being approached by college coaches and scouts about opportunities to compete for their schools. It initially began with more regional schools that had smaller programs, but by the time Otis won his first state championship in his junior year, larger programs began to reach out to him. At the end of his junior year Allen was approached by the head coach of the Michigan State University track and field team. While their team was not the most prestigious team that had reached out to him, Allen appreciated the proximity to his family that the university provided. The Allen family would eventually visit the Spartan's campus, which Otis's parents quickly fell in love with. Otis enjoyed the campus and facilities as well, and would go on to commit to attending Michigan State during the fall of his senior year of high school.
Following his high school graduation, Allen began preparing for his collegiate experience. He easily chose his major, journalism, and began his offseason by meeting the rest of his coaches and his fellow teammates. Once fall rolled around Allen moved up to East Lansing, away from his family and into the dorm life. Unlike many of his teammates, Otis was not assigned a fellow track and field athlete to room with. His roommate was Samson Brewer, a fellow freshman who was a cornerback for the Spartans football team. Allen and Brewer quickly hit it off, and while most of their time was spent practicing or training with their respective teams, they would occupy most of their downtime together playing video games or watching football.
Almost immediately after meeting, Brewer put a bug in Otis's ear about trying out for the football team. Allen had never seriously considered the idea of being a football player, but he'd had coaches approach him in the past about the idea. He'd dismissed all of these inquiries in the past, but Brewer's persistence had gotten him to consider it. After securing Allen on-field tickets for the Spartan's home opener and giving a tour of the team's practice facilities, Allen was as interested in the idea as he'd ever been.
One day, while Brewer and Allen were eating lunch together in the dorm's cafeteria, a man approached them and sat with them. Unbeknownst to Otis, this was the defensive coordinator for the Michigan State football team. Allen isn't able to recall exactly what was said during this conversation, but it was enough to convince him to formally transfer from his track and field team to the football team, much to his current teammates and coach's chagrin ( this wasn't the first time that a star of theirs had been poached by the more glamorous football team ). Allen expressed his longing to participate in track and field events event again at some point in his life, but for the time being football was his first priority.
Allen, having never played football formally and joining the team at such a late time in the year as a walk-on, redshirted his freshman year. He spent this time truly engrossed in learning the game: much like his study of shot put and discus, he poured his time into mastering his position. Being the raw physical talent that he was, but not yet quite having the finesse required to excel, Allen only played one game his sophomore year. He spent most of this year focusing on cutting weight, dropping nearly thirty pounds and greatly improving his endurance. Allen, ever the stand-out, chose to wear a vintage neck guard under his jersey for the game that he played in, and became a viral social media icon for his looming appearance.
Junior year was a turning point for Otis. He became a starter on the football team and registered 45 tackles and 9.5 sacks on the year, ending the season as a runner up for the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year. While up to this point his nickname of "Tank" was something that was only known by his fellow players, media outlets quickly began to refer to him by it and ran with the nickname for their articles and social media. Allen would be involved in the media as well, and as a journalism major he penned multiple opinion pieces in The State News, Michigan State University's student newspaper. Though he had quite the impressive junior season, his Michigan State team was unable to secure any championships or major bowl games, and Allen ended his collegiate tenure with a 2-1 bowl record. Soon after the season, Allen would declare for the DSFL draft.
Word Count: 1851
![[Image: 5fKn9dY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/5fKn9dY.png)
