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Hey y’all, Colin here.
You’ve probably heard me share stories about playing football for Baylor and eventually making it to the NFL. But what most people don’t know is the difficult and often overlooked part of that journey – the grueling road that almost kept me from getting there at all.
My senior year playing football at Baylor was amazing – I was team captain and we had a really great group of guys who, although we weren’t winning any championships, outplayed our skill level because of hard work and a lot of heart.
As far as football goes, I thought that was it. I was training in the morning, studying for the LSAT in the evening, and generally all set to hang up my cleats for law school.
But then the NFL came calling. I talked to an agent who was convinced I could get drafted – giving me a chance to earn enough money to pay for law school and buy my mom the house she’d been renting for 20 years.
I decided to go for it – and one thing you should know about me is that when I go for something, I am all in. I graduated in December, deferred law school, and immediately moved to Houston to train for the spring draft. I worked hard – harder than I ever had before, and I felt ready.
When draft day arrived, it was the longest two days of my life. I sat around the living room with my family, waiting for a phone call that turned out wasn’t coming. After all my training and reassurance from agents, I went undrafted.
In the back of my mind was this voice saying, “You should have gone to law school.” I knew my mom and aunt were thinking it too.
I could have given up right then and there – but the Tennessee Titans gave me a chance to come to training camp and try out for the team, so I took it. I played well, sure that this, finally, was my moment. But I got cut.
So I came home to Dallas, moved back in with my mom, and took a job at our local YMCA – the same one I’d practically grown up at and worked at as a teenager. It wasn’t glamorous – I swept the floors, picked up towels, whatever they needed. But I could use the weight room for free, so every night I stayed late and put in the work, knowing the next time the NFL called, I’d be ready.
I had to wait more than a year, but when I got another crack at the NFL, I didn’t just do our team workouts – I did my own, too, training late into the night. And finally, I made the team.
But the stress and hard work didn’t stop there. I think what a lot of people don’t realize is most guys playing in the NFL aren’t on a big contract or signing bonus. They’re kids like me, fighting to pay their bills week to week, living in a cheap apartment with rented furniture, working as hard as they can and praying they don’t get cut.
I’m not complaining – I’m proud of my NFL career, the experiences I had, the people I met, and the work ethic it instilled in me. Most of all, I’m proud that, just like I hoped, it gave me the chance to earn enough to go to law school and buy my mom that house.
And you know, in a lot of ways, I was undrafted in other areas of my life, too. Raised by a single mom on a teacher’s salary, I never had the option to be lazy or to give up. I’ve fought for everything I have.
This is where we bring it back to this Senate race. Like the NFL, I didn’t make it to the Senate on my first try. But in last year’s race, we defied expectations, showed a lot of grit, and outran the presidential ticket by nearly 200,000 votes – more than any other Democratic Senate campaign in the country.
I’m not giving up on Texas – and I never will.
I’m back home in Dallas, working harder than ever. I’m pounding the pavement, meeting as many Texans as I possibly can. I’m holding town halls, listening to what folks have to say, and thinking about ways I can help them. I’m picking up shifts at small businesses all over the state to better understand the people and places that are the bedrock of our communities.
I am in this 100%, and I’ve never been more convinced we can win. Texans are fed up with the status quo – with corrupt career politicians like Ken Paxton and John Cornyn who will do anything to keep Donald Trump happy but will not stand up for our families.
But if there’s one thing I learned from 20+ years of team sports, it’s that no one succeeds alone. A grassroots campaign is no different. I need this team to be in this with me from now until Election Day, especially considering I refuse to accept a dime from corporate PACs.
So if you agree that Texans deserve better than the failed leadership we’re getting and that our future and our democracy is worth fighting for, I hope you’ll chip in today to help power our movement. [ [link removed] ]
Thanks for reading – and for all your support along the way,
Colin
Paid for by Allred for Texas

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