The National Alliance of African American Athletes

NEWS

Reprinted from the Baltimore Ravens.com

Developing Leaders

By Mike Duffy

March 10, 2006

Ravens tight end Darnell Dinkins walked into the team's Owings Mills training facility on Wednesday smiling ear-to-ear. No, he didn't just get a new car or come back from a tropical vacation. Dinkins just spent the day speaking to 50 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from Old Court Middle School, serving as a role model to impressionable young children.

That will always make him smile. During the offseason, Dinkins works just as hard appearing at community service events as he does lifting weights and running.

Growing up in Pittsburgh's Hill District, a rough area once dotted with drug dealers and dilapidated buildings, he never had any strong male presence in his life and was forced to be the man of his house at a young age. Dinkins had to figure out a lot about life on his own.

"When I was growing up, I had a lot of bad situations happen around me," he said. "I didn't really have any guidance. There weren't many male role models around me. I didn't have guys around me that had been through something."

Dinkins realized he would have to work a little bit harder than some of the privileged to get what he wanted, and applied himself to sports, namely football. His determination took him to the University of Pittsburgh, the semi-pro Pittsburgh Colts, NFL Europe's Rhein Fire and eventually, the NFL. Of course, he's played quarterback, linebacker, free safety and tight end along the way.

Dinkins is equally devoted to the Ravens' community service efforts.

Even making it in football wasn't going to be easy, but Dinkins was never dissuaded.

"I heard a lot of guys when I was younger talk about what they 'could' do," he stated. "They talked about, 'What I could do,' or 'What I could have been.' I said, 'When I am able to make it, I want to come back and tell them that all the people that talked about what they could have been are just making excuses for why they didn't do it.'

"I want tell kids that they can't blame anyone else for you being successful or not being successful. When the application meets the opportunity, you'll be able to be successful."

Drawing from personal experiences in his childhood, Dinkins' message is delivered from the heart. It becomes all the more poignant when you realize the person speaking to you is a walking example of what dreams can achieve.

"I believe that God allowed me to continue to do well on and off the field, because there are not enough guys that say, 'This is what I came from, and this is where you can aspire to get to,'" said Dinkins.

He also believes that his performance on the field give him credibility to the teens he talks to.

"The main focus on why I'm here is to be a football player, and the more you do well on the field, the more accolades you gain, and the more you can hold yourself to a certain standard, the more powerful [the message] is," he continued. "You don't have to be an athlete or entertainer to get out of a bad environment. You can be an entrepreneur or a CEO of a company. You just have to aspire to get there. That's why I so adamantly get back into the schools and tell the youth that they are the future and you really have to start applying yourself now and setting a game plan for yourself."

Aside from visiting and sponsoring local schools in the Baltimore area, Dinkins also runs his Maleness to Manhood Foundation, which focuses on specifically setting a game plan for the future of young men.

"My focus is to help young men to aspire for greater things and help them on their walk to becoming men," commented Dinkins. "There are too many instances in our world where there are fatherless homes, or where guys are running around and defining themselves as a man by how many women they've had.

"In actuality, a real man is someone who can be a provider, somebody who can live that word of God and be consistent," he added. "As a man, the only thing you have is your word, and once you tarnish that, then everything else is out the door."

This can definitely be said for Dinkins: there is no doubt that he is consistent in his word and passionate about his work. The 6-2, 255-pound mentor appreciates the ability to serve the community through the Ravens.

"I love the Baltimore area and I love playing for this team," he said. "I love the fact that the more positive things you do on the field, the more of an impact you have when you do the positive things off the field. What better story than to have somebody that actually went through some hardships to be able to come back and tell you how they overcame them?"

There aren't many better stories, and here's one person that hopes he keeps telling his.

Photos from the weekend