Dion Dawkins comes back to give back

As he walked through the Diamond Street Lot Saturday morning just a block away from Temple’s football facility, it felt like Dion Dawkins had never left.

The same traits and gestures that made Dawkins a larger-than-life figure with the Owls – the infectious sense of humor, the jokes, the hearty hugs - were back on display for a North Philadelphia community Dawkins said has been so important to his life.

Dawkins, now entering his fifth season with the Buffalo Bills as one of the best left tackles in the NFL, was in town this weekend with his Dion’s Dreamers foundation. As the clock turned past 10 a.m., Dawkins and more than 50 member of Temple’s football team were setting up bags of food and produce to be distributed to more than 600 families in need in the neighborhood and the surrounding area.

As it got closer to 11 a.m., some people started to make their way over to see what was going on. The plan was to set up the Diamond Street lot as a walk-up or drive-up station where families could safely pick up their boxes of food. Most of the cars began showing up at 11:30 and continued through over the next hour before the team donated the rest of the food to Berean Presbyterian Church three blocks away at Broad and Diamond Streets.

“There are so many people in the world that need a helping hand and need just help,” Dawkins told OwlScoop.com, “and this is just something that’s a part of it. There's so many guys that can impact people in different ways. I just want to just do it in the communities that built me.

“I grew up in Rahway in Jersey. I went to school in Philly. I got drafted by the Bills. So those three places are my core places of my life. So just giving back to the community that helped grow me is special.”

Some of the current Temple players occasionally looked in Dawkins’ direction as the morning got started. He spent some time talking to Owls safety Amir Tyler, a graduate student and one of the current team leaders. Tyler was a true freshman in 2016 when Dawkins was in his final season at Temple and on his way to becoming a second-round draft pick of the Bills in the 2017 NFL Draft.

“It’s amazing,” Tyler told OwlScoop.com. “Just knowing the person he is and the success he’s had, some people wouldn’t do what he does. So just to see him come back the community and come back to the university just to give back to the community – and to give his time to us – it’s a blessing.”

There would be time for talking to more players team later, Dawkins said

“Later on today,” he explained, “I'm gonna sit all the guys down and talk to him, and just let them ask questions. Just basically like an open talk.”

“The guys are in full work mode,” Dawkins added as the current Owls continued to pack boxes and bags. “I’m going to get to them. We work first, we play later.”

That mantra has served Dawkins well. He went from a largely underrecruited player at North Jersey’s Rahway High School to one who got a bit more attention after a postgraduate season at Hargrave Military Academy, landing offers from Cincinnati and Temple.

With the Owls, Dawkins was part of the 2015 team that gained national attention by starting 7-0 and landing a top-25 ranking before taking on Notre Dame on Halloween night on ABC’s national game of the week, just hours after ESPN’s College GameDay dropped by Market Street just outside Independence Hall. A year later, he helped pave the way for the Owls’ 2016 American Athletic Conference championship.

And last August, a little more than seven years after he arrived at Temple, Dawkins signed a four-year, $60 million contract extension, with $34 million in guaranteed money. The 2020 season was his second as one of Buffalo’s team captains, and the Bills went on to a 13-3 record, an AFC East Division title and a spot in the team’s first AFC Championship game - where they lost to the Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs - since 1993.

Dawkins, one of 26 former Temple players currently on NFL rosters, doesn’t want to get complacent now, even though he has more money, notoriety and security than he’s ever had in his life.

“I just keep my head down, and I just keep working,” Dawkins said. “Honestly, I act like (signing the contract extension) never even happened or it doesn't happen. And I just keep pushing forward, literally. I don't look at it like, ‘Oh, I made it.’ Nah, none of that. It's just, ‘Hey, you know, I have it now. It could be gone tomorrow.’ And I'm just gonna keep doing what I've been doing before I had (his second contract.), and I’m just gonna keep grinding.”

Tyler was elated to see his former teammate again.

“When I was a freshman here, he took very good care of me – forever,” Tyler said. “He still contacts me. He still makes sure I’m good. It’s just a blessing to show (his current teammates) what I went through, and they know this stuff’s possible. And when they see Dion come back and give back, it gives faith to the community and the team as well.”

Speaking of faith, Temple will need some of it after a COVID- and injury-riddled 2020 season left the Owls limping to the end with a 1-6 record, its worst mark in 14 years.

To bounce back and get the program back to where it was, Dawkins believes the solution is simple.

“Just work,” he said. “To answer that question, it’s just work. These guys, they just have to keep their head down. This is not Alabama. This is not LSU. They just got to keep their head down, work hard, push (weight) plates, wake up at 6 a.m. Understand that (the goal) was never met and it never will be pretty.

“This is the gritty gritty here of Temple football, and these guys just have to understand that we're the diamond in the dirt. You know, just keep working and keep your head down – and bust your ass.”

The Owls were a 2-10 team in 2013, Dawkins’ first season at Temple. Although last season wouldn’t necessarily be comparable because it was played during a pandemic, Dawkins can relate to the frustration, the doubts, the second-guessing.

And he took what he learned from that time to the NFL.

“From playing here, we didn't know how to win,” Dawkins said. “Well, actually, from playing here, winning wasn't a guarantee. We learned how to win. And I just adapted that and continue that in my career of do what I do and do best, and that's just keep my mouth shut, play, play hard, and play ball. And it's just the correlation of what Temple did for me, it did for my guys like PJ (Walker) and all of those guys, and how it adapted into the NFL. Like there's so many (Temple) guys in the league now that have just brought everything that we were taught from our roots to the NFL, which is why we're able to achieve.”

Front page photo courtesy of Lauren Renschler, William Raymond Communications