He didn’t give up and ended up playing college ball at D-III Heidelberg, which has the nickname the Student Princes. The journey now has led him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League.
Being able to come home and visit his father Donteea, Sr. and mother Lemonda, as well as the rest of his family makes Dye happy. Giving back to the community also is very important.
“It feels good, it is all a blessing. I just want to give back to the community,” Dye said. “I feel like it is very important to give back to the community and talk to the kids. They are our future, and I want to make sure they are going down the right road.”
His message to the attentive youth at the BTW was a positive one that contained some useful information.
“Today, I just want to tell them to keep their head on straight. Keep the grades up and stay in school,” Dye explained. “It will lead you a long way. Education will take you further than football will. If you want to be successful in life, school is the place to go and the place to be.”
Hamilton resident Alonzo Wells knows Dye’s grandmother and got in touch with her to try to set-up a visit with the pro athlete to come to the BTW to talk with the kids.
“I wanted to bring in some role models for Black History Month,” Wells explained. “I called his grandmother and she put me in touch with him. I asked him if he would come down to the BTW Center and speak to the kids. He said, ‘I’m all for it…to do something for the kids.’”
Wells was happy to see Dye show up to give back to the community and hopes to see more people come back to do just that.
“I get chills; I really do,” he said. “The kids don’t get this everyday in Hamilton. The excitement of seeing the kids smiling and laughing and getting to shake somebody’s hand. Very seldom do we get somebody to come to the BTW Center.”
Dye said he was more than happy to do so and is glad to see the BTW serving the community. He said being with Tampa Bay and playing in the NFL has been special.
“I am blessed things are going well and just trying to see all my family before I have to go back,” he said. “A lot of running around, but it’s all worth it. The season was beautiful, there were a lot of things that I left on the field. I wish I could have got a few plays back, but it’s all part of God’s plan. Nothing that I regret though, I had fun.”
He exited the BTW was some words of wisdom for those who want to pursue their dreams.
“Never give up on anything you want in life. When you lose faith in yourself ain’t nobody else gonna have faith in you,” Dye said.
Then when greeted with some familiar Ohio weather, he added, “definitely beautiful to be back home I miss it, but it’s getting cold I have to get back in that sun.”
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