Allen Fails Jr. has plenty to be thankful for, starting with his faith.
“I’m a God first-type of guy,” said Fails. “I can do anything with him and nothing without him.”
Then there’s his family and his university, which both go hand in hand.
In the span of about six months this year, Fails got married, had a son and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi.
When Fails was just 8 or 9 years old, he told his mother at the 50-yard line inside MM Roberts Stadium that he would play there one day. For one, he actually believed it would happen. And two, it was an effort to show her, a single mother, that brighter times were ahead.
“After seeing her struggle, I said, ‘I’m going to play here and go to the NFL and make you happy’.”
He remembers going up to players after games and asking them a multitude of questions like, ‘How did you get so big?’. Now, Fails is answering those same questions.
Following a standout prep career at North Forrest High School, Fails opted for a quick detour through the junior college route at East Central Community College. Fails did a little bit of everything in that span, playing quarterback, wide receiver and linebacker. After two seasons in Decatur, Fails chose to walk on at his dream and hometown school, Southern Miss.
It’s actually where Fails met his wife, Alexis, who worked in the school’s media department at the time.
“The first time I saw her, I said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl’,” Fails said. “A lot of people laughed at me, and it ended up happening. God brought us together I feel like.”
On May 11, a day before their wedding, Fails graduated from Southern Miss with a degree in child and family development. He’s currently working towards his Master’s and trying to take the alternate route to teaching and coaching.
In his spare time, Fails works with and coaches kids at his alma mater, North Forrest. He sees a lot of himself in each and every one of them.
“It kind of brings chills to my bones. It’s amazing,” Fails said. “The kids watch me grow up and watch me play. Now I get the opportunity to go back and give back to them.”
Fails also has a little boy of his own that was named after him and born in February.
“It’s been a pretty big year for me,” Fails said with a smile.
Fails is hoping it continues as his last season wearing a Southern Miss football uniform draws near. The linebacker played in all 13 of the team’s games last year as a redshirt junior, mostly on special teams. Now he is hoping to see more action on the defensive side in his last go-round.
“I think this is going to be my year. I really do. I’m claiming it.”
