Davis Allen has a Christmas Eve to remember

Davis Allen had a special Christmas Eve.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jan 05 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

Not every day is Christmas Eve. And it’s not every day that you shoot your first deer. And hopefully, it’s not every day that you ask your girl to marry you, and she says yes. For Clemson tight end Davis Allen, he managed all three on the same day.

Allen ended his senior season by finishing third on the team with 39 receptions for 443 yards and five touchdowns. He has an extra year of eligibility remaining, but he told TigerNet at the Orange Bowl that he’s ready to move on and see what’s next.

“Moving to that next chapter. I'm going to give the NFL a shot,” Allen said. “I'm going to train and do pro day and all that. I feel like I would regret it if I said I didn't give it a shot and see where that goes. That's the plan for right now.”

Allen said at that point he didn’t have any idea what the NFL was thinking.

“I honestly don't know. That's been one of the main things I've done this year is I have tried to just block it out,” he said. “Stay away. The only focus I had this year was this team and that other stuff will take care of itself. I'll start worrying about that next week after this game gets over with, but right now I'm just focused on winning this game and hanging with my teammates.”

To prepare for the next stage of his life, Allen asked longtime girlfriend Erin Kelly to marry him. On Christmas Eve.

“My fiancé, her family has a lot of property back home, so I picked out a spot on the property that was quiet, just me and her,” Allen said. “Her family helped a lot with it, helped planning it. She came over to my house and we opened (presents) for my niece and nephew, one's a year old and the other's not even a year old yet. Then she thought we were going to a resort with her family to see Christmas lights, so she was already dressed up. I just took a little detour on the way to her house to the property and had a little thing set up with pictures and a sign. It was just us out there. I did it out there and then took her back to her house and my family was waiting on her and her family, so everyone was there. Just hung out and celebrated for a little bit. It was good.”

How long had the proposal been in the planning stages?

“Well, this month will be six years that we've been dating,” Allen said. “I think I asked her dad on our bye week, so Halloween. It's been a while in the planning. I was more nervous talking to her dad then Ashley. By the time that Christmas Eve went around, I was just ready to get it over with, the waiting and the secrets and all that, but I was definitely more nervous talking to her dad.”

Allen then detailed the conversation with Erin’s father.

“It went well. We met for breakfast, and we probably talked close to an hour, just talked about the future and all that. It went smooth though,” he said.

That’s not all, however.

“He took me hunting the morning of Christmas Eve and I actually shot my first deer,” Allen said of his future father-in-law. "I shot my first buck that morning, and then later that afternoon I proposed, so it was a heck of a day. It was an 8-pointer. We gutted it, but he took it to the processor and all that. We had the meat though at the little engagement party that night.”

However, Allen broke with tradition and didn’t get the blood smeared on his face.

“He said he was going to give me a pass. He didn't make me gut it,” he said. “He just made me watch and I was appreciative.”