LUMBERTON — For 31 years and counting, Brad Allen has been a referee, officiating at the high school and college levels en route to becoming an NFL official in 2014.
Through it all, the Lumberton native remains committed to serving the community where he got his start.
“You can’t forget your roots,” Allen said. “If you’re invested in a community, you have to give back to it because there is a generation coming behind you that needs a foundation of success.”
Allen will return to his roots on Thursday as the keynote speaker at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s annual Braves Club Cash Bash fundraiser. The event will begin at 6 p.m. inside the English E. Jones Center.
“Anytime you get invited back, it’s a big honor,” said Allen, a 1991 UNCP grad. “I’m excited to see the improvements on campus and the strides within athletics.”
Cash Bash is one of the department’s premier fundraising events that benefits the Braves Club scholarship fund. Proceeds from the event support all 17 varsity athletics programs, as well as more than 400 student-athletes.
As of this year, the fundraiser has generated more than $150,000 for student-athlete scholarships and programs.
Tickets are $80 per person, which includes drinks, a catered meal and one raffle entry. Tickets will also be available at the door and items will be auctioned off throughout the night.
Some of the featured auction items include: a football autographed by Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis and Super Bowl champion Vonta Leach; Duke Athletics VIP package which includes two tickets to a basketball game, a behind the scenes tour of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and four football tickets and sideline passes; N.C. State VIP experience; A pair of single-game regular season tickets for an ECU football game; A pair of season tickets for UNCP football and basketball; UNC basketball coach Roy Williams signed basketball; a football signed by the UNC football team; an ACC package; dinner with UNCP Chancellor Robin Cummings and wife Rebecca at the Chancellors Residence prepared by Head University Chef; an Allen Brothers Hunting Preserve VIP Experience for two; and a NASCAR Las Vegas VIP Experience.
To purchase tickets, or for information on the event, contact Adam Hardin at 910-775-4339 or [email protected].
Allen’s journey to becoming a referee started well before his days at UNCP. In 1986, he became an official with the Southeastern Athletic Officials Association. He continued to call local games after advancing to the college ranks as an Atlantic Coast Conference official. Among his biggest games are the 2012 Rose Bowl, the 2014 Sugar Bowl and the Army-Navy game.
As executive director/president of the North Carolina Senior Games and the regional supervisor of high school basketball officials, Allen juggles his full-time duties with his “full-time, part-time job” in the NFL, relying on a strong work ethic, support from home and a hunger for improvement to help him maintain a standard of excellence in all three jobs.
“Nothing is given to you,” he said. “You have to make your own opportunities and be in the right position when people are watching, not just in sports, but in life. You have to be committed to whatever you’re doing.”
All the while, Allen continues to draw motivation from the people who have helped him along the way.
“If you’re gonna be a big-time anything, you have to be a big-time person,” he said. “You’re not going to be very successful without good support at home. It’s an honor to be (in the NFL). You know you’re at the highest level of your profession, honored and humbled that so many people say, ‘I know that guy, or he’s someone from my hometown.’”
On March, 21, 2014, Allen reached the pinnacle of his career, receiving a call from Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, asking him to “come work for me on Sundays.”
“The guys that I work with are great, but one thing I’ll always remember is getting invited,” Allen said. “That’s what I look forward to most every year — getting that call.”
It was a historic hire, as Allen became the first rookie NFL official in the Super Bowl era to be the lead official of a crew in his first season. His first game was at Soldier Field in Chicago, as the Bears hosted the Buffalo Bills.
As the man with the white hat, Allen knows adversity is always going to rear its ugly head on Sundays.
“You have to remember it’s a game,” he said. “The game will always keep you humble. You have to embrace the fact that you’re going to make mistakes, and learn with the hopes that knowledge in your arsenal will help you not make those mistakes again.”
But like the two squads competing on the field, teamwork is vital to the success of Allen and his peers.
“The team is more important than the leader,” he said. “You can’t get too full of yourself. If the crew isn’t buying in together, the leader is certain to fail.”
As he continues to make strides, rising in the ranks of NFL officials, Allen’s desire for growth takes him beyond the grounds of complacency.
“It doesn’t matter what you did last week or how you’ve done in the past,” he said. “The eye in the sky doesn’t lie. You have to prove yourself every single week, continuing to focus on the rules and the philosophy of the game.
“After awhile, referees build credibility and you have to be mentally and physically ready to do the job every single week.”
