HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Fresh off a championship win, Nehemiah Allen is doing what he loves. “Football just relieves me. Just helps me have fun,” he said.
He’s pretty good too.
“He's just so humbled in everything that he does. I don't think I'd be that humbled at his age and the talent that he has," said Terrence Allen, Nehemiah’s father.
Nehemiah plays football for the Virginia Vipers and his school’s team at Liberty Middle School in Ashland.
“Not many kids can say, 'I'm a star football player. On a bad day I get at least three touchdowns. On a good day, five or six. And I'm a track star,'" Bridget Allen, Nehemiah’s mother said.
What he’s doing in sports isn’t where Nehemiah’s story begins. “I started putting it all together."
It’s a story the almost 13-year-old is searching for on his own.
“I have a whole family now. They didn't want me so. I have this family,” Nehemiah said.
In August of 2009, a woman walking her dog found a newborn who was abandoned, naked and left in the grass of someone’s front yard in Henrico County.
“God allowed him to be left there for us,” Bridget said.
Terrence and Bridget eventually adopted the baby boy. The named him Nehemiah, but that’s not the name that he’s called.
“Everybody calls him Nemo. My mom actually came up with that name because she was like 'he’s not going to know how to spell his first name. [She said] I’m just going to call him Nemo like Finding Nemo,'” Bridget explained.
“I couldn't ask for a better son,” Terrence said.
When Nehemiah was just four years old, the Allens told their son one part of his story — that he was adopted.
“He's asking so many questions and we all said as a family, we are not going to lie to him. He's going to know,” Bridget said.
Nehemiah ended up googling the second part of his story — how he came into the world.
“I just wanted to make sure it's true, because I have seen the papers,” Nehemiah said.
“Just so happens Nehemiah kind of did the work for us and went ahead and looked himself up,” said Terrence.
“We asked him 'do you have any questions' and he said 'no,” the couple recalled.
Nehemiah feels relieved to know the full story. He doesn’t talk about the past too much. But he’s already looking ahead to the future.
“I want to go to college, graduate college and go into the NFL,” Nehemiah said.
“I want to see my son play in the NFL. I'm not even going to sugar coat it,” Terrence said.
“He wants to be a chef, an engineer, a football NFL player. So, he has big dreams and I want him to achieve everything that God has for him, because he's here for a reason. He's not just our blessing. He's everyone he comes in contact with's blessing,” Bridget said.
CBS 6 has followed Nehemiah’s story for almost 13 years. Not only is he an exceptional athlete, he’s also a straight “A” student.
Nehemiah’s Viper team is headed to Nationals in Florida this month. His team made it to the top ten last year.
You can help Nehemiah pay for some of the expenses for his Florida trip. Click on his GoFundMe to donate.
