Ashton Dulin (born May 15, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Malone Malone is an Irish surname. From the Irish "''Mael Eóin''", the name means a servant or a disciple of Saint John. People * Gilla Críst Ua Máel Eóin (died 1127), historian and Abbot of Clonmacnoise, Ó Maoil Eoin * Adrian Malone (1937–2 ...

Early life and high school

Dulin grew up in

Reynoldsburg, Ohio Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The population was 41,076 at the 2020 census. History Reynoldsburg was originally ...

and attended

Reynoldsburg High School Reynoldsburg High School (RHS) is a public high school located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, United States, and the only high school in the Reynoldsburg City School District. The school is divided into five academies housed at two separate campuses, each ...

, where he was a member of the football and track teams. He was named first-team All-Ohio at Free Safety as a senior. Dulin committed to play college football and run track at Malone University over an offer from Ashland.

College career

Dulin was a four-year starter for the

Malone Pioneers The Malone Pioneers are athletic teams of Malone University in Canton, Ohio, United States. The Pioneers compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). ...

. He was named first-team All-

Great Midwest Athletic Conference The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th (at the time) NCAA Division II conference and oper ...

(G-MAC) in his junior season after recording 59 receptions for 1,050 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a senior, the final season of Malone's football team before it was discontinued, Dulin was again named first-team All-G-MAC and both the conference Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year after catching 61 passes for 984 yards and 11 touchdowns, rushing for 120 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and returning 28 kickoffs for 836 yards and three touchdowns. He finished his collegiate career with 189 receptions for 3,188 yards and 28 touchdowns while also rushing for 387 yards and three touchdowns on 53 carries. In track, Dulin set conference records in the 100 meter, the 110 meter hurdles, the 200 meters, the 400 meter hurdles and the long jump. Dulin was named the G-MAC indoor track athlete of the year and a Division II All-American in the 60 meter hurdles as a junior.

Professional career

Dulin signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on April 27, 2019. He was cut by Colts at the end of training on August 31, 2019, but was re-signed to the team's practice squad the following day. Dulin was promoted to the Colts active roster on September 27, 2019. He made his NFL debut on September 29, 2019, against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, making a tackle on special teams and becoming the first and only Malone football player to appear in an NFL game. Dulin caught a 13-yard pass from

Jacoby Brissett Jacoby Jajuan Brissett (born December 11, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Following a college football stint with Florida, he played at NC State and was selected in the t ...

for his first career reception on December 1, 2019. In his rookie season Dulin played in 13 games with two receptions for 17 yards, three kickoff returns for 90 yards and six tackles on special teams. Dulin made the Colts 53-man roster to start the 2020 season. He was placed on injured reserve on November 7, 2020. He was activated on November 28, 2020. On January 10, 2021, Dulin signed a one-year extension with the Colts. In 2021, Dulin saw action in all 17 games (one start) and finished second in the NFL with 17 special teams tackles. He also set career highs in receptions (13), receiving yards (173) and receiving touchdowns (two). Since entering the NFL in 2019, Dulin ranks 11th in the league in special teams tackles (31). He was named Associated Press Second-team All-Pro for the first time in his career. It marked the second consecutive season Indianapolis has had a special teams player named Associated Press All-Pro as safety George Odum was a First-team All-Pro choice in 2020. On October 11, 2022, Dulin was placed on injured reserve. He was designated to return from injured reserve on November 9, 2022, and activated for Week 10. On March 20, 2023, Dulin re-signed with the Colts.

References

External links

Malone Pioneers bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulin, Ashton 1997 births Living people American football wide receivers Indianapolis Colts players Malone Pioneers football players People from Reynoldsburg, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio