ORLANDO — There were two milestone moments in Alec Ingold’s life that remind him things didn’t have to turn out the way they did. Often when you see a phrase like that, it means things could have turned out better.

Not in this case.

And the week Alec Ingold is experiencing proves it.

Ingold, a fullback and Dolphins team captain, found himself at Camping World Stadium as a Pro Bowl player this past weekend. From there, he headed west for an appearance Thursday night at NFL Honors. Ingold will share the stage with the other teams’ nominees for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

“Personally, I still don’t really believe it,” Ingold said before Friday morning’s AFC practice for the Pro Bowl. “So I’m trying to soak it in as best I can.”

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The Man of the Year nomination was a tip of the cap by the Dolphins for Ingold’s community service, with a special focus on adoption. It’s a subject close to Ingold’s heart because he was adopted in what he calls a “100%” perfect adoption story, with loving parents and a sister to whom he's very close.

It was the first crucial time in his life that turned into a blessing, not the last. NFL Honors will be televised from Las Vegas, the site of Sunday's Super Bowl. Talk about coincidence: Ingold’s first three NFL seasons were with the Raiders, including the second and third years when they’d moved to Vegas. He was a team captain in 2021 when he blew out a knee. It didn’t just end his season. It also ended his Raiders career.

“Kicked to the curb,” he once said.

Dolphins invest, then reinvest, in Alec Ingold

The Dolphins gave him a two-year contract for $6.5 million as a free agent, but before it could expire, they handed him an extension: three years, up to $17.2 million, making him the highest-paid fullback in the AFC.

A young boy who once lacked a family. An NFL player who once lacked a team. Need anyone ask why Ingold is smiling?

“You try and reflect throughout the season,” Ingold said before pointing out that players are “so dialed in” to the next game that there’s hardly time for reflection. But now?

“Take the recognition for what it is and use it as motivation and move forward,” he said.

That’s his approach both on and off the field. He recently wrote a book titled “The Seven Crucibles: An Inspirational Game Plan for Overcoming Adversity in Your Life.” In football terms, Ingold went from struggling to walk again to making the Pro Bowl in two years. Last season, teammates voted him the winner of the Ed Block Courage Award. And three years ago, he was nominated by the Raiders for the Man of the Year Award, which the league considers its highest honor. The Dolphins have three previous winners: Dwight Stephenson, Dan Marino and Jason Taylor. All are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ingold believes only tweaks are necessary for Dolphins

Both of Ingold’s seasons with the Dolphins have resulted in playoff berths, but nothing more. He believes that could change in 2024.

“You look at the 70-point game or the individual highlights or team highlights throughout the year,” he said. “Those moments can really just allow you to trust yourself so much more and trust the people you’re with. So I think that’s kind of how I took the season, was very close. Tweak it up and pretty soon we’ll make it worth it.”

Why just tweaks?

“You’re taking a bus ride with six Pro Bowlers altogether,” he said of representatives of the Dolphins on that ride to the AFC workout. “And it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got the talent. We’ve got the right people and I think those people are going to make the difference.”

All but one of those Pro Bowl Dolphins are on offense. The exception was cornerback Jalen Ramsey — but Ramsey will be coached next season by Anthony Weaver, not Vic Fangio.

“I think we’re all a little shocked,” Ingold said of Fangio departing after only one season as defensive coordinator.

Fangio has since joined the Philadelphia Eagles’ staff. Last week, former Eagles and Dolphins quarterback Ron Jaworski, a longtime friend of Fangio’s, told a radio station that Fangio considered some players on the Dolphins to be more interested in partying than training.

“When you’re 22, 23, 24 years old in the NFL, you’re constantly trying to balance a lot of things as a family, a human being, as a man, and a lot of athletes need a lot of different things to be able to go and execute,” Ingold said. “Statements like that are tough, especially when it’s out of the building, talking about guys in the building. So you take everything like that with a grain of salt.”

Ingold pointed out the position-group dinners players organize that were featured on “Hard Knocks.”

“Whether you think we’re out on South Beach or whatever and you want to point at whatever excuse, at the end of the day I think it’s guys being able to be the best human being possible to play on Sundays,” Ingold said.

Bottom line: “I think we’ve got a lot of guys really focused on the right thing,” he said.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Alec Ingold still can't believe this whirlwind week