Riding off into the sunset pic.twitter.com/wZXovseGKS— Jared Allen (@JaredAllen69) February 18, 2016
In 12 seasons, Allen amassed 136 quarterback sacks, which is good for ninth on the all-time sacks list (tied with Julius Peppers). Of eight players with more sacks than Allen, six are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a seventh (Kevin Greene) slated to be inducted into the HOF this summer. I believe Allen will make the Hall one day but I doubt it will occur in his first year of eligibility.
Half of Allen's 12 years in the NFL was with my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings. In those six seasons, Allen had his most productive years with 85.5 sacks in that time span. His 22 sacks in 2011 was the second best single season total in NFL history.
In April 2008, the Vikes paid a hefty price tag (a first round draft pick, two third rounders and a sixth rounder, all in '08) to acquire Allen and a 2009 6th round draft pick from the Kansas City Chiefs. However, it was a risk which paid off. Many forget that Allen was arrested for driving under the influence three different times from 2002 thru 2006. Despite those red flags, the Vikings insisted they performed their due diligence and thus gave assurances that Allen's troubles were behind him. In six seasons in a Vikings uniform, he never once had any high profile off field incidents.
Thanks for the memories, Jared!
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