Damon Allen

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Damon Allen
Date of birth July 29, 1963
Place of birth San Diego, California
Position(s) Quarterback
College California State University, Fullerton
Team(s)
1985-1988
1989-1991
1992
1993-1994
1995
1996-2002
2003-Present		 Edmonton Eskimos
Ottawa Rough Riders
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Edmonton Eskimos
Memphis Mad Dogs
British Columbia Lions
Toronto Argonauts

Damon Allen (b. July 29, 1963 in San Diego, California) is a professional Canadian football player. He is the current starting quarterback for the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts. Allen leads the All-Time Pro football passing chart with 70,596 passing yards; he surpassed Warren Moon's total of 70,553 yards (in both the CFL and NFL combined) on September 4, 2006 in the annual Labour Day Classic.[1][2] The 2006 season marks Allen's twenty-second season in the CFL. Allen is the younger brother of NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen.

Allen has been mentioned as one of the greatest CFL quarterbacks of all time, and though statistical comparisons are difficult due to great CFL quarterbacks often leaving for the NFL, Allen has over 40% more passing yardage than second-place Ron Lancaster and his 50,535 yards over 19 seasons. In addition, he stands fifteenth on the all time professional rushing list (third on the all time CFL list behind Mike Pringle and George Reed) and as of August 31, 2006, he stood only 464 yards behind his brother Marcus. Damon is widely considered the best football player to never play in the NFL.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Damon Allen started playing football by the age of six for Valencia Park Pop Warner in San Diego. Damon played safety on defense and helped bring his team to the championship game in the Mighty-Mites league only to lose.

In the Junior Peewee league, Damon again made it to the championships and this time his team won. This marked his first year as a quarterback. Damon became a force to be reckoned with, leading his team to two undefeated seasons, and winning the Junior Peewee league title for three years in a row.

In high school, Damon was the starting quarterback. He went on to a record of 22-2 for second year varsity as well as second year first team all-CIF. He led his team to two 2A Division CIF Football Championships, playing against and defeating childhood friend and fellow quarterback Mark McKinney (Brigham Young Unversity) of Bonita Vista High School in the County Semi-finals their senior season.

[edit] College years

Damon went on to play college football for California State University, Fullerton. There, Allen led the Titans to two PCAA championships. He also broke a 26-year-old NCAA record with three interceptions in over 300 attempts and broke seven school records. He was a first team PCAA quarterback, and was named the UPI All West Coast team quarterback along with UNLV's Randall Cunningham.

Allen was sixteenth in overall voting for the 1984 Heisman Trophy. He also played in the Senior Bowl college All-Star game (completing 6 for 8 passes for 50 yards, 1 touchdown, and rushing for 20 yards on 3 carries).

Allen was not only an outstanding football player, he was also a great baseball player. He helped his Titans' baseball team win the 1984 College World Series, leading his team to a regular season record of 66-20. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft, the same year the Tigers won the Major League Baseball World Series. Allen never signed a professional, major league baseball contract with the Tigers, but did sign one with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1993. Allen reported to the Pirates' spring training camp in 1994, but ultimately left camp and decided to play football.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Edmonton Eskimos

Allen joined the CFL as a free-agent in 1985, signed by the Edmonton Eskimos, and threw for 661 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season. In the 1987 season, Allen played in the Grey Cup championship game, replacing the injured starter Matt Dunigan, and led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory, his first Grey Cup win. Allen earned Grey Cup Most Valuable Player honours in the win.

[edit] Ottawa Rough Riders

In 1989, Allen signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders. In 1991, Allen was named an Eastern Division All-Star for the first time in his CFL career. During the 1991 season, Allen rushed for a career-high 1,036 yards and 8 touchdowns in 18 games, and passed for a then career-high 4,275 yards with 25 touchdowns.

[edit] Hamilton Tiger-Cats

In 1992, Allen signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 18 games, Allen threw for 3,858 and 19 touchdowns, and rushed for 850 yards and 7 touchdowns, in his only season in "Steeltown." After the 1992 season, Allen was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos.

[edit] Edmonton Eskimos

In 1993, in his second time around with Edmonton, Allen helped the Eskimos to victory in the Grey Cup game, winning his second title, and was named Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in a 33-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 1994, Allen led the Esks to the Western Division Finals, only to lose to the British Columbia Lions.

[edit] Memphis Mad Dogs

In 1995, Allen signed as a free-agent with the Memphis Mad Dogs. He appeared in 15 games with the CFL expansion team, and threw for 3,211 yards and 11 touchdowns on 228 of 390 passing. Allen also rushed for 427 yards in his only professional season in the United States.

[edit] British Columbia Lions

In 1996, Allen joined the B.C. Lions.

In 1999, Allen was voted to the CFL's West Division All-Star team. He threw for 4,219 yards on 315 of 521 passing with 22 touchdowns, ran the ball 136 times for 785 yards and 8 touchdowns, and threw for more than 300 yards on five occasions.

In 2000, Allen became the CFL's all-time leading passer on October 28 against Hamilton, throwing for 345 yards to surpass Ron Lancaster's previous record of 50,535 yards. Allen completed 324 of 525 passes (61.7%) to lead the CFL with a career-high 4,840 passing yards. Allen was nominated as the Lions' Most Outstanding Player at the CFL Player Awards. Allen captured his first Grey Cup with the Leos (third of his career) throwing for 234 yards in a win over the Montreal Alouettes.

[edit] Toronto Argonauts

In 2003, the 39-year-old Allen was traded from the B.C. Lions to the Toronto Argonauts for a second-round draft pick in the 2004 CFL College Draft, and a third-round pick in the 2005 CFL College Draft. Allen's Argonaut re-debut was a 20-18 season- opening loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders that also marked Allen's 300th regular season game of his CFL career. In Week 7, Allen became only the third quarterback in professional football history to pass for 60,000 yards against his former club, the B.C. Lions. In a Week 17 loss to the Ottawa Renegades, Allen completed 20 of 39 pass attempts for 203 yards, with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown, giving Allen 334 career touchdown passes, and surpassing Ron Lancaster for the most career touchdown passes in CFL history. Allen would lead the Argos to the Eastern Division Final that year as well.

In Week 9 of the 2004 season versus Montreal, Allen exited the game in the third quarter with a fractured left tibia, and spent Weeks 10-16 on the injured reserve roster. There was considerable concern that Allen, at 41 years of age, would never come back from such a severe injury, but he did. In Week 17, Allen dressed as the third quarterback (behind Michael Bishop and Romaro Miller) for a game against the B.C. Lions. In Week 18, Allen dressed as the backup quarterback behind Michael Bishop and entered the game versus the Calgary Stampeders at the end of the second quarter. Allen completed his first thirteen pass attempts, making him the second quarterback in Argonaut history (Mike Rae, 17 of 17 versus Montreal, August 12, 1975) to complete more than 12 passes consecutively in a game. Allen finished the game with 18 of 23 pass completions, and his 82.6% completion percentage ranks fourth in Argo history for a single game.

In the 2004 Grey Cup Championship against the B.C. Lions, Allen was named Grey Cup Most Valuable Player for third time in his legendary career. Allen led the Argos to their fifteenth Grey Cup Championship and won his fourth championship. Allen finished the game with 23 of 34 pass completions for 299 yards (longest gain, 34 yards) and 1 touchdown pass, and rushed 5 times for 10 yards (longest gain, 5 yards) and 2 rushing touchdowns.

Allen continued his assault on the record books during the 2005 CFL season. On October 27, 2005, Damon reached the 5,000-yard passing plateau for the first time in his 21-year CFL career by posting a 34-11 victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The win guaranteed Toronto a first-place finish in the CFL East plus home field advantage in the playoffs. The game took place before 40,085 fans; the largest crowd for a CFL game in Toronto since 1992. However, the Argonauts were defeated 33-17 in the 2005 East Final by the Montreal Alouettes, thereby thwarting their hopes of repeating their 2004 Grey Cup win.

In 2005, Allen won his first CFL's Outstanding Player Award. In that year, he also hosted the inaugural "Damon Allen Quarterback Challenge" which featured top CFL quarterbacks participating in various skill competitions. In the Quarterback Challenge's second year, Allen won the event.

In 2006, Allen started the opening home game of the season against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and broke the middle finger on his right hand on Toronto's third play. Allen was injured trying to break his fall after taking a late hit from Hamilton safety Wayne Shaw, who was penalized on the play. Allen missed nearly a month and a half of action with a broken finger, returning on July 29 vs. the B.C. Lions.

On September 4, 2006, at the Labour Day Classic against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Allen broke Warren Moon's record (70,553 yards) to become professional football's all-time passing leader. The record-setting completion, a 29-yard shovel pass to wide receiver Arland Bruce III, took place at 5:02 of the third quarter. The game was suspended briefly for a presentation by CFL Commissioner Tom Wright.

[edit] Personal life

Damon and his wife, Desiree, have three daughters Amanda, Alyssa and Ateya.

Preceded by:
Matt Dunigan		 Edmonton Eskimos Starting Quarterbacks
1985-1988		 Succeeded by:
Tracy Ham
Preceded by:
Todd Dillon		 Ottawa Rough Riders Starting Quarterbacks
1989-1991		 Succeeded by:
Tom Burgess
Preceded by:
Mike Kerrigan		 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Starting Quarterbacks
1992		 Succeeded by:
Don MacPherson
Preceded by:
Tracy Ham		 Edmonton Eskimos Starting Quarterbacks
1993-1994		 Succeeded by:
Kerwin Bell
Preceded by:
Doug Flutie		 Grey Cup MVP
1993		 Succeeded by:
Karl Anthony
Preceded by:
none		 Memphis Mad Dogs Starting Quarterback
1995		 Succeeded by:
none
Preceded by:
Andre Ware		 British Columbia Lions Starting Quarterbacks
1996-2002		 Succeeded by:
Dave Dickenson
Preceded by:
Reggie Slack		 Toronto Argonauts Starting Quarterbacks
2003-present		 Succeeded by:
present
Preceded by:
Jason Tucker		 Grey Cup MVP
2004		 Succeeded by:
Ricky Ray
Preceded by:
Casey Printers		 CFL Most Outstanding Player
2005		 Succeeded by:
Geroy Simon

[edit] External links

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