Marcus Allen

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Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960 in San Diego, California) is a former American football player , and until recently affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,411 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997. He scored 145 touchdowns including a then league record 123 rushing touchdowns and was elected to six Pro Bowls when he retired. He was also a fairly good passer for a running back, completing 12 of 27 passes for 285 yards and 6 touchdowns, with only 1 interception. Allen was the first player ever to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards during his career.

Allen is considered as one of the greatest goal line and short-yardage runners in National Football League history.^[1] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. His younger brother, Damon Allen, played quarterback for 23 seasons in the Canadian Football League and is pro football's all-time leader in passing yards.

[edit] High school & college

He played football at Abraham Lincoln High school in San Diego, California where he played the quarterback and defensive back positions.

Allen played running back at the University of Southern California from 1978-1981. He spent his first 2 seasons at USC as a backup to Heisman Trophy winning running back Charles White. In 1980, he became a starter and rushed for 1,563 yards, the second most in the nation that year. Then in 1981, Allen had one of the most spectacular seasons in NCAA history. He rushed for 2,342 yards, becoming the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season.^[2] He also gained a total of 2,683 offensive yards, led the nation in scoring, and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award and was also the Pac-10 player of the year.^[3] Allen shares the NCAA record for most 200-yard rushing games with Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne at twelve games.

USC has retired his jersey number (#33), and coach John Robinson called Allen "The greatest player I ever saw".^[4]

On December 14, 2006, Marcus Allen hosted the USC Football Awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

[edit] NFL career

Allen was drafted as the tenth overall pick on the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. In his rookie season in 1982, he rushed for 697 yards as he led the Raiders to the best record in the AFC with a strike-shortened 8-1 record and was elected as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Raiders would lose to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The next season, Marcus rushed for over 1,000 yards for the first time; he would do so again in 1984 and 1985. That season, he rushed for 1,759 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on 380 carries as he led the Raiders to a 12-4 record and the AFC West Title and was named the NFL MVP. During that time, he also caught 60 or more receptions for 3 years running (1983-85).

Allen is best remembered for his heroics in Super Bowl XVIII. He ran for 191 yards, caught 2 passes for 18 yards, and scored 2 touchdowns in the Raiders 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins. This included a 74-yard touchdown run, a record that was the longest run in Super Bowl history, until Super Bowl XL when it was broken by Willie Parker, by a single yard. His 191 rushing yards were also a Super Bowl record, which stood until Timmy Smith of the Redskins topped it with 204 yards in Super Bowl XXII.

Marcus Allen with Yeoman 2nd Class Katherine Ward introduce Aretha Franklin during a concert in tribute to U.S. military members on the National Mall, September 4, 2003

After a stormy relationship with Al Davis including missing most of the 1989 season with a knee injury, he left Los Angeles to join the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993, that year he rushed for only 764 yards, but scored 12 touchdowns leading the AFC,^[5] as he and Joe Montana led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year that season. Allen went on to play for the Chiefs for four more seasons, leading the team in rushing every year but his last. Allen's main contribution to the Chiefs was his leadership abilities. The Chiefs won more games than any other NFL team during his tenure in Kansas City. Allen made many contributions to charitable causes off the field in Kansas City. He also hosted his own talk show on Sunday mornings before Chiefs games. Allen retired after 1997 season. In 1999, he was ranked number 72 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

In August 2005, Allen and CBS Sports parted ways. The network began to diminish Allen's role over the last few years. Allen currently works for the NFL Network and he contributes to the football section of realgm.com.

[edit] References

• Marcus: The Autobiography of Marcus Allen with Carlton Stowers (October 1998)
• Road to Canton by Marcus Allen (July 2003)

1. ^  Pro Football Hall of Fame bio accessed March 1st, 2006
2. ^  100 Greatest Players of All-Time #54 Marcus Allen accessed April 7, 2006
3. ^  Quick bio on Marcus Allen accessed March 1st 2006
4. ^  college football Hall of Fame bio accessed Sept. 23 2006.
5. ^  [6] Retrieved December 8, 2007
6. ^  Biography of Allen Retrieved April 7, 2006

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Marcus Allen

• Official website : Marcus Allen Celebrity Invitational
• Marcus Allen Profile in Raiders Online
• Marcus Allen USC Legends web page