Remembering Cowboys Hall of Famer Larry Allen

Today, the Dallas Cowboys announced that Hall of Fame Offensive Lineman, Larry Allen passed away this past Saturday. This news comes as a shock to the sports world, as Larry was in fine health just hours before he passed. According to multiple sources, Allen died suddenly while on a family vacation in Mexico.

Football fans who were introduced to the sport over the last two decades may not know who Larry Allen is. This blog is dedicated to paying tribute to Allen’s journey and introducing him to a younger generation.

Allen, will, of course, be known for his decorative NFL resume, which has led him to become a member of the Hall of Fame. What I find equally or arguably more impressive, is his journey to putting on an NFL uniform.

Larry Allen was born on November 27, 1971, in Los Angeles, California. Allen grew up in Compton, California which is notoriously known for being one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. Allen was certainly subject to that danger. At the age of 10, Allen confronted a neighbor who was bullying his little brother. What started as an argument between Allen and the neighbor sparked into a physical altercation. Allen, who was not aware his neighbor had a knife on him, almost died in that altercation, having been stabbed 12 times in the head, shoulder and neck area.

Allen’s high school football journey was different from the path many NFL players took. For starters, Allen went to four different high schools in four years, lettering in football at each high school. Furthermore, Allen never earned his high school diploma, as he was academically ineligible to graduate.

Due to poor high school grades, Allen did not qualify to play Division 1 college football. Given this obstacle, Allen elected to take his talents to Butte College, a community college in Chico, California. Allen went on to have a historic two year career as an Offensive Tackle at Butte, going 10-1 and being named to the All-Conference and All-State teams both seasons while also being recognized as a Junior College All-American.

Allen’s success garnered interest from several Division II schools. Allen elected to play at Sonoma State University in San Francisco, CA. Allen would continue his dominance at the Division II level, In two seasons at Sonoma, Allen gave up just one sack(< not a typo) and was twice named an All-American.

Allen experienced a decline in his stock during the 1994 NFL draft due to his origins from a small school and a rotator cuff injury. He became the tenth offensive lineman chosen in the draft and made history as the first player drafted from Sonoma State, selected in the second round as the 46th overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

The rest is written in the history books, as Allen would go on to become one of the best offensive lineman to ever touch a pigskin. In his 14 year career, Allen was named to the Pro Bowl 11 times and was a First-Team All-Pro 6 times. Allen was instrumental in helping Dallas hoist the Lombardi trophy in Super Bowl XXX. Allen’s long term success earned him the honor of being named to the 1990”s All Decade Team, the 2000’s All Decade Team, the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

While finding game footage that focuses on Allen is difficult, I was able to find a video that illustrates just how powerful of a specimen Allen really was. Nick Harris, who covers the Cowboys, posted a video of a Allen bench pressing 700 lbs, which can be seen here: Larry Allen bench pressing 700 pounds

Do you remember Larry Allen? Have any cool stories about him that I did not mention? Leave a comment.