The Chicago Bears are known for having one of the best defenses in the NFL. Hall of Fame inductees include Doug Atkins, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary. With Brian Urlacher retiring after last season, the Bears appear to have found a new cornerback in sack master Jared Allen.
Allen was born in Dallas but grew up in California. As a senior, Allen played at Los Gatos High School and was named first-team all-league player and Defensive Player of the Year.
That season, he had 96 tackles, 12 sacks, five forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries. Allen played college football at Idaho State University. He played in 41 games for the Bengals, including 33 starts.
He was initially expected to redshirt his freshman year, but the coaching staff decided to let him play in eight games as a true freshman.
Allen had 39 tackles, four sacks, and one interception during his rookie season. Although he did not start a single game that season, Allen’s performance was good enough to earn him All-Big Sky honorable mention.
From that point on, Allen started every game he played in college. During his four years at Idaho State, Allen recorded 250 tackles, 41 sacks, 13 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, and three interceptions.
Allen was selected 126th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. After a strong first few years in the league, Allen finally began to make a name for himself during the 2006 season.
He started all 16 games, recorded his first NFL interception that season, and had a season-high 77 tackles. It was also the last season in which Allen recorded fewer than 10 sacks in a season.
After four seasons with the Chiefs, he was traded to Minnesota and signed a six-year contract. At the time, it was the richest contract for a defensive player in NFL history, valued at more than $72 million.
Allen immediately gave up 14.5 sacks for the Vikings in 2008. Fortunately for the Vikings, Allen wasn’t just a guy to be ignored.
This was the last time Allen had fewer than 10 sacks. Allen had 85.5 sacks in six seasons with Minnesota, including 22 sacks in 2011 and 11 consecutive sack games in 2010-11, all Vikings records.
In addition to all of his sacks (Allen’s 128.5 points are currently 12th all-time and second among active players behind John Abraham), he was named to five Pro Bowl teams, four All-Pro teams, and was recognized as the best defender.
Ta. 2011. After becoming a free agent this offseason, Allen signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Chicago Bears. Even if Allen only averaged 12 sacks a season in his four years in Chicago (compared to 14.25 sacks a season in Minnesota), he still has Hall of Famers Bruce Smith (200 sacks) and Reggie White (198 sacks). He ranks third in history after. . . .
Leave a Reply