Allen is now a retired NFL player and a Danville, California resident. Larry Allen Jr., his son, was a lineman for the Harvard Crimson sports team. He was eventually signed as an undrafted player by the Dallas Cowboys in 2019. Dakarai Allen, his nephew, is an expert basketball player in the NBA G League.
In 1971, November 27, Larry Christopher Allen was a former American football lineman who spent fourteen seasons in the NFL, National Football League, mostly with the Dallas Cowboys.
He attended Sonoma State University and was drafted in the 2nd round of the league Draft by the Dallas Cowboys in 1994. Allen is recognized as among the NFL’s bodily strongest players and a speedster capable of out-running defenders.
Never finished high school
The NFL is swamped with athletes who never finished college due to draft rules that allow players to quit after three seasons.
Larry Allen is among the most well-known NFL players who never finished high school. Allen went to five different high schools during his four years, but he never graduated.
Before moving to Sonoma State, he started his career at a junior college. Larry Allen was largely regarded as among the best offensive guards in the NFL during the 1990s and 2000s. He positioned himself among the most accomplished offensive athletes in NFL and Dallas Cowboys history.
Career life
He was named to the All-Decade Squad for the 90s and 2000s by the NFL. He is also largely regarded as among the greatest attacking linemen in NFL history and among the player’s greatest powerful men.
Allen was selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times during his Fourteen seasons in the NFL, the last, in 2006, as a 49er.
Also, he was named to the All-Pro team seven times, six times as a lineman (1995-1997 and 1999-2001), then one as a tackle in 1998.
For the Pro Bowl selection in 1998 at tackle, he joined Bruce Matthews of Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers (guard/center) and Chris Hinton of Minnesota Vikings/Indianapolis Colts/Atlanta Falcons (guard/tackle) as the only players in NFL record to be chosen to Pro Bowl at much more than an offensive line role during their careers.
During his eleven seasons in Dallas, he moved between right tackle (1994), left tackle (1997-1998), left guard (1999-2003), and right guard (1995-1997), playing all but one offensive line position.
Drew, Charles Haley, and Allen were voted into the legendary Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor at the halftime spectacle of the Cowboys Seahawks game on November 6, 2011.
Allen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 2, 2013. Allen began at left guard though Tony Wragge substituted him after suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his first quarter against Arizona on September 10. Due to the damaged MCL, he could not play for the next five weeks. On October 29, he resumed the starting lineup in Chicago.
Allen’s seven-year record of visits to the Pro Bowl, the 4th longest in team history and the mark for Pro Bowl choices by a Dallas offensive lineman, was cut short by an ankle problem in the second week during the 2002 season.
Allen recovered fully from his injuries and was named to his 8th Pro Bowl in 2003, matching Emmitt Smith for the most Pro Bowl selections among the offensive players. He won his ninth trip to Hawaii in the year 2004.
Take Away
Allen is the best athlete to ever play professionally, with a career-great strength training of 700lb and a squats lift of 900lb.
After missing much of 2002 due to a broken left ankle, which necessitated an operation to get rid of the bone spurs, he went ahead to begin 48 consecutive plays before signing with San Francisco and competing in 2 seasons (2006-07), starting the last 27 plays of his career. Allen began 197 of his 203 played career games.
Allen was signed to a one-day deal by the Dallas Cowboys on August 29, 2008, for him to retire as Cowboy. The Cowboys put him on the retirement list the next day. Allen, now 50, has achieved everything that a football player can. Just don’t hold your breath for him to tell you that.