Kevin Allen (American football)

Kevin Eugene Allen (born June 21, 1963) is a former professional American football tackle who played in the National Football League for one season for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Allen is an alumnus of Northwest High School in Cincinnati and of Indiana University.

NFL banning

Allen's career started against the New York Giants, a game where the New York Giants recorded eight sacks. By midseason, Allen was relegated to Special Teams. During the offseason, Allen moved to the center position.

After a subpar rookie season, Allen tested positive for cocaine after reporting to Eagles training camp in 1986. The Eagles released him in October 1986. A week after being cut, he was charged with rape and spent the next 33 months in prison.^[1] He was banned from the league for life soon afterward. Buddy Ryan thought so little of Allen that he once described him as someone who could only be useful "if you want someone to stand around and kill the grass... he looks like a USFL reject."^[2] In 2011, Deadspin ranked Allen the 4th-worst football player of all time, noting "The ninth overall pick out of Indiana had a special way of blocking opposing pass rushers. He would lean his body forward, then fall down." and "Never had the Eagles had a combination of bad person-bad player that could match this guy."^[3]

In the spring of 1991, Allen's ban was lifted. After failed tryouts with the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Allen in 1991, assigning him to the Orlando Thunder in the WLAF.

Allen would later move on to the Arena Football League.

References