Happy Trails Jared Allen

"We call him the big cowboy."
     -Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway

Jared Allen announced his retirement from football last week. As a cowboy. On a horse. Riding off into the distance. Hopefully we'll see him again because, gosh darn, the big cowboy is a lot of fun.

The NFL was always just a little more fun with Jared Allen in it. A lot of quarterbacks might not have thought so. I have memories as fresh as yesterday of Aaron Rodgers running for his life, of Josh McCown helpless after 3.5 sacks, of Dan Orlovsky running out of the end zone rather than dealing with Allen. Those 3.5 sacks of McCown on the final day of the 2011 season put Allen at 22 for that season. A half sack short of Michael Strahan's record.

Jared Allen was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft, traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2008, signed by the Chicago Bears in 2014, traded to the Carolina Panthers after three games this past season. His last game was Super Bowl 50. That's a fine way to end a terrific 12-year NFL career. It would have been even better if the Panthers had won that Super Bowl. Allen's play and personality made him a fan favorite at each stop. The Panthers only had him for 14 games. They were probably better for it. I know that I loved watching him play for every snap of his six years with the Vikings. Fun times.

Allen's best years were with the Chiefs and the Vikings. No surprise there as those were his prime years. He racked up all but 7.5 of his 136 career sacks in those ten years. That's nearly 13 sacks in each of those ten seasons. He had 11 sacks or more each year from 2007-13. Officially, since sack totals have been an official stat since 1982, only five players have collected at least 11 sacks in at least five consecutive seasons.

Reggie White-9
Jared Allen-7
DeMarcus Ware-7
Lawrence Taylor-6
Bruce Smith-5

That's elite quarterback-sacking company.

Allen also had at least one sack in 11 consecutive games. No one but him has done that.

By the late-2000s the Minnesota Vikings had been looking for an outside pass rushing presence for more than a decade. The draft hadn't provided much help. Free agency hadn't provided much help either. In 2008 the Vikings were fortunate to have something of an "in" to the particulars of a certain, emerging, but frustrating defensive end in Kansas City. Vikings director of player personnel, on the legal side of things, Les Pico had been with the Chiefs. He knew that the often tenuous relationship, four-year relationship between Jared Allen and Chiefs management was at a breaking point. Allen's rookie contract was up and general manager Carl Peterson wasn't about to give a huge contract to a player that he simply didn't trust. Allen didn't much care for Peterson either. Despite being one of the top young pass rushers on the field Allen was quite a handful off the field. Allen had two DUIs about five months apart during the 2007 offseason. The Chiefs were tired of dealing with it. Pico knew it and he let the Vikings decision-makers know it. Allen's legal issues led to his being suspended for the first two games of the 2007 season. His first game back from that suspension just happened to be against the Vikings. He dominated the game. Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie looked helpless against Allen. 2 sacks, 8 tackles, and a forced fumble. He was a nightmare for the Vikings offense all day and his play was a big reason for the Chiefs 13-10 win. Despite missing those first two games Allen's 15.5 sacks that season lead the league. His first of two sack titles. The Vikings pursuit of Jared Allen might have started that day in Kansas City. The trade was finalized a few days before the 2008 NFL Draft. The Vikings traded a first and two third round picks to the Chiefs for Allen. Then they made their new pass rusher the highest-paid defensive player in the league. This was one of those unusual deals that worked out for everyone. The Vikings finally got their pass rusher. The Chiefs turned those picks from the Vikings into Branden Albert and Jamaal Charles. And Jared Allen actually lived up to that huge contract. It's rare that these big deals work out so well for everyone. It's really rare these days that a player sees the end of a huge, six-year contract without a single restructure. Allen lived up to the contract. And the Vikings honored that contract.

Jared Allen was a Viking for six years. And he was loved by everyone in Minnesota. It helps when you put up sack numbers like this.

2008: 14.5
2009: 14.5
2010: 11
2011: 22
2012: 12
2013: 11.5

For a team that had been starved for edge-rushing sacks since Chris Doleman's early days Allen was a revelation. He helped make the Vikings defensive line one of the most feared in the league. It was a blast to watch Allen, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, and Ray Edwards/Brian Robison mess up the plans of opposing offenses. It was a great defensive line. The Vikings have had a few great defensive lines in the history of the franchise. This was one of the best. Allen's pass rushing off the edge was a big reason for that. Quarterbacks were on high alert every time they dropped back to pass.

More important than his play on the field Allen settled down off of it. He stopped drinking. He got married. He started a family. His "Wounded Warriors" charity took off. From a person that was one bad decision away from a tragedy just about every night he became an example for others. He still remained the fun-loving guy that brought smiles everywhere he went. He was still and always would be that "big cowboy."

As soon as a great football player retires there's an immediate debate as to his Hall of Fame worthiness. It's a debate that's better had five years later but it's nearly impossible to avoid. In my book, Jared Allen is a Hall of Famer. Maybe not the first year. Maybe he experiences a Michael Strahan-like wait of a year. Maybe he experiences a long wait like Kevin Greene but he shouldn't. All I know is that Jared Allen was one of the best, if not the best, pass rusher in the league for most of his 12-year career. His five-year stretch from from his first sack title in 2007 to his second in 2011 rivals the best five-year stretches of first-ballot Hall of Famers like Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, and Bruce Smith. As well as likely first-ballot Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware. At least in terms of sacks. It's ridiculous to compare any player to Taylor. He was an absolute game-changer. Allen's run defense will likely draw some criticism. I think that Allen played the run much better than his critics claim. He was an extremely versatile football player. He was simply asked to collect sacks and he clearly enjoyed doing so. He made some tremendously athletic plays in pass defense while dropping off the line in coverage. Allen just didn't make as many run stops with the frequency of White or Strahan. I'm not so sure that this should be as much a criticism as it is an observation of a particular team's strategy. The Chiefs and the Vikings just wanted Allen to get after that quarterback. But his run defense will most certainly come up in five years. Again, this is a debate that's better served when it's relevant.

For now, happy trails Jared Allen.