Ever hear the one concerning the daredevil plasterer who lit an Olympic flame in a four-time first-team All-Professional defensive finish?
Jared Allen roars on the point out of Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, the face of the 1988 Winter Video games and embodiment of Pierre de Coubertin’s mantra. The beaming, bespectacled British ski jumper completed final within the 70m and 90m occasions in Calgary however gained hearts and minds the world over.
After 136 sacks in 12 NFL seasons, a fortunately retired Allen and an previous pal watched the feelgood 2016 biopic that celebrates the life and occasions of Michael David Edwards. It had penalties.
“Yeah! Eddie the Eagle! Nice film,” Allen tells The Athletic on the phone from Nashville. “That’s what impressed me to make a guess with my buddy to attempt to make the Olympics!
“Eddie the Eagle needed to work his butt off to qualify and grow to be a ski jumper, which was the inspirational aspect of it. However the level I beloved about it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I simply have to go discover a sport that’s not on the books that we don’t actually do effectively at and go be a part of that’,” says Allen, bursting into laughter.
And what of the guess?
Allen mentioned he was impressed by Eddie The Eagle (Mike Powell/Allsport through Getty Photographs)
“The quantity was pointless. My buddy threw a quantity out. I used to be like, ‘Positive, no matter’. Sure, it was over beers… It’s extra only a gentleman’s guess. However no one needs to welch on a guess! I don’t wish to have to inform him he was proper — I need him to should eat crow and inform me that I used to be proper!”
So Allen started working. In 2018, he fashioned the All-Professional Curling Workforce with three former NFL gamers — quarterback Marc Bulger, linebacker Keith Bulluck and offensive deal with Michael Roos — and set his sights on Beijing.
“I began off as skip, nobody had curled ever — we have been 4 soccer gamers. Life took off and I ended up becoming a member of another groups. I had no ego, so I ended up enjoying lead and enjoying fairly good at lead and sweeping fairly good. In order that’s sort of the place I discovered my spot. I actually like enjoying second — I believe second is a enjoyable place. However wherever they inform me they want me is the place I’ll slot in.”
Whereas he didn’t make the 2022 Video games, Allen has had some minor miracles on ice.
“I beat (John) Shuster two years in the past on the nationals in Denver, we beat a workforce final yr that have been prime 30 on the earth, we had some success over in Switzerland and Canada, I’ve bought to play some actually robust groups, and it’s been a enjoyable deal.”
However brace yourselves. Simply because the Milan-Cortina Winter Video games loom into view, right here comes the plot twist.
“I’ll in all probability not play this yr,” Allen, 42, says. “My workforce sort of broke up. One man in my workforce retired. One other man has moved on. After which I really bought invited to play with Korey Dropkin as his alternate this yr, however USA Curling and the USOPC put the kibosh on it, saying I didn’t have a adequate curling resume.
“Their precise phrases. We gained nationals and all of the trials, however they’ve changed me because the alternate.
“After which they modified our guidelines — we used to have a two-year level run-up for Olympic trial qualification and now they’re taking the highest three point-earners for the yr based mostly on their yr so far, after which they’re doing a one event play-in.”
Does that imply that the Olympic dream is… over?
Allen enjoying in London (Michael Steele/Getty Photographs)
“No! No! I’ve nonetheless bought time. I nonetheless love curling, I’m nonetheless gonna practise, we’ll determine it out,” Allen says. “Lots of people aren’t enjoying this yr. Except you possibly can go to the Slams, Shuster, Dropkin, and (Danny) Casper just about have already got the highest three spots locked up.
“Everyone is like, ‘Why are we going to journey, waste our time on these tournaments that imply nothing for us over the subsequent yr and a half?’. So all people’s attempting to simply practise for the subsequent yr, put a workforce collectively for The Challenger and attempt to win the play-in.”
Ought to Allen win his wager, it might symbolize one other story to inform for one of many NFL’s greatest personalities of the twenty first century.
Drafted by Kansas Metropolis in 2004, Allen was traded to Minnesota 4 years later because the then highest-paid defensive participant.
The 2009 Vikings are one of many NFL’s nice practically groups, with quarterback Brett Favre steering them to the NFC Championship within the Superdome. There, they have been overwhelmed by themselves (six fumbles, three misplaced, two interceptions and 12 males within the huddle within the fourth quarter to knock them out of discipline objective vary) and the New Orleans Saints, who have been later punished for the Bountygate scandal.
“If we beat the Saints and we exit and win the Tremendous Bowl, our 2009 season arguably goes down as among the best seasons in NFL historical past,” Allen says. “Sadly, we didn’t make it to the Tremendous Bowl as a result of we misplaced that controversial sport.”
Allen headed to the Chicago Bears in 2014 and was traded to the Carolina Panthers in September 2015 for a final hurrah. The 15-1 Panthers nearly went all the best way, dropping Tremendous Bowl 50 towards the Denver Broncos.
“It was a blast. It’s a type of surreal moments. I inform individuals it was my least productive statistical yr of my profession — I used to be coping with damage and all kinds of stuff — however it was essentially the most profitable of my profession as a result of the objective is to get the Tremendous Bowl.”
Allen after setting the Vikings franchise single-season sack file (Adam Bettcher/Getty Photographs)
Allen’s is a profession worthy of Canton (he has been a finalist for the previous 4 years). He led the league twice in sacks (2007 and 2011), the second seeing a tally of twenty-two, making Michael Strahan sweat about dropping his all-time file (22.5).
The spotlight reel moments are many. They embrace his one-handed sack of Eli Manning and the tete-a-tete with Donald Penn. After which there’s his contribution to some of the notorious performs in NFL historical past. You realize the one.
It was 2008 and whereas enjoying for the winless Detroit Lions, quarterback Dan Orlovsky stepped out of bounds within the Metrodome for a security. Orlovsky — now a stellar ESPN analyst — can look again and snicker. Allen is chuckling at it nonetheless.
“I want he wouldn’t have ran out the again — I might have really hit him! It was my sack. I used to be really laughing as a result of Kevin Williams had like 4 sacks that sport, so I used to be attempting to catch as much as him. He was pissed. We have been in a decent sack race that yr. I bought a cheapo. I bought a freebie!
“To my credit score, I did whoop the tight finish. I used to be broad open! Might have throttled him. It was an excellent job they known as a security,” Allen says.
Johnny Knoxville was not so fortunate. As the broader public embraced Allen together with his signature mullet and everyman enchantment, in 2010 he was invited to California to movie a section known as The Blindside for Jackass 3.
“That was a enjoyable deal. Knoxville is a superb man — I nonetheless discuss to Johnny. I really discovered later I separated his sternum after I tackled him from behind.
“We filmed the run the place he catches the ball over the center just a few occasions. He’s like, ‘Man, come on!’ Like, effectively, if you wish to see what I really do, let’s drop again for a cross and I’ll hit you from behind. So we did that. There was just one tackle that one!”
Allen, who returns to England for the primary time because the Vikings beat Pittsburgh at Wembley in 2013, might be inducted into the London Ring of Honor throughout Sunday’s sport between the New York Jets and Minnesota.
He likes what he has seen to date this season from his former workforce.
“They’re aggressive. What’s most spectacular is they’re getting what they should get out of their new acquisitions, who’re already making huge impacts. That’s what you prefer to see once you choose up free brokers.
“Hats off to the teaching workers for getting the gamers that match their system and making a system and an setting that they are often profitable in.”
And he might effectively come face-to-face with a well-recognized foe. It will likely be nearly precisely 15 years in the past to the day that Favre and the Vikings beat the Packers on Monday Evening Soccer. Allen had a career-high 4.5 sacks towards Aaron Rodgers in a raucous Metrodome. “That was an important day,” he says. “Goodness. Time flies. Each time I see Aaron it’s very cordial!”
However first, he needs to search out some first rate grub. “My spouse and youngsters are coming, so I wish to present them a number of the sights. I wish to discover some good pubs, have a few pints and a few bangers and mash.”
Who is aware of, maybe he’ll stumble upon Eddie the Eagle.
(Prime picture: David Berding/Getty Photographs)