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Larry Allen is now in the NFL Hall of Fame. Allen's induction is extra-special because this year was his first time for eligibility into the Hall. The bruising guard was as strong as any player ever to grace a football field and was also versatile enough to fill in everywhere except center. It shows not only that was he strong, but he was agile and had excellent feet. In fact, Allen was exactly what you want in an offensive lineman. He had all the tools. Simply put, he dominated his position.
The Cowboys 90s teams are starting to receive recognition in the Hall of Fame as Allen joins the Triplets (Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith) in receiving this career honor.
Here is a nice synopsis of his life and career, definitely worth reading.
JJT has some other interesting facts in an article at ESPN.
He's one of only three players -- Willie Roaf and Warren Sapp are the others -- to be placed on two All-Decade teams. He's a member of the All-Decade team for the 1990s and the 2000s.
During one season under Barry Switzer, the Cowboys used Allen as a nickel tackle. That's right, the Cowboys moved him from guard to tackle on obvious passing situations on third down.
Brief synopsis of his career.
1994-2005 Dallas Cowboys, Selected by Cowboys in 2nd round (46th player overall) of 1994 draft ... Versatile, played every position on offensive line except center during 12 seasons with Dallas ... Named NFL Alumni's Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1997 and the NFL Players Association NFC Lineman of the Year twice (1996-97) ... Named first-team All-Pro seven straight years ... First-team All-NFC six times, second-team once ... Moved to tackle late in 1997 and entire 1998 season, earned All-Pro honors at position
Couple of fun videos for Larry Allen.
BTB-member Tarheel Paul posted the link to Allen bench pressing 700 lbs. Yes, you read that right.
BTB-member Uncle Angus posted a link to Larry Allen running down a Saints linebacker who had intercepted Troy Aikman. Big man can move!
Congratulations to Larry Allen! An honor well-deserved.
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Also, Bill Parcells got in. I never truly think of Parcells as a Cowboy, he's always remembered as a Giant for me. Still, he did do some good in Dallas even though success on the field wasn't to Hall of Fame level. After the franchise had floundered through a lost decade, he brought back some stature to the franchise, and more importantly he did some good work re-structuring the organization. Congrats to Big Bill. You can probably read more about him over at Big Blue View.