Eric Allen's late-career run with Raiders cemented Hall of Fame credentials
New York Times7 hours ago
Everything was falling into place. After his three-year run with the New Orleans Saints turned sour, and he threatened to retire if he wasn't traded, Eric Allen landed with the Oakland Raiders in 1998. The team had started the season 6-3, and Allen was enjoying arguably his best season, even in a career that already included three All-Pro selections with the Philadelphia Eagles.
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In Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks, Allen snagged his fifth interception of the season, and he thought he could return it for a touchdown. As he planted his foot and attempted to cut, however, he heard a zipper sound in his knee and immediately crumpled to the ground.
Allen had missed just one game in 10 years and had no idea what happened. Once he walked off the field and talked to the training staff on the sideline, he told them to put a sleeve on his knee so he could re-enter the game.
'They were like, 'No, EA, you're injured,'' Allen told The Athletic recently. 'I was like, 'What are you talking about?' … They're like, 'Eric, we think you tore your ACL.''
Back then, a successful recovery from a torn ACL was far from guaranteed. Allen was a week from turning 33, and he was soon pestered with questions about whether he'd retire. With Allen out, the Raiders lost five of their final six games and missed the playoffs.
Allen underwent surgery on his knee, but he wouldn't commit to playing again until he saw how his body responded on the practice field.
'A trainer who was still there, Scott Touchet, me and him were like married,' Allen said. 'And the training staff just really helped me always focus on tomorrow. Don't worry about yesterday. Don't worry today. Just worry about tomorrow.'
Six months later, Allen returned to the field. And when the 1999 season began, he started in Week 1. He wasn't quite himself that season, but the 2000 campaign would be a special one. He tallied six interceptions — taking three back for touchdowns — and was one of the Raiders' best players as they made a run to the AFC Championship Game.
Allen believes that season is why he's set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next weekend. He produced a Hall-worthy prime with the Eagles, but his Raiders run displayed the longevity necessary to punch his ticket to Canton, Ohio.
'It just seemed like that season cemented what I'm about to do right now,' Allen said.
Immortalized in football history.@EricAllen619 | @ProFootballHOF pic.twitter.com/0FqRwalV8x
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) February 7, 2025
Allen felt like he was in a fever dream when the Eagles drafted him in 1988. They had a legendary head coach in defensive guru Buddy Ryan. That season, their roster featured three All-Pros in Reggie White, Randall Cunningham and Keith Jackson and other talented players such as Mike Quick, Cris Carter, Jerome Brown and Seth Joyner. The Eagles hadn't produced a winning season in years, but they were confident they had both the coaching and talent to end the drought.
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Allen hit the ground running. He started from Day 1, and by his second season, he was a bona fide star. He notched eight interceptions in 1989 and earned first-team All-Pro recognition.
The Eagles had turned the corner and reached the postseason for the second straight year. Although Cunningham was an MVP-caliber quarterback, the hallmark of the team became its 'Mean Green' defense led by White.
'It all started because we had maybe the best defensive lineman in all of football (as) our spearhead,' Allen said. 'We were just trying to make sure we didn't let him down.'
The Eagles made the postseason again in 1990, but they lost their opening game for the third season in a row, and Ryan was fired. In Week 1 of the 1991 campaign, Cunningham tore his ACL and was out for the year. While it was a debilitating injury, the Eagles still went on to win 10 games on the back of a defense that surrendered the fewest yards in the league.
'I just remember going into every game and looking on the (opposing) sideline and just you feel the respect,' Allen said. 'I'm not saying (the other team's players) were fearful, but you felt the respect. Their offense is like, 'I'm not sure how we're going to get a yard.' It seemed like every series, Reggie would take over a series, (or) I would take over a series, (or) Seth would take over a series. It was just such a dominant group.'
Those Eagles teams never maximized their potential, though. They reached the playoffs four times from 1988 to 1992 but never moved beyond the divisional round. White left in free agency in early 1993, and back-to-back losing seasons followed.
As 'Mean Green' dissolved, Allen left to sign with the Saints. He maintains it was time to move on, but his next stop proved to be far more tumultuous.
He's IN 👏
Former Eagles Cornerback, Eric Allen is a 2025 Pro Football Hall of Famer!@EricAllen619 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/9EgD1BBTsO
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) February 7, 2025
The Saints didn't sniff the playoffs in Allen's first two seasons, but things really hit rock bottom three games into the 1997 season. During halftime of an embarrassing loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Allen and new head coach Mike Ditka got into an explosive argument that had to be broken up by players. Allen made his trade request after the season.
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'I'm going in and basically saying, 'I'm not playing for you guys.' And, at that time, I am not sure if any position player had ever really done that,' Allen said. 'I was like, 'Hey, this is a mess. This is not where I want to be at the end of my career. I want to be in playoff games.''
Allen had his sights set on one destination in particular: San Francisco. But that was a non-starter for New Orleans, since they were in the same division, which led to a stalemate. Allen heard from former teammates and coaches who tried to convince him to consider other destinations, but he rebuffed them all.
That was until Allen got a call from Willie Shaw, the Raiders' defensive coordinator. Shaw had recruited Allen to Arizona State in college, so they'd had a relationship for almost two decades. Allen didn't want to play for the Raiders, but out of respect, he agreed to visit Oakland.
A San Diego native, Allen had grown up a Raiders fan who idolized Marcus Allen and Cliff Branch and revered John Madden and Al Davis. He figured meeting Davis alone was worth the trip.
The first person Allen ran into at the facility was a young, red-faced man he didn't know. They had a 'great conversation' about football, but he left without getting his name. Next came Willie Brown, who at the time worked for the Raiders as the director of staff development. That meeting went well, too.
Then came Shaw, who laid out his plan for Allen to start across from a rookie they planned to draft, a youngster named Charles Woodson. Last up was Davis.
'We were just talking about the history of the Raiders, and I (asked), 'Why didn't you draft me in 1988? You guys needed a corner,'' Allen said. 'And he's going back and forth. He's like, 'You played a little safety. We wanted a pure corner.' I was like, 'I was a pure corner.' So, we're going back (and forth). He says, 'Let me take you to go talk to the head coach.''
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When Allen walked into the office, he saw the same red-faced coach he'd met when he arrived: Jon Gruden.
'He looked so young, I didn't know who he was,' Allen said. 'So he was like, 'What are you going to do?''
The two had another football conversation, this time about who Allen would like the Raiders to target in free agency to improve the defense. One of the players he mentioned was safety Anthony Newman, whom he played with in New Orleans.
Allen left the facility without committing to anything. Several days later, he got a call from Newman — the Raiders had signed him.
'I thought that was such an impactful moment. They believed so much in getting me there that they were willing to bring in a good player, but a guy who had been released,' Allen said. 'And so I tell my wife, 'That's where we're going. We're going to Oakland.' So, I flew up within the next couple of days.
'It was one of the best decisions football-wise that I made.'
When Allen looked through the peephole and saw Randall McDaniel, his former college teammate at Arizona State, standing at his door, a wide smile immediately formed on his face. McDaniel had gone on to become a star guard with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2009. For him to show up at Allen's home unannounced could only mean one thing — after 19 years of waiting, it was Allen's turn to become immortalized.
Hall of Fame person.NOW, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Congrats @EricAllen619 who got to celebrate the news with his family!
What a special moment. 👏 pic.twitter.com/aHh6wKlzpK
— Michael Yam (@Mike_Yam) February 7, 2025
Allen always thought Canton would come calling. He retired with 54 interceptions, tied for 21st in NFL history, while 16 of the 22 others with at least 54 interceptions have been inducted. He felt that, eventually, something had to give.
'I always had this calmness about it,' Allen said. 'I'm not a Bible-thumping dude, but God did give me a peace about this, so I was never really stressed.'
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When Allen is inducted, Eagles and Raiders faithful alike will claim him as their own. He never won a Super Bowl, but he's beloved by both franchises. For the Eagles, he'll always be remembered as part of an iconic defense. With the Raiders, he helped make the team relevant again.
Largely out of his affinity for the franchise, Allen still works as a personality for the Raiders' in-house media production team. The Eagles earned his fandom as a pre-teen when they drafted San Diego native (and eventual Pro Bowl returner) Wally Henry. Allen already had a passion for both clubs before he played a single snap in the NFL. He believes that came through on the field and played a role in him becoming a Hall of Famer.
'It wasn't just, 'Hey, I play for this team,' it was like, 'I'm playing for my team,'' Allen said. It's like that childhood dream. … I think a lot of the fans, if they had an opportunity to play, they would play like that.'
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In Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks, Allen snagged his fifth interception of the season, and he thought he could return it for a touchdown. As he planted his foot and attempted to cut, however, he heard a zipper sound in his knee and immediately crumpled to the ground.
Allen had missed just one game in 10 years and had no idea what happened. Once he walked off the field and talked to the training staff on the sideline, he told them to put a sleeve on his knee so he could re-enter the game.
'They were like, 'No, EA, you're injured,'' Allen told The Athletic recently. 'I was like, 'What are you talking about?' … They're like, 'Eric, we think you tore your ACL.''
Back then, a successful recovery from a torn ACL was far from guaranteed. Allen was a week from turning 33, and he was soon pestered with questions about whether he'd retire. With Allen out, the Raiders lost five of their final six games and missed the playoffs.
Allen underwent surgery on his knee, but he wouldn't commit to playing again until he saw how his body responded on the practice field.
'A trainer who was still there, Scott Touchet, me and him were like married,' Allen said. 'And the training staff just really helped me always focus on tomorrow. Don't worry about yesterday. Don't worry today. Just worry about tomorrow.'
Six months later, Allen returned to the field. And when the 1999 season began, he started in Week 1. He wasn't quite himself that season, but the 2000 campaign would be a special one. He tallied six interceptions — taking three back for touchdowns — and was one of the Raiders' best players as they made a run to the AFC Championship Game.
Allen believes that season is why he's set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next weekend. He produced a Hall-worthy prime with the Eagles, but his Raiders run displayed the longevity necessary to punch his ticket to Canton, Ohio.
'It just seemed like that season cemented what I'm about to do right now,' Allen said.
Immortalized in football history.@EricAllen619 | @ProFootballHOF pic.twitter.com/0FqRwalV8x
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) February 7, 2025
Allen felt like he was in a fever dream when the Eagles drafted him in 1988. They had a legendary head coach in defensive guru Buddy Ryan. That season, their roster featured three All-Pros in Reggie White, Randall Cunningham and Keith Jackson and other talented players such as Mike Quick, Cris Carter, Jerome Brown and Seth Joyner. The Eagles hadn't produced a winning season in years, but they were confident they had both the coaching and talent to end the drought.
Advertisement
Allen hit the ground running. He started from Day 1, and by his second season, he was a bona fide star. He notched eight interceptions in 1989 and earned first-team All-Pro recognition.
The Eagles had turned the corner and reached the postseason for the second straight year. Although Cunningham was an MVP-caliber quarterback, the hallmark of the team became its 'Mean Green' defense led by White.
'It all started because we had maybe the best defensive lineman in all of football (as) our spearhead,' Allen said. 'We were just trying to make sure we didn't let him down.'
The Eagles made the postseason again in 1990, but they lost their opening game for the third season in a row, and Ryan was fired. In Week 1 of the 1991 campaign, Cunningham tore his ACL and was out for the year. While it was a debilitating injury, the Eagles still went on to win 10 games on the back of a defense that surrendered the fewest yards in the league.
'I just remember going into every game and looking on the (opposing) sideline and just you feel the respect,' Allen said. 'I'm not saying (the other team's players) were fearful, but you felt the respect. Their offense is like, 'I'm not sure how we're going to get a yard.' It seemed like every series, Reggie would take over a series, (or) I would take over a series, (or) Seth would take over a series. It was just such a dominant group.'
Those Eagles teams never maximized their potential, though. They reached the playoffs four times from 1988 to 1992 but never moved beyond the divisional round. White left in free agency in early 1993, and back-to-back losing seasons followed.
As 'Mean Green' dissolved, Allen left to sign with the Saints. He maintains it was time to move on, but his next stop proved to be far more tumultuous.
He's IN 👏
Former Eagles Cornerback, Eric Allen is a 2025 Pro Football Hall of Famer!@EricAllen619 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/9EgD1BBTsO
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) February 7, 2025
The Saints didn't sniff the playoffs in Allen's first two seasons, but things really hit rock bottom three games into the 1997 season. During halftime of an embarrassing loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Allen and new head coach Mike Ditka got into an explosive argument that had to be broken up by players. Allen made his trade request after the season.
Advertisement
'I'm going in and basically saying, 'I'm not playing for you guys.' And, at that time, I am not sure if any position player had ever really done that,' Allen said. 'I was like, 'Hey, this is a mess. This is not where I want to be at the end of my career. I want to be in playoff games.''
Allen had his sights set on one destination in particular: San Francisco. But that was a non-starter for New Orleans, since they were in the same division, which led to a stalemate. Allen heard from former teammates and coaches who tried to convince him to consider other destinations, but he rebuffed them all.
That was until Allen got a call from Willie Shaw, the Raiders' defensive coordinator. Shaw had recruited Allen to Arizona State in college, so they'd had a relationship for almost two decades. Allen didn't want to play for the Raiders, but out of respect, he agreed to visit Oakland.
A San Diego native, Allen had grown up a Raiders fan who idolized Marcus Allen and Cliff Branch and revered John Madden and Al Davis. He figured meeting Davis alone was worth the trip.
The first person Allen ran into at the facility was a young, red-faced man he didn't know. They had a 'great conversation' about football, but he left without getting his name. Next came Willie Brown, who at the time worked for the Raiders as the director of staff development. That meeting went well, too.
Then came Shaw, who laid out his plan for Allen to start across from a rookie they planned to draft, a youngster named Charles Woodson. Last up was Davis.
'We were just talking about the history of the Raiders, and I (asked), 'Why didn't you draft me in 1988? You guys needed a corner,'' Allen said. 'And he's going back and forth. He's like, 'You played a little safety. We wanted a pure corner.' I was like, 'I was a pure corner.' So, we're going back (and forth). He says, 'Let me take you to go talk to the head coach.''
Advertisement
When Allen walked into the office, he saw the same red-faced coach he'd met when he arrived: Jon Gruden.
'He looked so young, I didn't know who he was,' Allen said. 'So he was like, 'What are you going to do?''
The two had another football conversation, this time about who Allen would like the Raiders to target in free agency to improve the defense. One of the players he mentioned was safety Anthony Newman, whom he played with in New Orleans.
Allen left the facility without committing to anything. Several days later, he got a call from Newman — the Raiders had signed him.
'I thought that was such an impactful moment. They believed so much in getting me there that they were willing to bring in a good player, but a guy who had been released,' Allen said. 'And so I tell my wife, 'That's where we're going. We're going to Oakland.' So, I flew up within the next couple of days.
'It was one of the best decisions football-wise that I made.'
When Allen looked through the peephole and saw Randall McDaniel, his former college teammate at Arizona State, standing at his door, a wide smile immediately formed on his face. McDaniel had gone on to become a star guard with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2009. For him to show up at Allen's home unannounced could only mean one thing — after 19 years of waiting, it was Allen's turn to become immortalized.
Hall of Fame person.NOW, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Congrats @EricAllen619 who got to celebrate the news with his family!
What a special moment. 👏 pic.twitter.com/aHh6wKlzpK
— Michael Yam (@Mike_Yam) February 7, 2025
Allen always thought Canton would come calling. He retired with 54 interceptions, tied for 21st in NFL history, while 16 of the 22 others with at least 54 interceptions have been inducted. He felt that, eventually, something had to give.
'I always had this calmness about it,' Allen said. 'I'm not a Bible-thumping dude, but God did give me a peace about this, so I was never really stressed.'
Advertisement
When Allen is inducted, Eagles and Raiders faithful alike will claim him as their own. He never won a Super Bowl, but he's beloved by both franchises. For the Eagles, he'll always be remembered as part of an iconic defense. With the Raiders, he helped make the team relevant again.
Largely out of his affinity for the franchise, Allen still works as a personality for the Raiders' in-house media production team. The Eagles earned his fandom as a pre-teen when they drafted San Diego native (and eventual Pro Bowl returner) Wally Henry. Allen already had a passion for both clubs before he played a single snap in the NFL. He believes that came through on the field and played a role in him becoming a Hall of Famer.
'It wasn't just, 'Hey, I play for this team,' it was like, 'I'm playing for my team,'' Allen said. It's like that childhood dream. … I think a lot of the fans, if they had an opportunity to play, they would play like that.'
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