Larry Allen dies: Cowboys Hall of Famer was 52

Larry Allen He was a tremendous individual whose talent was unparalleled and his behavior on the football field was ferocious. He played 14 NFL seasons – 12 of them – and was a force to be reckoned with. Dallas Cowboyswith two San Francisco 49ers – He was a six-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman.

“I’ve heard people say Larry was the best offensive lineman in the game, and that’s not true at all,” Cowboys teammate and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin once said. “Larry was the best player in the league, and it wasn’t even close.”

Yet Allen, who died suddenly Sunday at age 52 while vacationing with his family in Mexico, had haunting memories of his upbringing in Compton. At age 9, he was stabbed 12 times in the head and shoulder while protecting his younger brother, Vaughn, from an older boy whose mother had handed him a knife.

After painful stitches on the wounds, Allen became so afraid of needles that he even refused to take Novocaine before his dentist filled the cavity. However, regarding the child with the knife, Allen found him three months after the stabbing.

“My mom said, ‘I’m not raising a punk, so she told me to fight this guy,’” Allen said during his Hall of Fame induction in 2013. “She said, ‘You’re going to fight him until you win.’ The first day I lost. The second day I lost. The third day I finally won. That was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in my life, to never back down from anybody.”

Allen’s mother, Vera, was his guiding force.

“We would hear gunfire outside our home, we would automatically roll out of bed, lie on the floor until the firing stopped, then get back into bed and go back to sleep.” he told the Times in 1994. “After a while, we got pretty good at it.”

A few years later she moved to Northern California with her two sons. Allen attended four high schools and didn’t play football until his junior year, when the family returned to Southern California and he enrolled at Compton Centennial.

A year later, Allen fled again because of gang activity and drug dealing near his family’s home, playing his senior year at Vintage High in Napa while living with the family of his friend Steve Hagland. Allen did not graduate and moved on to tiny Butte Junior College in Chico, where he dominated on the field but could not earn the grades to transfer to a Division I program.

He moved back to his mother’s house in Compton, played pickup basketball and worked odd jobs. Football became an afterthought for him until Frank Scalesio, an assistant coach at Division II Sonoma State, scouted him and lured him back to Northern California.

Trying to convince Sonoma head coach Tim Walsh that Allen was worth recruiting, Scalercio repeated a rumor he’d heard that the lineman could dunk a basketball. Walsh rolled his eyes when Allen — all 325 pounds — arrived on campus.

“I’ve been bragging about this kid for months, and always included the fact that he can dunk,” Scalesio told Star magazine“So here we were, the basketball team was in the gym, some football players, everybody was watching him. And he throws a two-handed slam like none of us had ever seen before. The ball bounced on the floor for about 10 seconds and nobody said a word. I’ve never heard silence like that in my life.”

Two years later, when Allen got a call from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the day of the NFL Draft, he didn’t stay quiet.

Jones: “Son, would you like to be a cowboy?”

Alan: “Yes, Sir!”

The kid from Compton, who attended four high schools, a junior college and a Division II program, was selected in the second round by the Super Bowl champions.

“I ran out of my apartment and jumped into the swimming pool with all my clothes on,” Allen said.

Soon after, he purchased a house for Vera in Sacramento.

“Everything she gave and did for my brother and me was a gift I was able to give her,” Allen said. “Everything she did for my brother and me. My life could have ended very differently.”

Yet sadly, his life came to an untimely end. Allen leaves behind his wife Janelle, daughters Jayla and Loriana, and son Larry III.

“Known for his superb athletic ability and incredible strength, Larry was one of the most respected, accomplished offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,” the Cowboys said in a statement. “His versatility and dependability were also key parts of his career. Through it all, he continued to serve as an inspiration to many other players, defining what it means to be a great teammate, competitor and winner.”

“The Jones family and the Cowboys offer their deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Allen family and mourn with the other friends and Cowboys teammates who loved Larry.”

Allen’s exploits on the field are legendary. He excelled at guard and tackle, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds and excelled in the weight room — though he had no interest in weightlifting.

Social media sites were filled with tributes to Allen on Monday, including some of his most memorable feats, such as He bench pressed 700 pounds — 300 pounds more than any teammate — and even endured Rocket Ismail falling on Allen’s chest in celebration.

and time He bench pressed 225 pounds 43 times.

and time he followed New Orleans Saints linebacker Darian Conner 50 yards down field after an interception.

Allen was also apparently responsible for causing opponents to suffer a unique illness.

“Players would watch him on film all week and then he’d come out with some mysterious injury or the flu or something,” New York Giants All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan said. “We call it ‘Allen-itis.'”

Allen, who was called for holding only 13 times in 14 seasons, helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXX in a 27–17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers following the 1995 season. Six years after retiring in 2007, he named several teammates, coaches, and family members he influenced during his career. Speech upon induction into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

“My goal was simple, to earn a seven letter word called respect,” he said. “The respect of my teammates, opponents and the NFL. Today, my mission is accomplished. I also worked hard, whistle-blowers, to defeat my opponents. And today, I surrender to you. I just can’t wait to meet my teammates.”

“I’ve been blessed to play the game I love. And remember, it wasn’t about me, Larry Allen, but about the many people who helped me.”