Gold Jacket Marcus Allen: Keynote Speaker at RJ's Prep Banquet

On Saturday, the best of Nevada’s preps student athletes will hear from Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has been placing Gold Jackets at these Max preps events around the country and Hall of Famer Dan Marino will be in Canton on June 13-14 and Allen travels to Victorville, California on June 8.

The message Allen will deliver Saturday to 846 athletes from 24 sports programs across 112 Nevada high schools will undoubtedly focus on hard work, challenging oneself, overcoming adversity, and embracing an ambitious nature; All traits that helped shape one of the greatest football players the game has known.

He is the keynote speaker for the Review-Journal’s second Best of Nevada Preps Awards ceremony, at the Venetian Theater inside The Venetian, where top student-athletes in every NIAA-sanctioned sport will be honored.

They will hear from the only player in history to have won a Heisman Trophy, a college national championship and a Super Bowl, while also being named MVP of the NFL and Super Bowl.

Allen is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame. Any list of the all-time best short-yardage and goal-line situation runners begins with him.

Allen, 57, played his final NFL season in 1997. During his 16-year career with the Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs he was rushed for more than 12,000 yards and scored 145 touchdowns.

Allen wouldn’t offer much on what he will impart to the students, wanting to wait until Saturday, but is well aware of how drawn to social media today's youth is compared to when he was a high school star with the same hopes and dreams.

“It’s about having a conversation with them,” Allen said. “About being honest and letting them know that the greatest challenges are the ones that make you stronger and define who you are and what you are made of.”

For extended story:  https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sports-columns/ed-graney/a-conversation-with-marcus-allen-football-great-to-highlight-rjs-prep-banquet/