Countdown to 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement: Eric Allen
Enshrinement
Published on : 8/2/2025
By Paul Domowitch
Special to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
If somebody had told 12-year-old ERIC ALLEN that he would someday make it to the Hall of Fame, he would’ve bet that it would be in Cooperstown not Canton.
Growing up in southeast San Diego, Allen’s dream was to be a Major League Baseball player. He played both baseball and football in his Valencia Park neighborhood and was a stud quarterback in Pop Warner.
But baseball was king in his town. Big leaguers Kevin Mitchell and Sam Horn hailed from there, and several others from the area had made it to the high minors.
In middle school, Allen said he started “hanging around with the wrong dudes and just being a knucklehead” and was blowing off his schoolwork. His older brother Craig made a bold decision.
“He said, ‘Hey man, this is not the way to go,’” Allen recalled. “He told me, ‘We need to find you a place where you’re going to be out of this element. The bus stop in front of our house, wherever that bus is going, we’re going to follow it and that’s where you going to go to school.’ Well, it went out to the Point Loma area.
“That move that my brother made me do changed my whole life.”
Point Loma is a seaside community in west San Diego, about a 30-minute drive from Valencia Park. Allen starred in both football and baseball at Point Loma High School and was recruited by nearly a dozen Division I schools for football, including Arizona State. Ironically, it was ASU’s baseball program that drew him to Tempe as much as football.
“My dream was to go to Arizona State and play baseball,” Allen said. “Because of Reggie Jackson (an ASU alum). I loved him. Arizona State had a tremendous baseball program back then. I was a really good baseball player.”
But “really good” wasn’t good enough at Arizona State.
“I had no idea at the time who was on the baseball team,” Allen said. “I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to play left field for them.’ I’m in line to check in and be a walk-on or whatever, and I’m talking to this other guy who was trying to do the same thing. He said, ‘Do you know who their left fielder is?’ I said, ‘No.’ I was thinking, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m Eric Allen.’
“Well, it turned out that Barry Bonds was in left field. Oddibe McDowell, who had been the Player of the Year in college baseball the year before, was their center fielder. A guy named Mike Devereaux, who played like 12 years for the Orioles and other teams, was the right fielder. And Mike Kelly, who would be the second pick in the (1991) draft, was their backup.
“They looked at me and pretty much said, ‘Take the hat. Keep the hat. But you need to stick with spring football.’ I never even got to bat. They were loaded.”
Focusing on football, Allen developed into one of the nation’s top cornerbacks. As a junior, he helped lead the Sun Devils to a 10-1-1 record, a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl win over Michigan. As a senior, he had eight interceptions, including two that he returned for touchdowns.
Allen was a thinking man’s cornerback before corners really did all that much thinking. He had extraordinary athletic ability, but what separated him from other players at his position was his mental preparation and ability to quickly process information during a game
Allen was taken in the second round of the 1988 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, at the time coached by defensive guru Buddy Ryan. Allen became an immediate starter, joining an ultra-talented unit that included the likes of future Hall of Famer Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner. During Allen’s seven seasons in Philly, the Eagles boasted one of the most dominating defenses in NFL history.
He had five interceptions as a rookie and eight in his second year, when he earned the first of three All-Pro selections. Through it all, Allen learned a lot from his older teammates, not only about the game, but also about how to carry himself when he wasn’t in uniform.
“I was able to learn from (cornerback) Roynell Young how you act as a professional off the field,” he said. “There were times when he would take me downtown after practice, after film review. He would take me to Boyd’s (a popular Philadelphia clothing store) to show me how to dress. He told me the people I needed to be involved with.
“Reggie and (his wife) Sara invited me into their home all the time. Andre (Waters) took me under his wing. (Defensive coordinator) Jeff Fisher sat down with me and showed me what Buddy’s defense was all about.”
Eagles owner Norman Braman fired Ryan after the 1990 season and replaced him with Rich Kotite, who in turn brought in Bud Carson, the architect of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain” defenses of the ’70s, to be the defensive coordinator.
“I had a great relationship with Bud,” Allen said. “He was the first coach in the pros who said, ‘Hey, I want you to travel [with a specific receiver]. Not just left or right, but inside as well.’ He had a lot of confidence in me. He was just phenomenal for me.”
Allen is ranked 21st in NFL history in career interceptions with 54. Thirty-four of them came in his time with the Eagles. He is tied for eighth in career interceptions returned for touchdowns with eight.
What makes those totals particularly remarkable is that he was a shutdown corner that opposing quarterbacks shied away from. “
He was a pain in the ass to play against,” former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms said. “He was just so smart. We made a point not to throw at him. Ever. I can still hear (Bill) Parcells saying, ‘Simms, if you throw one effin’ ball over in Allen’s direction, I’m taking your ass out.’
“If I did throw one over there, he’d be in my face. I’d say, ‘But they’re double-teaming the other guy.’ And he’d say, ‘I don’t care what the hell they’re doing. Keep it away from Allen.”’
Even with opposing QBs avoiding him, Allen enjoyed one of his most dynamic seasons in 1993, bringing back four interceptions for touchdowns. But within a year, most of the key parts on those great Eagles defenses were gone. Jerome Brown had been killed in a car accident in ’92. Reggie White signed with the Green Bay Packers. And Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner joined Buddy Ryan in Arizona.
Allen soon left town as well, signing with the New Orleans Saints in 1995. Following three seasons there, he requested a trade. And while he gave ownership a list of four teams he’d be agreeable going to — San Francisco, Denver, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay — the Saints instead sent him to the Oakland Raiders, who were coming off a 4-12 season.
Initially, Allen considered retiring rather than play for the Raiders. But Oakland’s defensive coordinator, Willie haw, who had been Allen’s position coach at Arizona State, persuaded him to fly to Oakland for a visit.
“He said, ‘Hey, we got this new coach; just come in for a visit,” Allen recalled. “So, I fly out there and they take me over to their facility. I’m talking to this young guy in the lobby about Philadelphia. Then I go in to talk to Shaw and he gives me the rundown. He says they’re going to get this corner from Michigan (Charles Woodson) in the draft and they’re going to team us up together.
That “young guy” he spoke with in the lobby turned out to be the Raiders’ new 31-year-old head coach, Jon Gruden.
Allen spent four seasons with the Raiders, during which time he and Woodson became one of the top corner tandems in the league. They combined for 10 interceptions in their first year together, and 10 more in 2000, including six by the then 35-year-old Allen — three that he returned for touchdowns. Brian Bahr/Getty Images.
Similar to how he matured under the watchful eyes of Eagles veterans, Allen mentored Woodson. Woodson, who went into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2021, said he wouldn’t have been the player he ultimately became were it not for Eric.
“He helped mold me as a young player,” Woodson said. “Coming out of college, to have him take me under his wing and teach me what he knew was invaluable. I was very lucky to have played alongside him for four years. To sit in that room with him and see how he approached the game, see the way he watched the film and studied the receivers, those were all things I was able to pick up through him.”
Most corners are out of the league by the time they’re 35. The ones who aren’t usually move to safety, where the loss of a step or two isn’t as fatal. But Allen spent all 14 seasons and 214 starts at corner.
“I saw that trend (of older corners moving to safety),” Allen said. “But I never wanted to be one of those players. I took a lot of pride in playing the cornerback position. It was important for me to stay at corner and be effective and have an impact on the game. I never thought, ‘Oh, I can prolong my career a little longer by going to safety.' ”
Special to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
If somebody had told 12-year-old ERIC ALLEN that he would someday make it to the Hall of Fame, he would’ve bet that it would be in Cooperstown not Canton.
Growing up in southeast San Diego, Allen’s dream was to be a Major League Baseball player. He played both baseball and football in his Valencia Park neighborhood and was a stud quarterback in Pop Warner.
But baseball was king in his town. Big leaguers Kevin Mitchell and Sam Horn hailed from there, and several others from the area had made it to the high minors.
In middle school, Allen said he started “hanging around with the wrong dudes and just being a knucklehead” and was blowing off his schoolwork. His older brother Craig made a bold decision.
“He said, ‘Hey man, this is not the way to go,’” Allen recalled. “He told me, ‘We need to find you a place where you’re going to be out of this element. The bus stop in front of our house, wherever that bus is going, we’re going to follow it and that’s where you going to go to school.’ Well, it went out to the Point Loma area.
“That move that my brother made me do changed my whole life.”
Point Loma is a seaside community in west San Diego, about a 30-minute drive from Valencia Park. Allen starred in both football and baseball at Point Loma High School and was recruited by nearly a dozen Division I schools for football, including Arizona State. Ironically, it was ASU’s baseball program that drew him to Tempe as much as football.
“My dream was to go to Arizona State and play baseball,” Allen said. “Because of Reggie Jackson (an ASU alum). I loved him. Arizona State had a tremendous baseball program back then. I was a really good baseball player.”
But “really good” wasn’t good enough at Arizona State.
“I had no idea at the time who was on the baseball team,” Allen said. “I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to play left field for them.’ I’m in line to check in and be a walk-on or whatever, and I’m talking to this other guy who was trying to do the same thing. He said, ‘Do you know who their left fielder is?’ I said, ‘No.’ I was thinking, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m Eric Allen.’
“Well, it turned out that Barry Bonds was in left field. Oddibe McDowell, who had been the Player of the Year in college baseball the year before, was their center fielder. A guy named Mike Devereaux, who played like 12 years for the Orioles and other teams, was the right fielder. And Mike Kelly, who would be the second pick in the (1991) draft, was their backup.
“They looked at me and pretty much said, ‘Take the hat. Keep the hat. But you need to stick with spring football.’ I never even got to bat. They were loaded.”
Focusing on football, Allen developed into one of the nation’s top cornerbacks. As a junior, he helped lead the Sun Devils to a 10-1-1 record, a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl win over Michigan. As a senior, he had eight interceptions, including two that he returned for touchdowns.
Allen was a thinking man’s cornerback before corners really did all that much thinking. He had extraordinary athletic ability, but what separated him from other players at his position was his mental preparation and ability to quickly process information during a game
Allen was taken in the second round of the 1988 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, at the time coached by defensive guru Buddy Ryan. Allen became an immediate starter, joining an ultra-talented unit that included the likes of future Hall of Famer Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner. During Allen’s seven seasons in Philly, the Eagles boasted one of the most dominating defenses in NFL history.
He had five interceptions as a rookie and eight in his second year, when he earned the first of three All-Pro selections. Through it all, Allen learned a lot from his older teammates, not only about the game, but also about how to carry himself when he wasn’t in uniform.
“I was able to learn from (cornerback) Roynell Young how you act as a professional off the field,” he said. “There were times when he would take me downtown after practice, after film review. He would take me to Boyd’s (a popular Philadelphia clothing store) to show me how to dress. He told me the people I needed to be involved with.
“Reggie and (his wife) Sara invited me into their home all the time. Andre (Waters) took me under his wing. (Defensive coordinator) Jeff Fisher sat down with me and showed me what Buddy’s defense was all about.”
Eagles owner Norman Braman fired Ryan after the 1990 season and replaced him with Rich Kotite, who in turn brought in Bud Carson, the architect of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain” defenses of the ’70s, to be the defensive coordinator.
“I had a great relationship with Bud,” Allen said. “He was the first coach in the pros who said, ‘Hey, I want you to travel [with a specific receiver]. Not just left or right, but inside as well.’ He had a lot of confidence in me. He was just phenomenal for me.”
Allen is ranked 21st in NFL history in career interceptions with 54. Thirty-four of them came in his time with the Eagles. He is tied for eighth in career interceptions returned for touchdowns with eight.
What makes those totals particularly remarkable is that he was a shutdown corner that opposing quarterbacks shied away from. “
He was a pain in the ass to play against,” former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms said. “He was just so smart. We made a point not to throw at him. Ever. I can still hear (Bill) Parcells saying, ‘Simms, if you throw one effin’ ball over in Allen’s direction, I’m taking your ass out.’
“If I did throw one over there, he’d be in my face. I’d say, ‘But they’re double-teaming the other guy.’ And he’d say, ‘I don’t care what the hell they’re doing. Keep it away from Allen.”’
Even with opposing QBs avoiding him, Allen enjoyed one of his most dynamic seasons in 1993, bringing back four interceptions for touchdowns. But within a year, most of the key parts on those great Eagles defenses were gone. Jerome Brown had been killed in a car accident in ’92. Reggie White signed with the Green Bay Packers. And Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner joined Buddy Ryan in Arizona.
Allen soon left town as well, signing with the New Orleans Saints in 1995. Following three seasons there, he requested a trade. And while he gave ownership a list of four teams he’d be agreeable going to — San Francisco, Denver, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay — the Saints instead sent him to the Oakland Raiders, who were coming off a 4-12 season.
Initially, Allen considered retiring rather than play for the Raiders. But Oakland’s defensive coordinator, Willie haw, who had been Allen’s position coach at Arizona State, persuaded him to fly to Oakland for a visit.
“He said, ‘Hey, we got this new coach; just come in for a visit,” Allen recalled. “So, I fly out there and they take me over to their facility. I’m talking to this young guy in the lobby about Philadelphia. Then I go in to talk to Shaw and he gives me the rundown. He says they’re going to get this corner from Michigan (Charles Woodson) in the draft and they’re going to team us up together.
That “young guy” he spoke with in the lobby turned out to be the Raiders’ new 31-year-old head coach, Jon Gruden.
Allen spent four seasons with the Raiders, during which time he and Woodson became one of the top corner tandems in the league. They combined for 10 interceptions in their first year together, and 10 more in 2000, including six by the then 35-year-old Allen — three that he returned for touchdowns. Brian Bahr/Getty Images.
Similar to how he matured under the watchful eyes of Eagles veterans, Allen mentored Woodson. Woodson, who went into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2021, said he wouldn’t have been the player he ultimately became were it not for Eric.
“He helped mold me as a young player,” Woodson said. “Coming out of college, to have him take me under his wing and teach me what he knew was invaluable. I was very lucky to have played alongside him for four years. To sit in that room with him and see how he approached the game, see the way he watched the film and studied the receivers, those were all things I was able to pick up through him.”
Most corners are out of the league by the time they’re 35. The ones who aren’t usually move to safety, where the loss of a step or two isn’t as fatal. But Allen spent all 14 seasons and 214 starts at corner.
“I saw that trend (of older corners moving to safety),” Allen said. “But I never wanted to be one of those players. I took a lot of pride in playing the cornerback position. It was important for me to stay at corner and be effective and have an impact on the game. I never thought, ‘Oh, I can prolong my career a little longer by going to safety.' ”
More on the Class of 2025 Enshrinement
- Countdown to 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement: Eric Allen
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