Kansas City Chiefs: Jared Allen Announces Retirement
Former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen announced his retirement on Thursday. While he didn’t finish his career in Kansas City, Allen was still a memorable player for the Chiefs.
Jared Allen announced his retirement on Thursday by literally riding off into the sunset (or just riding off on a horse, since there was no sunset). After 12 years in the NFL, Allen had decided to hang the cleats up and call it a career.
Younger Chiefs fans might not remember just how dominate Allen was for the Chiefs. Drafted out of Idaho State in 2004 by the Kansas City Chiefs, Allen flew on the scene in his rookie year with nine sacks. He continued to build on that every year, with 11 in 2005, and 15.5 in 2007.
While Allen’s departure from Kansas City wasn’t the smoothest transition, the guy was fun to watch. Any time he’d get a sack, he’d do his little dance and it was always entertaining. He loved getting after the quarterback and was just a fun guy to have on the team.
When Jared Allen was traded to the Vikings in 2008, fans weren’t happy. Allen was at the peak of his career and the Chiefs were not a good team, so yes, it was frustrating to see him go.
He ended his Kansas City Chiefs days with 197 tackles, 43 sacks, 25 defended passes, and 14 forced fumbles. He also had one interception and three touchdowns (wait, what?).
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In the end, it all worked out. Allen went on to continue being a beast for the Vikings, a team that went to the postseason in 2008, 2009, and 2012. Not only did Allen get to play for a winning team, but the Chiefs ended up getting Branden Albert and Jamaal Charles out of the trade. So yeah, winners all around in this deal.
Jared Allen’s legacy to me as a Chief will be the fact that he was everywhere on the field. He was the sack master and also would play on offense in the red zone (as evidenced by his three touchdowns).
Jared Allen was my favorite Chief back in the day. I remember before he was a household name, my mom and I looked just about everywhere for a Jared Allen jersey. When we finally found one, it was too big on me, so I eventually gave it to my dad. Not even a year later, Allen was one of the best defensive players in the NFL.
While he’ll likely be remembered for his days with the Vikings, Jared Allen was a great player for the Chiefs as well. He always looked like he was having fun, and who knows? Maybe he’ll be in the Hall of Fame someday.