APRIL 14: Allen has signed a one-day contract with the Vikings to officially retire as a member of the team.
FEBRUARY 18: Veteran defensive end Jared Allen, who finished the 2015 season with the Panthers, has decided to call it a career. Allen announced his retirement today in a video published to his Twitter account.
“I just want to say thank you for an amazing 12-year career,” Allen said, joking about riding off into the sunset before literally “riding off” on horseback. The 33-year-old also issued a formal statement on his retirement (TwitLonger link via Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports), which read, in part:
“I want to take this time to thank my family, friends fans, and teammates who have given their continued support throughout my 12 year career. It’s been a great ride for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the memories. It is with a great deal of thought and consideration, that I have decided that I will not return to football next year.”
Since entering the NFL as a fourth-round pick in 2004, Allen has been one of the NFL’s most dominant pass rushers, leading the league in sacks on multiple occasions and earning four first-team All-Pro nods. In 187 career regular-season games, Allen racked up 136 sacks, 32 forced fumbles, 19 fumble recoveries, and even six interceptions.
Allen didn’t exactly enjoy a storybook ending to his NFL career, but this year’s Super Bowl represented the first time that the veteran defensive end got a chance to play for a championship — he fought through a broken foot in order to take the field for Super Bowl 50.
Although he hadn’t a played in a Super Bowl until this year, Allen appeared in playoff games during his time in Kansas City and Minnesota. His best individual seasons came in 2007 – when he totaled 15.5 sacks in his final year with the Chiefs – and in 2011, when he nearly broke Michael Strahan‘s single-season record by piling up 22 sacks. Having spent the brunt of his 12-year NFL career with the Chiefs and Vikings, Allen signed with the Bears as a free agent in 2014, then finished his career in Carolina, after being traded to the Panthers during the 2015 season.
Because they acquired him in a trade, the Panthers won’t carry any dead money on their salary cap this year for Allen. The club also won’t be on the hook for his $8.5MM base salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
That video was amazing. Allen always seemed like a guy who was truly having fun out there, and his retirement announcement was no different.
Always seemed to be having a good time.
But….can you “nearly” “shatter” a record?
Hah, fair point. I suppose “shattering” isn’t quite synonymous with “breaking” so I’ll change that.
Quality announcement. Not quite on the Anthony Adams retiring at White Castle, but expected from Allen, one of the league’s premier characters during his time. The Vikings and Chiefs turned out to get great value in one of the more overlooked trades in recent memory, with KC using the third-rounder it received on Jamaal Charles and Allen delivering three first-team All-Pro seasons in Minnesota. Charles and Allen combined for first-team All-Pro cameos after the trade. That’s a fairly loaded transaction.
Always a Viking Jared. WTG
Loved watching that guy rope em up in Minnesota!