Athletes - Marcus Allen

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	Athletes - Marcus Allen

Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960 in San Diego, California) is a former American football player, and until recently affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,411 yards and played for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997. He scored 145 touchdowns including a then league record 123 rushing touchdowns and was elected to six Pro Bowls when he retired.

Allen is considered as one of the greatest goal line and short-yardage runner in National Football League history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. He is the older brother of the CFL's all-time passing yardage leader, Damon Allen.

Early career

He was a quarterback at Lincoln Senior High School where Akili Smith would later be quarterback in San Diego, then he played running back at the University of Southern California from 1978-1981. He spent his first 2 seasons at USC as a backup to Heisman Trophy winning running back Charles White. In 1980, he became a starter and rushed for 1,563 yards, the second most in the nation that year. Then in 1981, Allen had one of the most spectacular seasons in NCAA history. He rushed for 2,342 yards, becoming the first player in NCAA history to gain over 2,000 yards in one season. He also gained a total of 2,683 offensive yards, led the nation in scoring, and won both the Heisman Trophy and Walter Camp Award and was also the Pac-10 player of the year . USC has retired his jersey number (#33), and coach John Robinson called Allen "The greatest player I ever saw".

NFL career

Allen was drafted as the tenth overall pick on the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. In his rookie season in 1982, he rushed for 697 yards as he led the Raiders to the best record in the AFC with a strike-shortned 8-1 record and was elected as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Raiders would lose to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The next season, Marcus rushed for over 1,000 yards for the first time, he would do that again in 1984 and 1985. That season, he rushed for 1,759 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on 380 carries as he led the Raiders to a 12-4 record and the AFC West Title and was named the NFL MVP. During that time, he also caught 60 or more receptions for 3 years running (1983-85).

Allen is best remembered for his heroics in Super Bowl XVIII. He ran for 191 yards, caught 2 passes for 18 yards, and scored 2 touchdowns in the Raiders 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins. This included a 74-yard touchdown run, a record that was the longest run in Super Bowl history, until Super Bowl XL when it was broken by Willie Parker, by a single yard. After a stormy relationship with Al Davis, he left Los Angeles to join the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993, that year he rushed for only 764 yards, but scored 12 touchdowns, as he and Joe Montana led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year that season. Allen went on to play for the Chiefs for 4 more seasons, leading the team in rushing every year but his last. Allen's main contribution to the Chiefs was his leadership abilities. The Chiefs won more games than any other NFL team during his tenure in Kansas City. Allen made many contributions to charitable causes off the field in Kansas City. He also hosted his own talk show on Sunday mornings before Chiefs games. Allen retired after 1997 season.

He allegedly had an affair with the late Nicole Simpson, wife of his good friend O.J. Simpson.

In August 2005, Allen and CBS Sports parted ways. The network began to diminish Allen's role over the last few years.

College Cheating

While being interviewed by Byron Allen, Ronnie Lott said that he and Marcus Allen would not have graduated from college without cheating with the help of Byron Allen.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Marcus Allen ]

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Athletes - Marcus Allen

Early career

NFL career

College Cheating

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