Legendary Viking Misses Out on the Hall of Fame Again
Josh Frey
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The 2023 NFL Hall of Fame class was announced this week, and for the third consecutive year, after being named a finalist for the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, legendary Viking pass rusher Jared Allen narrowly missed the cut.
Instead, it was Darrelle Revis, Joe Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Zach Thomas, and Ronde Barber who were named the Hall of Fame class for this year, meaning Allen will have to wait at least until 2024 to get his bust put in Canton.
His career got off to a quiet, yet productive start. He only started ten games in his rookie year with the Chiefs, but he recorded nine sacks. Allen moved into a full-time starting role in 2005, and he immediately made a huge impact, recording 11 sacks and forcing six fumbles.
Allen truly broke headlines in 2007 when he recorded a league leading 15.5 sacks. However, his life off the field quickly became just as much of a headline due to two separate DUI charges during 2006. A third would result in a year-long suspension from the NFL.
The relationship between Allen and the Chiefs franchise came to a head after the 2007 season where the Chiefs went an abysmal 4-12 despite Allen’s All-Pro level of play. Allen no longer wanted anything to do with a rebuilding franchise and requested a trade.
The Minnesota Vikings soon came to a deal with the Chiefs to acquire the star defensive end, offering a first round pick, two third rounders, and a sixth rounder. Minnesota then offered Allen a six-year, $31 million contract.
The Vikings won the NFC North division in each of the next two years and were an overtime away from making the Super Bowl in 2009. In Allen’s six years with the Vikings, the team made three postseason appearances, and Allen never had fewer than 11 sacks. His dominance from the defensive end position came to the peak of its powers in 2011 when he recorded 22 sacks, just half a sack behind Michael Strahan’s single season record of 22.5.
Allen without question contributed to a new winning culture in Minnesota, who had made the postseason just one time in the seven years prior to Allen’s arrival to the team. 2008 and 2009 were also the first back-to-back division titles for Minnesota since the era of the Purple People Eaters in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The Vikings have made the postseason six of the 12 years since Allen’s arrival. Obviously, Allen isn’t solely responsible for everything that has happened, but he clearly played a huge part in Minnesota’s return towards relevance.
Prior to the 2014 season, Allen signed a 4-year, $32 million deal with the Bears that Vikings fans held against him at the time, but secretly, they were probably happy to see him go before his career declined.
Allen started 15 games in 2014, but he recorded just 5.5 sacks for the Bears. Two games into the 2015 season, Chicago traded him to Carolina where he made his first and only Super Bowl with the Panthers but lost to the Denver Broncos. On April 14, 2016, Allen signed a one-day deal with the Vikings and officially announced his retirement from football, and ever since, his Hall of Fame status has been up for debate.
During the 2022 season, Allen was nominated into the Vikings Ring of Honor where he made a very ceremonious entrance by riding into the stadium on horseback.
It seems likely that, at some point, Allen will reach the Hall of Fame. He grew into one of the most fearsome pass rushers in NFL history throughout his career, and his career sacks rank 16th since the 1960 season.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.