Brian Allen (born October 21, 1993) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their h ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. He was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) in the fifth round (173rd overall) of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

, and has also spent time with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Professional career

Coming out of Utah, the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts projected Allen to be selected in the fifth or sixth round. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 23, 2017, he participated at Utah's pro day and chose to redo the vertical jump, broad jump, and twenty yard shuttle while also doing positional drills. He increased his vertical to 38 inches and was able to decrease his shuttle time. Team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams were in attendance to scout Allen,

Garett Bolles Garett Bolles (born May 27, 1992) is an American football offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah Utes football, Utah, and was drafted by the Broncos in the first round of ...

, Isaac Asiata, and 20 other prospects.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

selected Allen in the fifth round with the 173rd overall pick in the

. On May 8, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Allen to a four-year, $2.63 million contract with a signing bonus of $230,179. He entered his first training camp competing with William Gay,

Mike Hilton Michael Hilton Jr. (born March 9, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free ...

, Greg Ducre, Brandon Dixon, and

Senquez Golson Senquez Da'Quinn Golson (born July 7, 1993) is a former American football cornerback who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round (56th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Mississip ...

for a job to be a backup cornerback. Allen was named the Steelers' fifth cornerback on their depth chart to begin the regular season, behind

Artie Burns Artie Tyrone Burns Jr. (born May 1, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Miami, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of t ...

, Coty Sensabaugh, Mike Hilton, and William Gay. On September 17, 2017, Allen made his professional regular season debut during the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. On September 1, 2018, Allen was waived by the Steelers and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 2, 2018. On August 27, 2019, Allen was placed on injured reserve. He was waived with an injury settlement on August 31, 2019.

Seattle Seahawks

On October 15, 2019, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Seahawks on January 14, 2020. He was waived on August 10, 2020.

Buffalo Bills

Allen signed with the

on August 28, 2020. He was waived on September 5 as a part of final cuts.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 16, 2020, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster for the team's week 5 game against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was released on October 27.

Cincinnati Bengals

On November 3, 2020, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He was placed on the practice squad/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 11, and restored to the practice squad five days later. He was placed back on the practice squad/COVID-19 list on December 21, 2020, and restored to the practice squad again on January 1, 2021.

Cleveland Browns

Allen was signed to the

' active roster off the Bengals' practice squad on January 4, 2021. He re-signed with the Browns after the season on March 29, 2021. The Browns terminated Allen's contract on August 31, 2021. He was re-signed to the practice squad on December 16. He was elevated to the active roster for the December 20 game versus the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Birmingham Stallions

Allen was selected in the eighth round of the

2022 USFL Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

by the

New Orleans Saints

On August 11, 2022, Allen signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He was waived on August 28.

Birmingham Stallions (second stint)

Allen re-signed with the Birmingham Stallions on January 24, 2023.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bioUtah Utes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Brian 1993 births Living people American football cornerbacks Birmingham Stallions (2022) players Buffalo Bills players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players New Orleans Saints players People from La Marque, Texas Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Texas San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Galveston County, Texas Utah Utes football players