Edward Bostwic Allen Jr. (May 5, 1918 – March 1, 2012) was 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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

who played one season in 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) with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and one season in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. Allen 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 ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, and was head football coach at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

Early life and college career

Allen attended Batavia High School in

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,6 ...

, where he was raised. Allen played for three seasons on the

Penn Quakers football The Penn Quakers football program is the college football team at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Penn Quakers have competed in the Ivy League since its inaugural season of 1956, and are a Division I Football Championship ...

team until 1940, when he left to serve in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served until 1945 and achieved the rank of captain. Upon leaving the military, he returned to Penn for his fourth and final season. Allen was an All-American honorable mention at Penn.

Professional career

Allen was selected 94th overall (11th round, pick 4) in the

1946 NFL Draft The 1946 National Football League Draft was held on January 14, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The selections were initially withheld from the public out of fear that the newly formed All-America Football Conference wou ...

by the

. Allen appeared in nine games for the Bears, during the NFL season. During the season he played as both fullback and Punter. The following year, Allen played for the

of the

Coaching career

Allen began coaching at Daniels Field in 1941. After serving as head coach at

Upper Darby High School Upper Darby High School (UDHS) is a four-year public high school located in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, as part of the Upper Darby School District. UDHS is also the oldest high school in Delaware County, ha ...

for the 1949 season, Allen was hired by

as head football coach in February 1950. During the

1955 college football season The 1955 college football season saw the Oklahoma Sooners win the national championship after going 10–0–0. Although the final poll was taken before the postseason bowl games, Oklahoma played against the nation's other unbeaten and untied (10 ...

, Allen led Drexel to an undefeated season. In eight seasons as head coach at Drexel, Allen compiled an overall record of 33–24–1. On January 10, 1958, Allen resigned as head coach in order to devote more time to an investment firm at which he had been recently given a major promotion.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Eddie 1918 births 2012 deaths American football fullbacks Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) players Chicago Bears players Drexel Dragons football coaches Penn Quakers football players High school football coaches in Pennsylvania People from Batavia, New York People from Dansville, New York Players of American football from New York (state) United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II