Terry Thomas Allen Jr. (born February 21, 1968) is a former

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 ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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) for 11 seasons. 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 ...

for

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

. In the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

, he was selected in the ninth round by 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 ...

. Between 1992 and 1996, Allen had 4 consecutive seasons of rushing for 1,000 or more yards, minus the 1993 season which he missed completely due to an injury. Terry is married to Annette Allen and they have two daughters,Shayna and Haley Allen.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

During Allen's rookie season, he was the second string running back behind

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia. ...

. The next season, the Vikings named Allen as the starter, and he rushed for 1,201 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also caught 49 passes for 478 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the summer of 1993, Allen tore his ACL in practice and missed the entire 1993 season. In 1994, Allen returned. Despite dealing with two bad ACL's, he was able to amass 1,031 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns.

Washington Redskins

Allen joined the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

for the 1995 season and rushed for 1,309 yards and 10 touchdowns. During the 1996 season, his second with the Redskins, he gathered 21 rushing touchdowns; only 9 other running backs ever rushed for over 20 touchdowns in a single season. He also had another career best in the 1996 season; besides 21 rushing touchdowns, he ran for 1,353 yards, which earned him a spot in the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. After the 1996 season, he played with Washington for only two more seasons and ran for 700 or more yards in each season.

New England Patriots

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Allen played for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, where he ran for nearly 900 yards with 8 rushing touchdowns.

New Orleans Saints

Allen had the worst season of his career 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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, when he was forced into action after starting running back

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing baseball an ...

broke his ankle.

Baltimore Ravens

On August 12, 2001, Allen signed with the Ravens following a season ending injury to

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

, reuniting with

Brian Billick Brian Harold Billick (born February 28, 1954) is an American former American football, football coach and commentator. He was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1998; the team broke the National Football League, NF ...

, who was his offensive coordinator with the Vikings. He led the Ravens in rushing yards in his one season with the team, rushing for 658 yards.

NFL career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Terry 1968 births Living people People from Commerce, Georgia American football running backs Clemson Tigers football players Minnesota Vikings players Washington Redskins players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players Baltimore Ravens players National Conference Pro Bowl players Ed Block Courage Award recipients