Eric Andre Allen (born November 22, 1965) 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 wi ...

coach and former

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 ...

who played 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 majo ...

(NFL) for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

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 ...

, and

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 Ra ...

from 1988 to 2001. A six-time

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 ...

selection, Allen retired from football after the 2001 season and is currently an NFL analyst for

Pac-12 Networks The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquart ...

. In his NFL career, he recorded 54

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

for 827 yards and eight

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

, while also recovering seven

fumbles A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

. His 54 interceptions ties him for 21st in NFL history. He now lives in San Diego, California with his wife Lynn Allen, with whom he has four children. In 2019, he served as the

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

San Diego Fleet The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home game ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

(AAF).

Early years

Allen played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

Point Loma High School Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma ...

under legendary coach

Bennie Edens Bennie Edens (December 7, 1925 – February 8, 2008) was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Point Loma High School from 1950 to 1998. He received many individual coaching awards (including NFL High School Coach of the ...

College career

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Professional career

Allen was drafted by the

in the second round of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 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 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

. Allen played seven seasons for the Eagles, three seasons for the

, and four seasons for the

. While with the Eagles he was a very popular player with the "

Gang Green Gang Green is an American punk rock band originally from Braintree, Massachusetts. Chris Doherty (guitar), Bill Manley (bass) and Mike Dean (drums) started the band in 1980 and broke up in 1983. Doherty reformed Gang Green the following year ...

" Defense, playing with NFL greats

Reggie White Reginald Howard White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was an American professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for ...

Seth Joyner Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bib ...

Jerome Brown Willie Jerome Brown III (February 4, 1965 – June 25, 1992) was an American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire five-year NFL career with the Eagles from 1987 to 1 ...

Clyde Simmons Clyde Simmons Jr. (born August 4, 1964) is a former American football defensive end and current college defensive line coach. Playing career College Simmons played college football at Western Carolina University helping lead the Catamounts to th ...

Andre Waters Andre Maurice Waters (March 10, 1962 – November 20, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 1995. Waters was ...

Mike Pitts Michael Anthony Pitts (September 25, 1960 – November 4, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college foot ...

, and

Wes Hopkins Wesley Carl Hopkins (September 26, 1961 – September 28, 2018) was an American professional football player who played as a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles during his entire 11-year National Football League career from 1983 through 1993. A w ...

. He is the only NFL player to run back three or more interceptions for scores in two separate seasons. One of Allen's most memorable plays occurred October 3, 1993, in a game against the

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

. Having lost their starting quarterback (

Randall Cunningham Randall Wade Cunningham Sr. (born March 27, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and is also known ...

) to a fractured fibula early in the contest, the Eagles found themselves trailing the Jets by two points late in the 4th quarter as the Jets drove downfield for what would likely be the game's final points. Jets quarterback

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was selected in the ...

attempted to throw for a first down inside the Eagles 10-yard line as Allen stepped in front of the intended receiver at the 6-yard line. The ensuing 94-yard touchdown return was declared "Greatest Interception Return in NFL History" by

Steve Sabol Stephen Douglas Sabol (October 2, 1942September 18, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He was the president and one of the founders of NFL Films, along with his father Ed. He was also a widely exhibited visual artist. Sabol was born in Moores ...

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ...

. After several successful and injury-free seasons at Philadelphia and New Orleans, Allen blew out his knee during the 1998 season on November 15 while playing for the

against 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 a ...

and missed the rest of that season. But he came back strong in

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 S ...

and had a season to remember, with six interceptions, including a team-record three for touchdowns. His teammates honored him with the first annual Eric Turner award for the Raiders' most outstanding defensive player. The award was created in the memory of the Oakland

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their du ...

who died of abdominal cancer in May 2000. Through the 2001 season, Allen played in 214 of a possible 217 games. In 2009, Allen also was inducted by the

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...

into th
Breitbard Hall of Fame
honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.

Television career

Allen joined

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in August 2002 as an NFL studio analyst. Allen primarily appears on ESPN's "Sportscenter" as an NFL analyst. Allen has had appearances as a college football analyst on the Pac-12 Networks football shows, as well as for the station's flagship show "Sports Report" as a football analyst.

Coaching career

On December 19, 2018, Allen was named defensive backs coach for the

of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Eric 1965 births Living people American football cornerbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Philadelphia Eagles players New Orleans Saints players Oakland Raiders players National Football League announcers National Conference Pro Bowl players Point Loma High School alumni Players of American football from San Diego San Diego Fleet coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients