For Third Straight Year, Jared Allen Falls Short of Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction
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For the third consecutive year, former Vikings defensive end Jared Allen has fallen short of induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Allen has been one of 15 finalists in all three of his years on the ballot, but hasn't met the voting criteria to get in — for now. Allen will have to wait until at least 2024 to potentially enter the HOF.
Darrelle Revis, Joe Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Zach Thomas, and Ronde Barber were elected as the class of 2023 and will be enshrined later this year in Canton, OH.
Allen figures to have a good chance to get in eventually. He was one of the most dominant pass rushers of the 2000s and early 2010s, racking up 136 sacks in a 13-year career, primarily spent with the Chiefs and Vikings. That sack total is tied for the 16th-highest in NFL history. Each of the 16 other players with at least 136 career sacks are either in the Hall of Fame or, in the case of Julius Peppers and Terrell Suggs, will get in when eligible.
Allen was a four-time first team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler who set the Vikings' single-season sack record with 22 in 2011. Only three players (Al Baker, Michael Strahan, and T.J. Watt) have ever had more sacks in a single season. Allen was the runner-up to Suggs for defensive player of the year that season.
In addition to the lofty sack totals, Allen racked up 32 forced fumbles, 19 fumble recoveries, 55 passes defended, and 6 interceptions in his career. He almost never missed time due to injury during his career, playing 187 total games. Allen spent his first four years with the Chiefs, played six with the Vikings after being acquired via trade, and then had brief stints with the Bears and Panthers before retiring as a Viking in 2016.
Last October, Allen was inducted into the Vikings' Ring of Honor as its 27th member.
If Allen does eventually get in, he'd become the 23rd former Viking in the Hall of Fame and the first inducted since Steve Hutchinson in 2020.
“I think my career speaks for itself,” Allen told the Pioneer Press in September 2020. “I think the writing’s on the wall and absolutely I think I competed at a level that’s Hall-of-Fame caliber. I think my stats are my stats. When I played, no one had more sacks than me. I got a text the other day that I was one of the top five for fastest sacks to 100. Everybody that’s above me or [just] below me on the list is in the Hall of Fame, so I think the body of work speaks for itself."
Hopefully 2024 will be the year. Allen should have a good shot, considering the class of players who are eligible for the first time. Julius Peppers and Antonio Gates are locks, but that might be it, which would leave three extra spots for players like Allen.
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