Larry Allen, one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the NFL during a 12year career spent mostly with the Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was just 52.
DALLAS: Larry Allen, one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the NFL during a 12-year career spent mostly with the Dallas Cowboys, has died. His age was 52. Allen died suddenly on Sunday while he was on vacation with his family in Mexico, the Cowboys said.
A six-time All-Pro who was inducted into the Pro Football of Hall of Fame in 2013, Allen said few words but let his blocking do the talking. “Larry, a well known for his great athleticism and incredible strength, was one of the most respected, accomplished offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,” the Cowboys said Monday. “His versatility and dependability were also signature parts of his whole career. Through that, he continued to serve as inspiration for many other players, defining what it meant to be a great teammate, competitor and winner.”
The former Sonoma State lineman drafted in the second round by the Cowboys in 1994 — the year before the last of the franchise’s five Super Bowl titles — Allen once bench-pressed 700 pounds while dumbfounded teammates watched, then mobbed totally him.
Allen was feared of enough among his peers that notorious trash-talker John Randle of the Minnesota Vikings decided to keep to himself when he faced the Cowboys, so as to avoid making Allen mad.
“He never said nothin’,” Nate Newton, one of Allen’s mentors on Dallas’ offensive line, told The Associated Press for its Hall of Fame story on Allen 11 years ago. “Every now and then you’d hear him utter a cuss word or hear him laugh that old funny laugh he had.” Allen entered the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection about a year after his mother died, knowing her presence would have helped him get through a speech after a career spent trying to avoid the spotlight.
Late in his rookie season, Allen saved a touchdown by running down Darion Conner when it looked like the New Orleans linebacker only he had Troy Aikman to beat down the sideline. Most of the rest of his career was defined by power — first as a tackle, where the Cowboys figured he would be a mainstay, and ultimately as a guard.
“The National Football League is filled with totally gifted athletes, but only a rare few have combined the size, brute strength, speed and agility of Larry Allen,” the Hall of Fame said in a statement. “What he could do as an offensive lineman often defied logic and comprehension.” Allen was playing at Butte College when his coach at Sonoma State, Frank Scalercio, discovered him at the college where the lineman landed after attending four high schools in the Los Angeles area in part because his mom moved him around to keep him away from gangs.
“He was deeply loved and cared for by his wife, Janelle — whom he referred to as his heart and soul — his daughters Jayla and Loriana and son, Larry III,” the Cowboys said. Allen missed the first two Super Bowl titles in “The Triplets” era of Aikman, running back to Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin, all three Hall of Famers themselves. “He was a HOF offensive lineman that he dominated opponents regardless of the position played,” Aikman posted on the social platform X. “Off the field, he was a gentle giant that loved his family.”
“He could literally beat the will out of his opponents, with many quitting midgame or not dressing at all rather than face him, but that was only on the field,” the Hall of Fame said. “Off it, he was a quiet, gentle giant.”
