![Larry Allen]()
Rest in peace to Cowboy's legend Larry Allen.
News is just now breaking that the Hall of Fame offensive lineman who spent 12 of his 14 NFL seasons with Dallas passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52 while on vacation with his family in Mexico.
The Cowboys posted an official statement to social media honoring Allen, who was named to the 2000's All Decade team and was chosen by players, coaches, executives, and media members as the 95th greatest NFL player of all-time on the
The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players list.
"The Dallas Cowboys are very saddened to share that Cowboys legend, Super Bowl Champion, Cowboys Ring of Honor member, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Allen passed away suddenly while on vacation in Mexico with his family on Sunday.
Larry, known for his great athleticism and incredible strength, was one of the most respected, accomplished offensive linemen to every play in the NFL. His versatility and dependability were also signature parts of his 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."
https://twitter.com/dallascowboys/status/1797656646002655708
It's obviously a tragic moment for his family and for the fans who loved Larry Allen, and while there will be no shortage of tributes and memories shared by those in the NFL community, I think we should all look back on and remember just how all-around impressive Larry Allen was.
For starters, he was one of the toughest humans to ever walk the earth. Allen did not have an easy childhood and the struggles started when he was just six weeks old. He contracted meningitis and nearly died but was somehow able to make a full recovery.
He was raised in the heart of Compton and frequently had to hide on the floor with his mother while gangs had shootouts in the streets outside. At the age of 9 he was stabbed 12 times in the head and shoulder while protecting his brother from an attack.
While all of that could have easily washed him out and made him just another forgotten statistic, he had something that few others in the world possessed: athletic ability and strength that rivaled the greatest athletes of all-time.
At his first day at Sonoma State, he dunked a basketball, with two hands, while wearing flip flops, having just gotten out of a car after an 8 hour drive. In a game against UC Davis his showed his incredible power by knocking unconscious a defensive tackle, linebacker, and safety on the same play. (Read that last line again).
In the NFL, he ran down one of the fastest linebackers of all-time (Darion Conner who ran a 4.77 forty in college) to prevent a pick-six in his rookie season.
https://twitter.com/CoachDanCasey/status/1797665259089735947
His on-field play will forever be remembered by NFL fans but his strength accomplishments off the field are just as equally impressive.
During the Strongest Man Contest at the 2006 Pro Bowl, Larry Allen benched 225 for 43 (!) reps despite being in the league for 11 seasons at that point, beating the next highest total by 8 reps.
https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/1797661025023705143
There's a story of him getting into a competition off camera with La'Roi Glover in 2002 who had previously won the Pro Bowl Bench contest with 33 reps.
According to Dallas head coach Barry Switzer, after La'Roi chirped at him for a little while, Larry told the guys to put 315 on the bar and he benched it 44 times. Around the same time he was squatting 900 pounds.
And of course, there's an iconic video of him benching 700 pounds in nothing but a t-shirt, and while you can argue that he may have gotten a little help from his teammates, the fact that he worked up to it by getting well over 600 pretty easily pretty much shows what he's capable of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX-YuvQkSRE&t=78s
Rest in peace to the great Larry Allen, one of the best football players of all-time, and without a doubt one of the strongest, toughest SOBs to ever walk the face of the earth.
https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/1797659434149368137
