Marcus Allen grew up in southern California and played football at Lincoln High School in San Diego, where he was a star defensive back. As a Junior, he was instructed by his coach to play quarterback when he didn’t want to, and Allen retaliated by purposely fumbling the snap eight times during a game which led to him getting kicked off the football team for the rest of the year.
While off the team, Allen learned the importance of what it meant to be a team player. Which was expressed to him, particularly by his father, Harold “Red” Allen.
Marcus returned to the team for his Senior year, playing on both sides of the ball at quarterback and defensive back. LHS won the county finals, scoring all five of the team’s touchdowns. His performance earned him a scholarship to the University of Southern California.
At the time, Trojans head coach John Robinson was looking for the next great tailback. Debating what position he would play at USC, Allen eventually settled on playing on offense and moved to the backfield as the lead blocker for Charles White during the 1978 college season. With Allen leading the way, White rushed for more than 1,800 yards as the Trojans finished the year 11-1 before defeating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. White became the third Trojan running back to win the Heisman Award.
The following season, Allen became the starting tailback for USC. By his Junior season, he rushed for 1,563 yards and 14 touchdowns. As a Senior, Allen shattered the college football record books, becoming the first college running back to eclipse 2,000 yards rushing. His sensational 1981 season won him the Heisman Award, and he became a first-round draft pick in the ’82 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders.
He’d finish his rookie season as the 1982 Rookie of the Year after rushing for 697 yards and 11 scores while tallying 38 catches for 401 yards and three touchdowns. In his Sophomore season, Allen erupted for his first 1,000-yard season and carried the Raiders to a championship, defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.
In 1985, he rushed for a career-high 1,759 yards and 11 touchdowns and finished with 67 receptions for 555 receiving yards and three scores, earning him league MVP honors. His early career success made Allen the king of L.A. during the mid-80s, giving Raiders Owner Al Davis the belief that his star running back was becoming more significant than the franchise itself, which caused a rift between the two. Los Angeles finished the ’85 season with an early postseason exit, losing to the New England Patriots thanks to a late Marcus Allen fumble that lost the game.
Allen battled an ankle injury the following season, and the Raiders missed the playoffs. The next year, he entered the 1987 season with his starting job on the line when star MLB baseball player Bo Jackson signed with the Raiders as the team’s starting running back. Over the next four seasons, Allen snaps dwindled while playing alongside Jackson and, by 1990, grew tired of the arrangement.
At the end of the 1990 season, Jackson suffered a shoulder injury in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Allen answered the call and had his best game in five seasons as the Raiders defeated Cincy for their first postseason victory since Super Bowl XVIII. Jackson never played football again.
Over the next two seasons, Allen went to camp competing with veteran running backs trying to take his starting job. Roger Craig in 1991 and Eric Dickerson in 1992. By the 1993 offseason, Allen’s contract with the Raiders finally expired, and free to sign with any team and searched for a place that would allow him to play. Of all places, Allen agreed to play for the Kansas City Chiefs – the Raiders’ biggest division rival – under Marty Schottenheimer. He was part of a busy offseason with Kansas City signing veteran quarterback Joe Montana.
Allen finished the 1993 campaign with 764 yards rushing and 12 TDs as Kansas City had its best season in over 20 years, finishing 11-5 to win the AFC West and appear in the AFC Championship game. Allen won Comeback Player of the Year honors.
At the end of the 1994 season, in the final home game for the Raiders, before the team would move back to Oakland, the Chiefs and Raiders met in a battle of the final playoff seed. Allen rushed for 132 yards and made history against his former team, reaching 10,000 career rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards. Kansas City defeated L.A. 27-17 and made the postseason.
As a Chief, Allen faced the Raiders 10 times and won nine meetings. He’d play three more seasons in Kansas City before retiring at the end of the 1997 campaign. After 16 seasons, Allen recorded the most career TDs scored by a running back in NFL history.
His final numbers are 12,243 rushing yards, 5,411 receiving yards, and 144 touchdowns.
In 2003, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
