Best NFL Players of All Time: Marcus Allen. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Marcus Allen

Long ago, Al Davis shown his knowledge of football. In addition to creating a successful club after taking over the Oakland Raiders in the middle of the 1960s, Davis did it with an approach that would benefit the group for more than thirty years. Davis accomplished this by bringing in a squad of rapacious, athletic players who would launch one attack, then another. The Raiders’ mentality was characterized by aggressiveness on the field and in the front office.

Selecting USC’s Marcus Allen, the Heisman Trophy winner, with the tenth pick in the first round of the 1982 draft was one of Davis’ greatest decisions ever. At USC, Allen had established himself as a deserving replacement for O. J. Simpson as a dominating running back whose quickness, strength, and situational awareness could take over a game. Similar to Simpson, Allen consistently produced the big play the Trojans needed.

Allen seems like a terrific back for Davis’ squad as well. His quickness, explosiveness, and receiving prowess would benefit the Raiders in maintaining their position as one of the NFL’s top teams. Everything proceeded as expected. In three of his first four seasons, Allen gained more than 1,000 yards from the field, including a season-high 1,759 yards and an average of 4.6 yards per carry in 1985.

That season, he also caught 67 passes for 555 yards and was named MVP of the league. When he reversed field, broke through the middle of the Washington Redskins line, and left everyone in his path for a 74-yard touchdown that at the time was the longest run in Super Bowl history, he made the game’s highlight play two years prior. In the 38–9 demolition of the Redskins, he ran for 191 yards, setting yet another record at the time.

A Pro Bowl regular, Allen was among the NFL’s top running backs and was more talented than his impressive stat line. As of the publishing of this book, he had accumulated 12,243 running yards (10th all-time), 123 rushing touchdowns (third all-time), 145 total touchdowns (third all-time), and 17,654 yards from scrimmage (sixth all-time) by the end of his Hall of Fame career.

What went wrong for Allen and the Raiders, then?

Davis lost interest in Allen for an unknown cause. Initially, he included veteran Navy running back Napoleon McCallum to assist with part of the running back duties. Then Bo arrived. Bo Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner and one of the greatest athletes of the second half of the 20th century, was a player the Raiders could have signed. Jackson was even more amazing during his brief pro football career because, in many respects, he was the best combination of speed and power since Simpson and maybe even Jim Brown. Jackson was a star with the Kansas City Royals in baseball.

It makes sense why Davis fell in love with Jackson. However, Allen never returned to the NFL after suffering an injury in a 1990 playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Davis chose to disregard Allen and forget that he was still a running back deserving of induction into the Hall of Fame.

When Allen criticized Davis for burying him on national television during the 1992 season, the issue reached a breaking point. “I believe he has attempted to destroy the last portion of my career,” Allen said to Al Michaels of ABC. He may have attempted to minimize my worth.

It turned out that Allen made one of his better career decisions during the interview. It demonstrated to the other players in the NFL that he still possessed the same level of skill as in his first five years in the league. Allen, a 33-year-old back, was anxious to prove he was still a fantastic player.

The fiercest rivals of the Raiders made the decision to give Allen a chance via free agency. Prior to the 1993 season, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Allen as a free agent and made the decision to center their offense around his receiving and running abilities. with his debut season with Kansas City, he caught 34 catches for 248 yards and three touchdowns in addition to running for 764 yards and 12 scores.

Before Allen arrived, the Chiefs lacked the ability to end drives with touchdowns. Allen provided them with that skill. Of greater significance, the Chiefs finished with an 11–5 record, which was good enough to win the AFC West. With Allen at the back end and former 49ers Joe Montana at the center, the Chiefs were able to win two postseason games and advance to the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills, which they lost 30–13.

Allen’s teammates never lost faith in him, even though Davis did—a development that he never publicly addressed. The Raiders selected Allen the year before, and Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long considered the running back to be among the most reliable players in franchise history.

“It was the most complete football player I ever played with, in my opinion,” Long remarked. “Walter Payton is, in my opinion, the most complete halfback of my generation, and Marcus is right up there with him.” Marcus was as good as Walter at everything about the game. You could rely on him at all times.

“And then I’m playing against him when my career ends. It was, I must say, one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had. It was difficult for me to understand Marcus when I saw him in that Kansas City uniform. I didn’t think that was appropriate.

But the Chiefs won, and his ability to locate the hole and produce big plays pleased his teammates. The Raiders lost. Marcus was “just the ultimate pro,” according to Will Shields, an offensive guard with the Chiefs. During practice, he always made sure to make it to the end zone on every play. That’s where he concluded each rep because he believed that’s where the play should end. It was his method of training, but it was also an exercise in mental concentration. It served as a means for him to relive the sensation of crossing the end zone.

Allen’s skill won over Kansas City head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who dubbed him the greatest short-yardage runner in the history of the team. Schottenheimer clarified, “I don’t think he really liked me calling him that because he felt it sold him short a little bit.” But that wasn’t the intention. He was capable of everything. But Marcus is, was, and always will be the man on those difficult plays near the goal line or when you need a yard and a half for a first down.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Marcus Allen Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A
1982	22	RAI	RB	32	9	9	160	697	11			53	4.4
1983	23	RAI	RB	32	16	15	266	1014	9			19	3.8
1984	24	RAI	RB	32	16	16	275	1168	13			52	4.2
1985	25	RAI	RB	32	16	16	380	1759	11			61	4.6
1986	26	RAI	RB	32	13	10	208	759	5			28	3.6
1987	27	RAI	RB	32	12	12	200	754	5			44	3.8
1988	28	RAI	RB	32	15	15	223	831	7			32	3.7
1989	29	RAI	RB	32	8	5	69	293	2			15	4.2
1990	30	RAI	RB	32	16	15	179	682	12			28	3.8
1991	31	RAI	RB	32	8	2	63	287	2			26	4.6
1992	32	RAI	RB	32	16	0	67	301	2			21	4.5

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1982	22	RAI	RB	2	2	32	108	3			13	3.4	54	16		12	112	9.3	0			35	6	56			44	5	220	3	2
1983	23	RAI	RB	3	3	58	466	4			74	8	155.3	19.3		14	118	8.4	1			17	4.7	39.3		59	72	8.1	584	5	1
1984	24	RAI	RB	1	1	17	61	0			15	3.6	61	17		5	90	18	1			46	5	90			22	6.9	151	1	1
1985	25	RAI	RB	1	1	22	121	1			17	5.5	121	22		3	8	2.7	0			6	3	8			25	5.2	129	1	1
1990	30	RAI	RB	2	2	31	166	0			20	5.4	83	15.5		3	43	14.3	0			24	1.5	21.5			34	6.1	209	0	0
1991	31	RAI	RB	1	1	7	39	0			10	5.6	39	7		1	4	4	0			4	1	4			8	5.4	43	0	1
1993	33	KAN	RB	3	3	53	191	3			24	3.6	63.7	17.7	13	7	77	11	0			27	2.3	25.7	53.80%	5.9	60	4.5	268	3	0
1994	34	KAN	RB	1	1	14	64	0	3	50	11	4.6	64	14	5	5	49	9.8	0	3	80	16	5	49	100.00%	9.8	19	5.9	113	0	1
1995	35	KAN	RB	1	1	21	94	0	4	57.1	16	4.5	94	21	2	2	21	10.5	0	1	100	16	2	21	100.00%	10.5	23	5	115	0	0
1997	37	KAN		1	0	12	37	0	2	25	14	3.1	37	12	2	1	8	8	0	0	0	8	1	8	50.00%	4	13	3.5	45	0	0
Career				16	15	267	1347	11	9	46.8	74	5	84.2	16.7	24	53	530	10	2	4	66.7	46	3.3	33.1	70.10%	5.9	320	5.9	1877	13	7
6 yrs		RAI		10	10	167	961	8			74	5.8	96.1	16.7	2	38	375	9.9	2			46	3.8	37.5	63.60%	6.3	205	6.5	1336	10	6
4 yrs		KAN		6	5	100	386	3	9	46.8	24	3.9	64.3	16.7	22	15	155	10.3	0	4	66.7	27	2.5	25.8	68.20%	7	115	4.7	541	3

 

 

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