let's say LA is back to his old form...

[followthestar]

the world may never know what transpired between the ears of larry allen this offseason, if anything. his agents and perhaps even management might signal that it was simply nagging injuries that have slowed him, but we know better. when he played with desire, he was one of the top linemen at any position, and he played several... his name struck fear into opposing players. they laid down before him like men evading a charging rhino.
if he has found the motivation to be great again, i believe he can be again. and with the Hotel playing beside him and hopefully AJ staying healthy enough to start the season... that is what dreams are made of. i can see it now...
seriously, if LA gets his attitude back our chance of returning to the playoffs increases dramatically. i think that's safe to say, don't you?

[Nors]

the world may never know what transpired between the ears of larry allen this offseason, if anything. his agents and perhaps even management might signal that it was simply nagging injuries that have slowed him, but we know better. when he played with desire, he was one of the top linemen at any position, and he played several... his name struck fear into opposing players. they laid down before him like men evading a charging rhino.
if he has found the motivation to be great again, i believe he can be again. and with the Hotel playing beside him and hopefully AJ staying healthy enough to start the season... that is what dreams are made of. i can see it now...
seriously, if LA gets his attitude back our chance of returning to the playoffs increases dramatically. i think that's safe to say, don't you?

At times Allen last year totally dominated. But the other half of the time his mobility, conditioning, (health) led to flat out horrid blocking. At times "whiffing" on speed rushers. If he gets ahold of the guy he's a bear. But the bear is getting old and the young and hungry wolves are nipping at his feet. I hope he has some fight left in him.

[SALADIN]

the world may never know what transpired between the ears of larry allen this offseason, if anything. his agents and perhaps even management might signal that it was simply nagging injuries that have slowed him, but we know better. when he played with desire, he was one of the top linemen at any position, and he played several... his name struck fear into opposing players. they laid down before him like men evading a charging rhino.
if he has found the motivation to be great again, i believe he can be again. and with the Hotel playing beside him and hopefully AJ staying healthy enough to start the season... that is what dreams are made of. i can see it now...
seriously, if LA gets his attitude back our chance of returning to the playoffs increases dramatically. i think that's safe to say, don't you?


The prime of an O-lineman’s career has usually been in their late 20's to early 30's. L.A. still has several years left of good football left if he can improve his work ethic.

I think that for so many years he's been relying on his natural athletic ability that he doesn't realize the older you get the harder you have to work to stay in shape. And trust me, that fact has slapped me in the face several time in the last few years.

L.A. is almost legendary in No. Cal from his college days at Sonoma State. I know some people that have played with him and against him. And their stories about him almost sound mythical.

I think L.A. problem is that he still thinks he is that kind of player and not an NFL veteran who has to keep himself in shape year round. Especially a 310+lbs'er who's been banging in the box for 11 years.

If he's in shape then the NFC East is in trouble.

[Jon88]

L.A. is almost legendary in No. Cal from his college days at Sonoma State. I know some people that have played with him and against him. And their stories about him almost sound mythical.

I would love to hear what people say about playing with/opposite him. Care to repeat a few of those stories?

[TruBlueCowboy]

I would love to hear what people say about playing with/opposite him. Care to repeat a few of those stories?

Same here. Feed us some of your LA stories when he was in his prime and taking names. :cool:

[Jimz31]

Didn't Strahan say that people would get "Allenitis" before going up against him?

He said that people would "mysteriously" get injured in the game before or during practice during the week.

IF he comes back like the LA of old, then this is NOTHING but GOOD news.

[SALADIN]

I would love to hear what people say about playing with/opposite him. Care to repeat a few of those stories?

Just understand that this is second hand information. I was never a witness to any of these accounts.

I use to work with a gentleman by the name of Michael N. who played at one of the Northern California Athletic Conference School’s; I think he played at Cal St.-Northridge, or Poly. Mike didn’t talk much and had never brought up his football experience until he mentioned a game vs. Sonoma St. Bye that time I had seen enough of L.A. as a pro where what I heard wasn’t all that unbelievable but for a person who was always such a straight shooter my jaw still dropped when I heard what he had to say.

Mike played FS and told me ‘you could always tell what side the running plays where going’. The closest thing I can describe what he told me was like some kind of Hollywood special effect when there was some kind of explosion. (Paraphrasing) “You would see players being knocked back 5 or 10 feet (not yards, he was never one to exaggerate) from the point of impact. 1, 2 sometimes 3 defensive players would not only be decleated, but actually knocked skyward in the opposite direction. Again, like an explosion. He (Mike) told me even if you didn’t know where the ball was or which direction the RB was going, all you had to do was watch for the players LANDING on their backs. Especially when he would pull, it was like a Hollywood special effect. BOOOOM! The trick was to aim at L.A.’s rear end because the back would be right behind him. But you were damned if you were in front of him and cursed if he had you in his locked in crosshairs.

After that story Mike just shook his head and said how can one player demoralize a whole team.

Another buddy of mine Nate who played at Sonoma St. or was recruited bye them got to be pretty good friends with L.A. Now, I can’t recall if this was during the season or during a recruiting trip but one night Nate and L.A. were drinking 40’s and hanging out and some how the subject of the 40-yard dash came up (probably inspired by the 40 oz. I suppose). I don’t remember if Nate challenged L.A. or if L.A. challenged Nate but before long one of the other guys they were hanging out with had walked off roughly 40 yards and Nate and L.A. were lined up next to each other to settle the challenge one of them had laid down.

GO! Paraphrasing who Nate the story told me, “I blew him off the line and had a good 3 to 4 yard lead on him. I thought I had it made when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye there’s Larry. He was kinda like a diesel truck that can’t jump out of the blocks like a jack rabbit, but once he got moving he was hauling a$$ as fast as anyone. It was all I could do to hold him off and even after getting a 3 yard jump on him, I only beat him by a step”.

L.A. may not have been as big as he is now. Perhaps hovering somewhere around 300lbs but you would think that the 40 yard dash should have been a no contest considering that Nate was a 200lb SS who could run with anyone.

[Roughneck]

That's some good stuff Sal.


I'd give Hostile's left leg to have a dominating Larry Allen back on the line.

[Hollywood Henderson]

I will say it again. The OLINE is the key to the season...
WE have many if's here, but If: LA can regain some of what he use to be...If Al is much better then Lehr (I think he is easy) If Gurode knows the offense inside out he could be much improved and I think Tucker has had an outstanding offseason...That guy kinda reminds me of ole Big "E" (Williams) then with a much better natural runner in J.Jones...and good tough blocking TE's we could possibly start winning games on the ground again...Having teams start to roll over by the 4th quarter like the good ole days...

Thats why I think Vinny will start...He could make teams pay if they had 9 in the box to stop the run or if they blitzed, he could hit Key (or whoever) for first downs...

An improved Oline would give Vinny time to kill Defenses with his arm...

You have to have balance and our offense would look like a whole new team with a good Oline and Vinny at QB IMHO...

[SALADIN]

That's some good stuff Sal.


I'd give Hostile's left leg to have a dominating Larry Allen back on the line.

Hos has a left leg. I heard that it was destroyed in the (bogus) Spanish American war.

Like me and after crushing my legs last October, L.A. does't realize he's over 30 and he can't do the same things that he did when he was 22, 23. Even the little things like staying in shape take more effort than it did when you were younger.

[crazylegs]

the world may never know what transpired between the ears of larry allen this offseason, if anything. his agents and perhaps even management might signal that it was simply nagging injuries that have slowed him, but we know better. when he played with desire, he was one of the top linemen at any position, and he played several... his name struck fear into opposing players. they laid down before him like men evading a charging rhino.
if he has found the motivation to be great again, i believe he can be again. and with the Hotel playing beside him and hopefully AJ staying healthy enough to start the season... that is what dreams are made of. i can see it now...
seriously, if LA gets his attitude back our chance of returning to the playoffs increases dramatically. i think that's safe to say, don't you?

This is a joke, right?

[Sarge]

Didn't Strahan say that people would get "Allenitis" before going up against him?

He said that people would "mysteriously" get injured in the game before or during practice during the week.

IF he comes back like the LA of old, then this is NOTHING but GOOD news.

I don't know if we'll ever see the LA of old. His age may not allow it. It's a shame it had to come to this in the first place.

[SALADIN]

I don't know if we'll ever see the LA of old. His age may not allow it. It's a shame it had to come to this in the first place.

I disagree Sarge. And I can't believe thats its been that long for you that you forgot.

The older you get the harder you have to work to do the things that you once did. When you're in your 20's you (usually) think that you're imortal and that your physical gifts will always be there. When you get to the realization that its not like it once was then its a very different mind set.

I'm not 25 any more!!!

My body has changed. Usually for the worst.

But I do agree that we may never see the real (or past) L.A. ever again.

[crazylegs]

I disagree Sarge. And I can't believe thats its been that long for you that you forgot.

The older you get the harder you have to work to do the things that you once did. When you're in your 20's you (usually) think that you're imortal and that your physical gifts will always be there. When you get to the realization that its not like it once was then its a very different mind set.

I'm not 25 any more!!!

My body has changed. Usually for the worst.

But I do agree that we may never see the real (or past) L.A. ever again.

Man, your post went full circle.

[Sarge]

Man, your post went full circle.

Indeed it did. He disagreed but agreed.


:D

[SALADIN]

Indeed it did. He disagreed but agreed.


:D

I guess I did didn't I. What I was trying to say is that I hope he realizes it but I have my doubts.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Thanks for sharing that story about LA Saladin...that was a great read.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Didn't Strahan say that people would get "Allenitis" before going up against him?

He said that people would "mysteriously" get injured in the game before or during practice during the week.

IF he comes back like the LA of old, then this is NOTHING but GOOD news.


Yes...I had to find the article...but it is worth looking for as it was very good....it was a 2002 article.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/b/page/pressbox/0,1328,5646870,00.html


Allen's dominance of trenches makes him NFL's best
Aug. 27, 2002
By Jay Glazer
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Jay your opinion!





(SportsLine.com Two-a-Days: NFL division previews begin Aug. 29)

As the preseason heads for the home stretch, season preview guides are multiplying on newsstands across the country. The glossies that grace these mags and newspaper pullouts will shine with stars du jour like Marshall Faulk, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning. The Ray Lewises and Michael Strahans are photographed in formidable poses.

But none of these publications will dare put the NFL's most dominating player on its cover. The man who causes more weekly destruction than any of the aforementioned superstars will again be overlooked.

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/football/nfl/img5646887.jpg
Larry Allen's nasty demeanor helps him dominate his position like no other in the NFL.(Allsport)


The true story of football is not about dazzling statistics and marketable marauders. It's about pain, violence and the bloody fistfights in the trenches.

Nobody is more destructive than the Cowboys' massive offensive lineman Larry Allen.

He's never found in fantasy football guides and rarely discussed in NFL chat rooms. He certainly won't be a cover boy for People's sexiest athletes or the cover story previewing the league's superstars.

But in the reality that comes calling on Sunday afternoons, Allen could be considered the NFL's top player. He is certainly the most dominating.

I know, I know ... Larry Allen?

"No doubt, Larry is the most dominating guy in the league," said former teammate and future Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. "It may not even be close."

Though much of the attention heading into this season will focus on the Faulks, Warners and Mannings, Allen is the choice for the league's most dominant player, position-by-position. Don't just take our word for it.

"We call him the legalized killer," Strahan said of the man he also calls the best blocker he has seen. "He doesn't just block people, he hurts people. He is such a force that you really don't see anywhere else. He's probably the only guy who you watch on film who makes you cringe. He does something every week where you actually feel bad for the people who are playing him."

It's not a difficult assessment to agree with, provided you've tasted the blood of these fights before.

"Larry Allen has the potential to embarrass more players than anybody else in the league on any given week," said former Pro Bowl offensive lineman and current CBS Sports analyst Randy Cross. "Marshall Faulk can put a move on a couple guys in a game and make them look bad. Kurt Warner can beat a corner or safety on a deep pass for a touchdown and make that guy look bad. But Larry has the force to humiliate groups of people and he does it on a regular basis."

One of the factors in choosing him the league's best pound-for-pound player is how much more he dominates his slot than other stars at their respective positions.

But Allen is in a class by himself. The No. 2 guard, Pittsburgh's Alan Faneca, is a terrific player, but the difference between the two is vast.

The top tackle, Jon Ogden, is tremendous, but he has been dominating at pretty much one slot. Allen's versatility is another factor that separates him from the pack.

Consider this: Allen has been selected to the All-Pro Team in each of the past seven seasons -- at three different positions. He has also been voted into the Pro Bowl eight times at four different slots.

He began his Pro Bowl binge at right tackle in 1994.
He then moved his path of destruction inside to right guard from '95 to the final three games of the 1997 season.
Over the next 19 regular-season games, he humiliated right defensive ends at the left tackle slot. In fact, there was a four-game stretch in which he faced four of the league's top pass rushers. Total sacks he allowed: zippo. Big fat 0.
In 1999, Allen was again moved, this time to the left guard slot where he was able to feast on an entirely new group of victims.
"The fact that he excelled at each of those positions should surprise absolutely nobody," says Cross, himself a multiposition Pro Bowl lineman. "I don't think there's a guy who has dominated the way he does since probably (Hall of Fame tackle) John Hannah."

He brings an element that most others lack: the ability to strike fear. Allen is what Mike Tyson was in the '80s. Opponents quiver at the scale.

"Basically I try to go out there and punk them, make them quit," Allen said of his Sunday routine. "It's either him or me and it's not going to be me."

He brings fear to Sunday. His Sunday Sabbath does not bring rest for the body, or refreshment for the soul, but it does elicit prayer as in, 'Lord, please don't let me get hurt by this beast today.'

"Oh, it definitely happens; guys will look to find a way out when they have to play him," Strahan said. "The saddest thing is how many players will watch him on film during the week and then, as the game gets closer, they pull up with some mysterious injury or flu or something. We call that catching 'Allen-itis.'"

It happens more than people know.

"It's so bad that it's caused some guys to actually get crafty," Sanders said. "Guys aren't going down anymore with an ankle or hamstring on Wednesday. Now guys look ahead on the schedule and make sure they go down with an injury in the third or fourth quarter of the game before they play Dallas.

"I'm not fooling. If you take a look at all the "injuries" some linemen have had over the years, it's amazing how devastating the Larry Allen syndrome can be."

One former player relayed this story:

A few years back, his teammates insisted on Wednesday that their starting defensive tackle would not play that Sunday vs. Dallas. The cause? Allen-itis. After a day of watching Allen on film actually hurt a variety of linemen, his teammates knew the DT was not going to want any part of Allen's destruction.

Sure enough, game day found the DT complaining of flu-like symptoms.

"Yeah, I've seen that a lot," said Allen, who fought his way off the mean streets of Compton, Calif. "Sometimes you can also tell in the first series that they aren't all there. You can look in their eyes, and if they don't look back at you, you got them."

Allen's tenacity and strength are his best traits. Last year, he was filmed bench-pressing a stunning 700 pounds, easily making him the league's strongest Pro Bowl player.

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/football/nfl/img5646892.jpg
Larry Allen has led Emmitt Smith to the brink of the all-time rushing record.(Allsport)


"Sometimes I get too aggressive, and I'll get out of balance if I'm trying to kill a guy," he says. "If I'm playing a guy and he tries to muscle me, it's just not going to happen."

While others can also dominate with strength, they don't combine this brute force with the nastiest on-field demeanor in the league.

"When I'm pulling around the end and see my guy, I'm just thinking I want to mess him up," Allen says in between quick chuckles. "Some turn around, some try to avoid me, some just go down. My dominance is my strength."

He isn't a cover boy. But he has a better claim to fame -- when Larry Allen rolls your way, boy, you better run for cover.

Anybody got a problem with our choice? Yeah, didn't think so.

[LaTunaNostra]

One former player relayed this story:

A few years back, his teammates insisted on Wednesday that their starting defensive tackle would not play that Sunday vs. Dallas. The cause? Allen-itis. After a day of watching Allen on film actually hurt a variety of linemen, his teammates knew the DT was not going to want any part of Allen's destruction.

Sure enough, game day found the DT complaining of flu-like symptoms.

"Yeah, I've seen that a lot," said Allen, who fought his way off the mean streets of Compton, Calif. "Sometimes you can also tell in the first series that they aren't all there. You can look in their eyes, and if they don't look back at you, you got them."



Gosh, to get back just one third of that would be a season maker.

Great stuff, BP and Saladin.

[SALADIN]

"When I'm pulling around the end and see my guy, I'm just thinking I want to mess him up," Allen says in between quick chuckles. "Some turn around, some try to avoid me, some just go down. My dominance is my strength."


This is exactly what Mike N. told me in his encounters with L.A. Back in those days players who studied film may not have focused on the guard or tackle so they didn't know what they were in for.

"Like dominoes" the D'line would fall. Mike accounted, 3, sometimes all 4 linemen.

Back then the fear of L.A. didn't happen until the 1st or 2nd quarter. But his dominance was inevitable.

[The Curly One]

Amazing how quickly things change when you get older and lose your edge. I hope Larry Allen can return to his old form but I think it is highly unlikely. Curly

[Bluefin]

Amazing how quickly things change when you get older and lose your edge. I hope Larry Allen can return to his old form but I think it is highly unlikely. Curly

Time stands still for no one.

The good thing is Larry Allen doesn't have to completely regain the dominance that urged teams like Minnesota to move John Randle to defensive end and Tampa Bay to move Warren Sapp to the other tackle spot to get away from LA.

Allen just needs to play more consistant and make peace with the likely fact that he can no longer dominate every defender he plays on a down to down basis.

LA had some moments last year, and if he's improved his mobility, he should have a much easier time reacting to the quick tackles who were often able to evade him a year ago.

That was the biggest problem I saw.

Allen had trouble locking on to defenders and getting his hands on them.

If LA can get in position and get his meat hooks in the defender, game over.

[Charles]

Yes...I had to find the article...but it is worth looking for as it was very good....it was a 2002 article.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/b/page/pressbox/0,1328,5646870,00.html


One former player relayed this story:

A few years back, his teammates insisted on Wednesday that their starting defensive tackle would not play that Sunday vs. Dallas. The cause? Allen-itis. After a day of watching Allen on film actually hurt a variety of linemen, his teammates knew the DT was not going to want any part of Allen's destruction.

Sure enough, game day found the DT complaining of flu-like symptoms.

"Yeah, I've seen that a lot," said Allen, who fought his way off the mean streets of Compton, Calif. "Sometimes you can also tell in the first series that they aren't all there. You can look in their eyes, and if they don't look back at you, you got them."

Allen's tenacity and strength are his best traits. Last year, he was filmed bench-pressing a stunning 700 pounds, easily making him the league's strongest Pro Bowl player.

.

The DT in question is none other than Dana Stubblfield whilst he was with the Redskins. He got a fat contract from the Redskins after winning Defensive Player on the year in 1997 with the 49ers.