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Damon Allen, football player (born 29 July 1963 in San Diego, California). Quarterback Damon Allen set several league records in his 23 seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played for seven teams and won Grey Cups with the Edmonton Eskimos (now Edmonton Elks; 1987, 1993), the BC Lions (2000) and the Toronto Argonauts (2004). Allen is one of only five players to be named a Grey Cup MVP three times. He was the first CFL quarterback to rush for more than 10,000 career yards. In 2007, he became the all-time passing leader in professional football history, with 72,381 yards (he currently ranks fourth). He has been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Early Years and Family
Damon Allen was born in San Diego, California to parents Harold and Gwen Allen. From an early age, Allen followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Marcus, himself a standout football player. (Marcus Allen won the 1981 Heisman Trophy, awarded to the player of the year in NCAA football, as well as the NFL’s Rookie of the Year award in 1982 and the Super Bowl MVP award in 1984.) By the age of six, Damon Allen participated in the Valencia Park Hornets Pop Warner team in San Diego, where he played safety on defence and reached the mitey-mites league championship in his first year.
At the junior pee wee level, the eight-year-old Allen began playing quarterback. He led his team to two undefeated seasons and three consecutive league titles.
By the time he reached high school, Allen was a two-sport star, excelling in football and baseball. Like his brother Marcus, Damon attended Lincoln High School. He was a pitcher on the baseball team and played quarterback on the varsity football team, winning two championships. In his senior year, he was named the San Diego Evening Tribune’s Athlete of the Year.
College Career
Damon Allen attended California State University, Fullerton, where he continued to shine in both baseball and football. As a senior in 1984, he was a spot starter and reliever on the Fullerton baseball team, which finished the season with a 66–20 record and made it to the College World Series. Competing in the same tournament as future Major League Baseball (MLB) stars Barry Larkin and Barry Bonds, Allen and his team reached the title game and beat Texas 3–1.
On the gridiron, Allen flourished at quarterback. Recruited and coached by future NFL head coach Steve Mariucci, Allen carried the Cal State Fullerton Titans to conference championships in 1983 and 1984. As a senior in 1984, he threw for 2,469 yards, 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions — breaking a 26-year-old NCAA record for fewest interceptions with at least 300 pass attempts. Allen was named a First Team Pacific Coast Athletic Association quarterback and earned an invite to the Senior Bowl collegiate all-star game.
“I remember when we recruited Damon… he weighed all of 149 pounds,” Steve Mariucci once said. “Damon soon made a name for himself; he was no longer ‘Marcus’s brother’.”
In 1984, the MLB’s Detroit Tigers drafted Allen in the seventh round, but he was determined to make a career in football. At six-feet tall and 160 pounds by graduation, he was considered significantly undersized for the NFL. But his great speed, instincts and a winning pedigree earned him a roster spot in the Canadian Football League.
Career with Edmonton (1985–88)
In April 1985, Allen was signed by the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos (now the Edmonton Elks), where he became the backup quarterback to all-star Matt Dunigan.
During his first two seasons in Edmonton, Allen started just three games. In 1987, his third season, the Eskimos reached the Grey Cup final, where they faced the Toronto Argonauts at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium. With Edmonton trailing 24–10 in the second quarter, Dunigan was injured. Allen came onto the field and threw a six-yard touchdown pass before halftime. In the fourth quarter, Allen found the end zone once more with a touchdown pass to Brian Kelly to give his team a 28–27 lead. With 6:39 remaining in the game, Allen used his speed and agility to break free for a 17-yard touchdown rush to put Edmonton up by five. After Toronto regained the lead, a game-winning field goal from kicker Jerry Kauric sealed the win for Edmonton, 38–36. Allen, who had started just six games all season, was named the Grey Cup Offensive MVP.
Allen returned to his reserve role for the 1988 season. On 5 March 1989, he signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders, who had not had a winning season since 1979. They saw Allen as the saviour of the franchise.
Career with Ottawa Rough Riders (1989–91)
Ottawa got off to an 0–9 start in Allen’s first season, and a torn ligament in his thumb cut his season short. Despite a losing record the next year, the team managed to reach the playoffs in 1990. Allen finished second in the league in touchdowns and fourth in rushing that season.
In 1991, Allen made his first division all-star team and posted career highs with 4,275 passing yards and 1,036 rushing yards. He became just the second CFL quarterback to top the 1,000-yard mark on the ground in a season. Yet for the second year in a row, the Rough Riders’ season ended with a first-round playoff exit.
Career with Edmonton (1993–94)
Allen joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the 1992 season but was traded back to Edmonton prior to the 1993 campaign. Allen finished first in the West in rushing that season and led Edmonton to a 12–6 regular season record — including a five-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.
Edmonton kicked off the 1993 post-season with a 51–13 romp over the Saskatchewan Roughriders and reached the Grey Cup against the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers. With Allen directing traffic, Edmonton jumped out to a 21–0 lead, but Winnipeg mounted a late comeback. With less than three minutes to play, the Blue Bombers were just one score from taking the lead. Allen then led a 12-play drive that resulted in a game-clinching field goal as Edmonton captured its 11th championship. For the second time in his career, Allen was named Grey Cup MVP.
Pittsburgh Pirates Tryout (1994)
In spring 1993, Allen signed a tryout contract as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates of MLB’s National League. To prepare, he spent some of the 1993 season with the Hamilton Cardinals of the Intercounty Baseball League. He pitched to a 1.13 ERA, giving up one earned run (a home run) on seven hits in eight innings, with six strikeouts and three walks. Allen’s tenure in the Pirates organization was short-lived; he played full CFL seasons in both 1993 and 1994. However, his brief minor-league baseball career included two strikeouts of another professional athlete-turned baseball player — Michael Jordan.
Career with BC Lions (1996–2002)
In 1995, Allen was on the move again — this time to the Memphis Mad Dogs, one of five short-lived US expansion teams. The Mad Dogs folded at season’s end and Allen joined the BC Lions for the 1996 season. Allen remained with the Lions for the next seven seasons, his longest tenure with one team.
In the 2000 campaign, Allen led the CFL in completion percentage (61.7 per cent) and surpassed his previous career best by throwing for 4,840 yards. On 28 October, Allen broke Ron Lancaster’s all-time career passing yards record (50,535 yards) in a win over the Tiger-Cats, whose head coach was Lancaster. (Lancaster had been Allen’s coach during his second tenure in Edmonton.)
Despite an 8–10 record, the Lions reached the Grey Cup that year versus the Montreal Alouettes at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium. Allen scored the first touchdown of the game, a goal-line rush, and ran for a second touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Lions staved off a game-tying, two-point conversion attempt to win the game 28–26 — the first time a team with a sub-.500 record in the regular season won the Grey Cup. It was also the third Grey Cup victory of Allen’s career. The following year, he became the first CFL quarterback to rush for more than 10,000 career yards.
Career with Toronto Argonauts (2003–07)
On 7 June 2003, Allen was traded to the Toronto Argonauts for two draft picks. Though he was approaching his 40th birthday as he began his 19th CFL season, Allen continued breaking records. In his first season in Toronto, he became just the third player in pro football history to throw for more than 60,000 yards and established an all-time record with 334 career touchdown passes. (That mark was broken by the Alouette’s Anthony Calvillo in 2011.)
In 2004, Allen led Toronto to its first Grey Cup game since 1997. Facing his former team, the BC Lions, Allen completed 23 of 34 pass attempts for 299 yards and rushed for two touchdowns en route to a 27–19 win. He was named a Grey Cup MVP, joining Doug Flutie, Sonny Wade, Don Sweet and Dave Sapunjis as the only players to earn the honour three times.
The following season, after leading the Argonauts to first place in the league, Allen won the CFL’s Outstanding Player Award for the only time in his 23-year career.
On 4 September 2006, during the annual Labour Day Classic game between Hamilton and Toronto, a 43-year-old Allen became professional football’s all-time passing leader with 70,596 yards, breaking Warren Moon’s record of 70,553. Moon said of the achievement, “Now, you’re going to have two African-Americans up at the top of the all-time yardage leaders in professional football at a position that only 20 years ago they said we couldn’t play.”
Allen finished his career throwing for 72,381 yards. His pro football passing record has since been surpassed by Tom Brady (79,2004 yards and still active), Anthony Calvillo (79,816) and Drew Brees (80,358). Allen retired on 28 May 2008 holding CFL records for most passing yards, rushing yards by a quarterback (9,138), touchdown passes (394) and pass completions (5,158).
“To run for almost 12,000 yards makes him one of the best rushers ever; to pass for a world record 72,381 yards makes him arguably the best passer. To do both and win four championships makes him iconic,” said Argonauts head coach Mike “Pinball” Clemons.
Coaching and Philanthropy
In 2010, Allen founded the D9 Quarterback Academy, through which he offers individual and group training to quarterbacks at all levels. The academy also acts as Allen’s charity, providing fundraising and philanthropic aid to organizations such as Canadian Tire’s Jump Start program and Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton. (See also Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).)
In July 2021, it was announced that Allen would join the coaching staff of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders at the team’s 2021 training camp. The position is part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program, which gives people from minority communities coaching experience at NFL training camps, with the goal of helping them secure a more permanent role.
Honours
Allen was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. Controversy has surrounded his potential induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His supporters, including Marcus Allen, Warren Moon and Steve Mariucci, have argued that Allen’s induction should be a foregone conclusion; others, such as former NFL quarterback Dan Marino, have argued that Allen isn’t a high enough calibre athlete, given that he played exclusively in the CFL.
