Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Larry Allen died Sunday, according to the Dallas Cowboys. Allen was 52.
The seven-time All-Pro died suddenly while in Mexico vacationing with his family, according to the Cowboys, where Allen played 12 of his 14 NFL seasons.
“The National Football League is filled with gifted athletes, but only a rare few have combined the size, brute strength, speed and agility of Larry Allen,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said Monday. “What he could do as an offensive lineman often defied logic and comprehension.”
The Cowboys drafted Allen as the 46th player overall in the 1994 NFL draft. At the end of his career, he played two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (2006-07). In 2019, he was selected to the NFL’s 100 greatest players team to celebrate the first 100 years of the league.
“My goal was simple, to earn a seven-word letter called respect. The respect of my teammates, opponents, and the NFL. Today, my mission is complete,” he said at his 2013 Hall of Fame Induction. “I also played hard, whistle to whistle, to make my opponents submit. And today, I’m submitting to you.”
According to the Cowboys, Allen was the strongest player to play in the NFL, having bench pressed 700 pounds and squatted 900 pounds.
His rise to NFL stardom was remarkable as he came from small schools, starting his college career at Butte Junior College in Oroville, California, before transferring to Division II school Sonoma State, near San Francisco.
Allen played in 203 career games and was the starting right guard for Dallas when the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.
Allen’s name adorns the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor.
His competitive nature is captured on his Hall of Fame profile page, stating, “My objective is to make the other guy quit.
“You can tell when it’s starting to happen because he stops rushing as hard and when you run-block he doesn’t resist as much. … I like when they have to keep rotating three or four people into the game to try to find someone to get the job done.”
The NFL posted condolences on X Monday, stating, “The NFL family is deeply saddened by the passing of Hall of Famer, Super Bowl Champion and Cowboys legend, Larry Allen. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
Allen is survived by his wife, Janelle, and his daughters Jayla and Loriana and son, Larry III, the Cowboys said.
