Former Idaho State football star Jared Allen selected to Pro Football Hall of Fame

It fits Jared Allens persona that when his former teammate Steve Hutchinson came to his home recently to tell him hed been selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Allen had been out painting his chicken coop.

You guys could have given me a heads up, Allen, the former Idaho State University All-American defensive end, told Hutchinson when he and a film crew arrived to bring him the good news.

The greeting was shown on a video on the Hall of Fame web site, where the announcement of Allens selection, along with Sterling Sharpe, Eric Allen and Antonio Gates, was announced.

Each new selectee was told of the news by a current Hall of Fame member who played on one of their previous teams.

Hutchinson, a former offensive lineman, and Allen were teammates on the Minnesota Vikings.

Allen is a rancher and avid outdoorsman and the fact he was painting his chicken coop fits right in with his easy-going, down-home style.

He grew up on a horse ranch in Morgan Hills, Calif.

Its been a long time coming, but its still the greatest honor there is, Allen told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune of his selection, which came in his fifth year of eligibility.

Allen, a three-time all-conference selection for the Bengals from 2000 to 2004, was named the winner of the Buck Buchanan Award as the outstanding defensive player in the nation in what was then known as Division I-AA his senior year.

He recorded 17.5 sacks, 102 tackles, 28 tackles for a loss, six forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles and nine pass deflections that senior season.

He was also a first-team 1-AA All-American his junior season, when he led Idaho State to its last taste of a Big Sky Conference championship, in which the Bengals were part of a three-way tie for the league title in 2002.

Allen was then drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL draft.

He played four seasons with the Chiefs, was traded to Minnesota for three draft picks, and spent six seasons with the Vikings.

He joined the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 2014 and finished his career with Carolina, where he participated in Super Bowl 50 with the Panthers.

He was a four-time first-team All-Pro selection, was selected to the Pro Bowl five times, led the NFL in sacks twice, and was inducted into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor and as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings.

At one time, Allen was the highest-paid defensive player in the league when he signed a six-year, $72.3 million contract with Minnesota in 2007.

For his college exploits, Allen was inducted into the ISU Athletic Hall of Fame, the ISU Ring of Honor, the Big Sky Hall of Fame and his No.

41 was retired at ISU.

He has remained involved in the ISU program over the years, making a significant contribution to the Jared Allen Strength and Conditioning Center on campus.

He was also part of the selection committee that advised ISU Athletic Director Pauline Thiros in her hiring of current Bengal head coach Cody Hawkins.

Im so excited for all of Jared Allens contributions to the sport of football to be recognized at the highest level, said Hawkins.

His influence on Bengal football is still felt every day and this achievement will only inspire our student-athletes even more.

Idaho State football is proud to have played a small part in his magnificent career.

He earned it every step of the way.

Allen is Idaho States only Pro Football Hall of Famer.

He joins 382 players who have been honored over the years, out of the thousands who have played the game at the professional level.

Jared Allen is the greatest Bengal to ever play the game of football, said ISU Athletic Director Pauline Thiros.

He represented himself and his teams and the league in first class fashion, and is the personification of toughness and competitive drive, which is inherent to the greatest athletes we have had the honor to witness.

Allens journey through life was not always bump-free.

He was expelled from Live Oak High School in California after his junior year for selling stolen yearbooks.

He transferred to Los Gatos High School for his senior season, but lost many of the scholarships offers he had, including one from the University of Washington, where he had committed.

Allens loss was Idaho States gain, and then Bengal coach Larry Lewis convinced Allen to come to Pocatello.

He was going to redshirt Allen and didnt play him for the first three games of his freshman season, but his talent was undeniable.

Lewis put him on the field for the final eight games of the season, and he earned honorable mention all-conference honors without starting a single game.

His sophomore season, he was a first-team All-Big Sky selection with 16 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks.

Then came two consecutive 1-AA All-American seasons.

After his ISU career, Allen was looked at as a decent defensive prospect, but a cant miss long-snapper, so he went in the fourth round of the NFL draft to the Chiefs.

No one was predicting hed finish with 136 career sacks, 12th in NFL history.

Well maybe give him a shot at defensive end, Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil was quoted at the time of Allens selection.

He made a quick first impression on Vermeil and the rest of the league, though, racking up nine sacks in 10 starts as a rookie.

He would go on to post seven straight years with 11 or more sacks, including a Vikings record 22 just a half sack shy of the league record, in 2011.

He sacked Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers 15 times in his career, including 4.5 times in one game in 2009.

Despite some earlier run-ins with the law and a league suspension, Allen grew up he told the Minneapolis Star in a recent story, and changed his life.

He got married, devoted himself to his Wounded Warrior Foundation, which builds homes for injured soldiers, and got involved in several other charitable causes.

Hes also amused himself in retirement trying to make the US.

Olympic team in the sport of curling.

Allen now calls Brentwood, Tenn.

home.

Jared has never forgotten the road he traveled, Thiros added, and continues to carve a path for others today.

Idaho State University could not be more proud of his accomplishment, and Jared could not possibly be more deserving.

We admire him tremendously.

Bengal Nation is celebrating the GOAT!.

This article has been shared from the original article on idahostatejournal, here is the link to the original article.