Jason Jamar Allen (born July 5, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turno ...

. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

16th overall of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played college football at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

. Allen also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NRG ...

and Cincinnati Bengals.

High school career

Allen earned various honors while playing football at

Muscle Shoals High School Muscle Shoals High School (MSHS) is the sole public secondary education institution in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. MSHS has been awarded the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Award for Excellence. Academics Based on the Alabama Reading and Math Test scores ...

in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n from SuperPrep, PrepStar and Borderwars.com. He was twice a 5A All-State

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and was once selected as the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

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Player of the Year. As a senior, he ran for 1,740 yards and 21

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

while adding 378 yards and three scores receiving. His performance earned him the honor of being the No. 1 player in Alabama by

Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...

and

Mobile Register The ''Press-Register'' (known from 1997 to 2006 as the ''Mobile Register'') is a thrice-weekly newspaper serving the southwest Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The newspaper is a descendant of one founded in 1813, making the ''Press-Reg ...

. Allen also lettered in track and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

at Muscle Shoals. He graduated early in January 2001.

College career

Allen was a four-year letterman and three-year starter for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. He appeared in 43 games with 26 starting, including 12 starts at

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

and 14 at

2002

By graduating in January, Allen was able to attend spring practices at the University of Tennessee. He went on to play in 13 games as a true freshman in 2002, finishing with five tackles.

2003

As a starting cornerback in 2003, Allen starter eight of the 13 games in which he appeared and amassed 57 tackles (43 solo), a forced fumble, two interceptions, 11 passes defensed and a blocked kick. His first career interception sealed a win against

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, a ...

. His breakout came against the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public ...

, when he had 12 tackles, a blocked field goal and two pass breakups including the game-sealing one on fourth-and-two in the fifth overtime.

2004

Allen started the first game of the season at cornerback before moving to safety for the final 12 contests. He finished with 123 tackles which led the SEC while also becoming the first non-

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

to lead the team in tackles since records began in 1970. His 88 solo stops were third in the entire nation among Division I-A schools. Along with his tackles, he totaled two sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, two interceptions and seven passes defensed during the year. For his performance during the season, Allen was a third-team Associated Press All-America selection, second-team All-SEC Coaches and Associated Press selection,

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payc ...

semifinalist. He also earned

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the syste ...

Division I-A Defensive Player of the Week honors on October 23.

2005

Allen suffered a season-ending dislocated hip in the fifth game of the season in 2005 while tackling University of Georgia tight end Leonard Pope. Prior to the injury, he recorded 35 tackles (28 solo) with a 10-yard sack, three stops for losses, a forced fumble and deflected two passes.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Allen was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the first round with the 16th overall pick in the

. He was selected by then-head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

, who faced Allen while head coach at

Louisiana State Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...

. Saban also unsuccessfully recruited Allen out of high school while at LSU. Jason Allen was released by the Dolphins on November 10, 2010.

Houston Texans

Allen was claimed off waivers by the

on November 11, 2010.

Cincinnati Bengals

Allen signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on March 17, 2012. Jason Allen was released by the Cincinnati Bengals on April 10, 2013.

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jason 1983 births Living people People from Muscle Shoals, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football cornerbacks American football safeties Tennessee Volunteers football players Miami Dolphins players Houston Texans players Cincinnati Bengals players