Brian Allen (born October 21, 1993) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. He was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in the fifth round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

, and has also spent time with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, Birmingham Stallions and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Utah, the majority of

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

experts and scouts projected Allen to be selected in the fifth or sixth round. He received an invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 23, 2017, he participated at Utah's

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

and chose to redo the

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

broad jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, and twenty yard shuttle while also doing positional drills. He increased his vertical to 38 inches and was able to decrease his shuttle time. Team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams were in attendance to scout Allen,

Garett Bolles Garett Bolles (born May 27, 1992) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Snow College Badgers and the Utah Utes. He was selected by ...

, Isaac Asiata, and 20 other prospects.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

selected Allen in the fifth round with the 173rd overall pick in the

. On May 8, 2017, the Steelers signed Allen to a four-year, $2.63 million contract with a signing bonus of $230,179. He entered his first training camp competing with William Gay, Mike Hilton,

Greg Ducre Gregory Ducre (born January 22, 1992) is an American former professional football cornerback. He played college football at the University of Washington. He signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has also been ...

, Brandon Dixon, and Senquez Golson for a job to be a backup

. Allen was named the Steelers' fifth cornerback on their depth chart to begin the regular season, behind

Artie Burns Artie Tyrone Burns Jr. (born May 1, 1995) is an American professional football cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steel ...

, Coty Sensabaugh, Hilton, and Gay. On September 17, 2017, Allen made his professional regular season debut during the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. On September 1, 2018, Allen was waived by the Steelers and was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 2, 2018. On August 27, 2019, Allen was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. He was waived with an injury settlement on August 31, 2019.

Seattle Seahawks

On October 15, 2019, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Seahawks on January 14, 2020. He was waived on August 10, 2020.

Buffalo Bills

Allen signed with the

on August 28, 2020. He was waived on September 5 as a part of final cuts.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 16, 2020, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster for the team's week 5 game against the

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

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was released on October 27.

Cincinnati Bengals

On November 3, 2020, Allen was signed to the

practice squad. He was placed on the practice squad/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on November 11, and restored to the practice squad five days later. He was placed back on the practice squad/COVID-19 list on December 21, 2020, and restored to the practice squad again on January 1, 2021.

Cleveland Browns

Allen was signed to the

' active roster off the Bengals' practice squad on January 4, 2021. He re-signed with the Browns after the season on March 29, 2021. The Browns terminated Allen's contract on August 31, 2021. He was re-signed to the practice squad on December 16. He was elevated to the active roster for the December 20 game versus the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Birmingham Stallions (first stint)

Allen was selected by the Birmingham Stallions of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in the eighth round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

New Orleans Saints

On August 11, 2022, Allen signed with the

. He was waived on August 28.

Birmingham Stallions (second stint)

Allen re-signed with the Stallions on January 24, 2023. He was not part of the roster after the 2024 UFL dispersal draft on January 15, 2024.

References

External links

Utah Utes bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Brian 1993 births Living people American football cornerbacks Birmingham Stallions (2022) players Buffalo Bills players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players New Orleans Saints players People from La Marque, Texas Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Galveston County, Texas San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players Utah Utes football players