Brian Lamar Allen (born April 1, 1978) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for four seasons in 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). Allen 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 ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Early life

A native of

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...

, Allen attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

, where he played linebacker and was an honor student as a senior. In his senior season, he recorded 159 tackles and 5.5 sacks, and also picked off four passes and returned three for scores. Allen was named third-team all-state Class 6A, and was looking forward to a scholarship offer by

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, just down the

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

from Lake City. However, he was not recruited by the Gators, and eventually chose Florida State over

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and Clemson.

College career

After redshirting his first year in Tallahassee, Allen played all 12 games of the 1997 season as a back-up to Lamont Green and Deon Humphrey at strongside linebacker and on special teams. He finished fifth among FSU linebackers with 26 total tackles (10 solo). His season-best performance came in the 50–7 victory over

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, with five tackles, including one for loss. In his sophomore year, Allen played in 11 games and finished sixth on the team with 57 tackles (31 solo), including six for a loss of yardage and three quarterback sacks. Two of those came in the 26–14 win over in-state rival Miami (FL). His best game of the season, however, came in the 23–12 win over the Seminoles' other in-state rival, the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

. Allen was responsible for the only sack of Gators quarterback Doug Johnson, and added four tackles and two pass deflections, a performance for which he was named the Tomahawk Player of the Game by the coaching staff. As a junior, emerged as one of the top linebackers in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. Starting all eleven games, he finished second on the team with 101 total tackles, behind only Tommy Polley and ahead of Bradley Jennings, which made them the first linebacker trio to lead the Seminoles in tackles since Daryl Bush,

Derrick Brooks Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college footbal ...

, and Sam Cowart in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. In six games, Allen had at least ten tackles, with a season-high 14 tackles in Florida State's regular season ending 30–23 win over

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Allen also made eight tackles for loss and broke up two passes, and ranked second on the team with five quarterback sacks, behind only Jamal Reynolds (7.0). He was named was named second-team All-ACC. In his senior year, Allen tied Jennings for most tackles on the team with 102 on the season. He also accounted for six quarterback hurries, ten pass-breakups (second-best on the team behind Tay Cody's twelve), two fumble recoveries and also had an interception in the 37–3 win over

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Professional career

Allen was selected in the third round (83rd overall) in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. He played three games during his rookie season, and was later allocated to the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in the 2002 NFL expansion draft. However, he was released by the Texans before playing a game for the team. He was signed off waivers to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in 2002. He played mostly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the Panthers, and was part of the unit that ranked fifth in the NFL in 2003. He was released by the Panthers, and was signed to the Redskins on April 6, 2005. He was released by the Redskins in late 2005 due to a knee injury.l, after the other play put him down.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-playing career

Then Allen worked at Lyman High School. He worked as a Coach and American History Teacher at Lake Howell High School. He was recently selected as head coach for the

Tigers in Lake City where he graduated from and played high school football.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Brian 1978 births Living people American football linebackers Carolina Panthers players St. Louis Rams players Washington Redskins players Florida State Seminoles football players Players of American football from Lake City, Florida