James Allen (born March 28, 1975) 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 wit ...

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. The ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. He played college football for Oklahoma.

College career

Allen attended the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

starting in 1993, and was a true freshman for the Sooners, such as rushing for 102 yards against the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

in a 38–17 victory. He would finish his freshman year with 788 yards rushing and one touchdown. The following year, Allen was stopped at the goal line in a loss to the Longhorns, and was later replaced by De'mond Parker in 1996, though Allen would score the game-winning touchdown that season against the Longhorns, giving the 3–8 Sooners the 30–27 win.

Professional career

Allen signed with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

on December 10, 1997, though he was released on August 26, 1998. He later was brought back on September 1, and placed on the Bears practice squad. Allen was the Bears starting halfback, and in 2000, he led the team with 1,120 rushing yards and two touchdowns. During the season, Allen became the first Bears player to run for 100 yards since the 1998 season when he ran for 163 yards in his first career start against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

. However, in a loss to the New York Jets, Allen

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

d three times. Allen's starting role was claimed by Anthony Thomas in 2001. Against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in Week 8, Allen caught the game-tying

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

from

Shane Matthews Michael Shane Matthews (born June 1, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for all or part of fourteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college foot ...

that was deflected towards Allen, as the Bears went on to defeat the Browns 27–21. Allen later played for the

expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...

Houston Texans in the 2002 season, which was their inaugural season, and started five games for the team, splitting duties with Jonathan Wells. Allen finished second behind Wells in rushing yards for the team with 519 yards. However, in 2003, Allen retired from the NFL to become a rapper under the stage name Mersilis, saying that he "lost a little bit of that fire". Allen had skipped the Texans preseason game against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

due to "personal issues". Two weeks later, Allen decided to unretire, though Texans officials ruled him out of being with the team for the 2003 season, and he was released after not being claimed by any team. In his career, Allen amassed 2,497 yards and four touchdowns.

NFL career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, James 1975 births Living people People from Wynnewood, Oklahoma American football running backs Chicago Bears players Houston Texans players Oklahoma Sooners football players