Taje LaQayne Allen (born November 6, 1973) 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 played

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 ...

for six seasons for 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 ...

, with whom he won

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

, and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

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).

College career

Allen played college football at the University of Texas where he helped the Longhorns with the last two Southwest Conference Championships and the first Big 12 Championship. During that time he played in the Sun Bowl (which the Longhorns won), Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. He first gained notoriety during his sophomore year when he came off the bench and knocked down a potential game-tying two-point conversion pass to help Texas beat Pittsburgh. During his junior year, he was the Sugar Bowl roommate of Rob Weaver, a 30 year old who, right before the Sugar Bowl, was discovered to have committed fraud - playing under the name Ron McKelvey - to extend his college playing days. During his senior year he received a Big 12 Honorable Mention.

Professional career

He was drafted by the Rams in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played four seasons with the Rams during which time he started four games. His best season was 1999 when he started 2 games in place of an injured Dexter McCleon, recorded 2 interceptions (the only two of his NFL career) and had 36 combined tackles. He won a Super Bowl ring that season with the Rams. Though he did not play in

he knocked down a potentially game-winning 4th down pass into the end zone at the end of the NFC Championship Game. Following the 2000 season he became an unrestricted free agent and was signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs. The Chiefs made him available for the expansion Texans after the 2001 but he was not selected in the expansion draft. He was released by the Chiefs a few months later, but signed with them again the next day. The 2002 season was his last in which he saw limited playing time, being inactive for all but 6 games. After retiring from football, he moved to Cedar Park, Texas, where he got into sports management first working as an Event Operations Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin and then for the Austin Convention Center. He has three sons and a daughter. His son Eamon became a defensive back and kick returner for Sam Houston State.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Taje 1973 births Living people Players of American football from Lubbock, Texas American football cornerbacks Texas Longhorns football players St. Louis Rams players Kansas City Chiefs players