Tribal Warfare
08-01-2008, 12:44 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/727731.html
Former Chief Jared Allen happy to be with Vikings
BY KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
MANKATO, Minn. | He’s standing on a tennis court in 96-degree heat, soaking a gray T-shirt with sweat and cutting promos for a regional news network.
He’s wearing spikes, football pants and a thick beard that looks like he’s spent his summer taking an ax to a cluster of California redwoods. And, knowing Jared Allen, maybe he did.
He stares into the camera and reminds you that you’re watching your home of the Vikings, and, oddly, says something about the running of the bulls.
But hey, that’s Allen.
He has a long-term deal, and he’s the Vikings’ newest star — a man everyone with a camera or tape recorder can’t get enough of. During a break, someone asks Allen if he’s enjoying life in Minnesota.
“Hell yeah,” he says, smiling big and making that brown beard curl up near his ears. “I couldn’t be happier.”
He says something not fit for print or broadcast and then gets back to work. He smiles and cuts another promo about his new home and how one of the NFL’s most colorful characters and best defenders is fitting in somewhere other than Kansas City.
The Chiefs traded Allen three months ago, a few days before the NFL draft. The Chiefs had decided Allen was their most valuable poker chip — and decided it was time to part ways with the outspoken, sometimes disgruntled defensive end. They’ll be reunited tonight when the Vikings and Chiefs hold a joint practice in River Falls, Wis. It’ll be the first time the sides are together since Allen received a call in April, telling him the NFL approved the trade and he was going to Minnesota.
Allen says he loves Kansas City. Loves Herm Edwards and the Chiefs coaches who molded him for four years into the man who led the NFL last year with 15 1/2 sacks.
“I owe them everything,” he says.
The Chiefs’ front office, though — well, that’s another story. He’s still sour about the long-term contract he never got. Allen says he was misled by executives and that he knew before last season that it would be his last with the Chiefs.
“I think that’s when it hit me,” he says. “I’ll put in my time and get out when I can.”
And he did. Other than the new uniform colors and the townhouse in the Twin Cities, Allen hasn’t changed much. He’s still loud and brash, friendly and charismatic.
That’s why the people behind this wall of cameras want him to keep talking, keep pointing and jumping around and saying whatever Allen has on his mind, bizarre as it might sometimes be.
Allen is pouring sweat now, but he wants to go again. He still has some things to say. He always does.
•••
Allen stood in a somber locker room in New York’s Giants Stadium last December and asked someone who might know.
He had two sacks in an overtime loss to the Jets, and he wondered if the sacks had pushed him past Patrick Kerney and DeMarcus Ware for the NFL lead. They had, and Allen looked up and pumped his fist softly; other than the sacks, there wasn’t much to cheer about after the Chiefs’ ninth consecutive loss.
Allen said that same night he expected the Chiefs to name him their franchise player, a move that helps teams delay big-money contract talks with one player each offseason. But Allen said then that he wanted to get something done — and he wanted to be paid like an elite player.
“I want to be a billionaire,” he said then, joking.
Former Chief Jared Allen happy to be with Vikings
BY KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
MANKATO, Minn. | He’s standing on a tennis court in 96-degree heat, soaking a gray T-shirt with sweat and cutting promos for a regional news network.
He’s wearing spikes, football pants and a thick beard that looks like he’s spent his summer taking an ax to a cluster of California redwoods. And, knowing Jared Allen, maybe he did.
He stares into the camera and reminds you that you’re watching your home of the Vikings, and, oddly, says something about the running of the bulls.
But hey, that’s Allen.
He has a long-term deal, and he’s the Vikings’ newest star — a man everyone with a camera or tape recorder can’t get enough of. During a break, someone asks Allen if he’s enjoying life in Minnesota.
“Hell yeah,” he says, smiling big and making that brown beard curl up near his ears. “I couldn’t be happier.”
He says something not fit for print or broadcast and then gets back to work. He smiles and cuts another promo about his new home and how one of the NFL’s most colorful characters and best defenders is fitting in somewhere other than Kansas City.
The Chiefs traded Allen three months ago, a few days before the NFL draft. The Chiefs had decided Allen was their most valuable poker chip — and decided it was time to part ways with the outspoken, sometimes disgruntled defensive end. They’ll be reunited tonight when the Vikings and Chiefs hold a joint practice in River Falls, Wis. It’ll be the first time the sides are together since Allen received a call in April, telling him the NFL approved the trade and he was going to Minnesota.
Allen says he loves Kansas City. Loves Herm Edwards and the Chiefs coaches who molded him for four years into the man who led the NFL last year with 15 1/2 sacks.
“I owe them everything,” he says.
The Chiefs’ front office, though — well, that’s another story. He’s still sour about the long-term contract he never got. Allen says he was misled by executives and that he knew before last season that it would be his last with the Chiefs.
“I think that’s when it hit me,” he says. “I’ll put in my time and get out when I can.”
And he did. Other than the new uniform colors and the townhouse in the Twin Cities, Allen hasn’t changed much. He’s still loud and brash, friendly and charismatic.
That’s why the people behind this wall of cameras want him to keep talking, keep pointing and jumping around and saying whatever Allen has on his mind, bizarre as it might sometimes be.
Allen is pouring sweat now, but he wants to go again. He still has some things to say. He always does.
•••
Allen stood in a somber locker room in New York’s Giants Stadium last December and asked someone who might know.
He had two sacks in an overtime loss to the Jets, and he wondered if the sacks had pushed him past Patrick Kerney and DeMarcus Ware for the NFL lead. They had, and Allen looked up and pumped his fist softly; other than the sacks, there wasn’t much to cheer about after the Chiefs’ ninth consecutive loss.
Allen said that same night he expected the Chiefs to name him their franchise player, a move that helps teams delay big-money contract talks with one player each offseason. But Allen said then that he wanted to get something done — and he wanted to be paid like an elite player.
“I want to be a billionaire,” he said then, joking.