Nerm Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Maybe the Boys will be willing to trade. http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/5646870 Allen's dominance of trenches makes him NFL's best Aug. 27, 2002 By Jay Glazer SportsLine.com Senior Writer As the preseason heads for the home stretch, season preview guides are multiplying on newsstands across the country. The glossies that grace these mags and newspaper pullouts will shine with stars du jour like Marshall Faulk, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning. The Ray Lewises and Michael Strahans are photographed in formidable poses. But none of these publications will dare put the NFL's most dominating player on its cover. The man who causes more weekly destruction than any of the aforementioned superstars will again be overlooked. The true story of football is not about dazzling statistics and marketable marauders. It's about pain, violence and the bloody fistfights in the trenches. Nobody is more destructive than the Cowboys' massive offensive lineman Larry Allen. He's never found in fantasy football guides and rarely discussed in NFL chat rooms. He certainly won't be a cover boy for People's sexiest athletes or the cover story previewing the league's superstars. But in the reality that comes calling on Sunday afternoons, Allen could be considered the NFL's top player. He is certainly the most dominating. I know, I know ... Larry Allen? "No doubt, Larry is the most dominating guy in the league," said former teammate and future Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. "It may not even be close." Though much of the attention heading into this season will focus on the Faulks, Warners and Mannings, Allen is the choice for the league's most dominant player, position-by-position. Don't just take our word for it. "We call him the legalized killer," Strahan said of the man he also calls the best blocker he has seen. "He doesn't just block people, he hurts people. He is such a force that you really don't see anywhere else. He's probably the only guy who you watch on film who makes you cringe. He does something every week where you actually feel bad for the people who are playing him." It's not a difficult assessment to agree with, provided you've tasted the blood of these fights before. "Larry Allen has the potential to embarrass more players than anybody else in the league on any given week," said former Pro Bowl offensive lineman and current CBS Sports analyst Randy Cross. "Marshall Faulk can put a move on a couple guys in a game and make them look bad. Kurt Warner can beat a corner or safety on a deep pass for a touchdown and make that guy look bad. But Larry has the force to humiliate groups of people and he does it on a regular basis." One of the factors in choosing him the league's best pound-for-pound player is how much more he dominates his slot than other stars at their respective positions. But Allen is in a class by himself. The No. 2 guard, Pittsburgh's Alan Faneca, is a terrific player, but the difference between the two is vast. The top tackle, Jon Ogden, is tremendous, but he has been dominating at pretty much one slot. Allen's versatility is another factor that separates him from the pack. Consider this: Allen has been selected to the All-Pro Team in each of the past seven seasons -- at three different positions. He has also been voted into the Pro Bowl eight times at four different slots. He began his Pro Bowl binge at right tackle in 1994. He then moved his path of destruction inside to right guard from '95 to the final three games of the 1997 season. Over the next 19 regular-season games, he humiliated right defensive ends at the left tackle slot. In fact, there was a four-game stretch in which he faced four of the league's top pass rushers. Total sacks he allowed: zippo. Big fat 0. In 1999, Allen was again moved, this time to the left guard slot where he was able to feast on an entirely new group of victims. "The fact that he excelled at each of those positions should surprise absolutely nobody," says Cross, himself a multiposition Pro Bowl lineman. "I don't think there's a guy who has dominated the way he does since probably (Hall of Fame tackle) John Hannah." He brings an element that most others lack: the ability to strike fear. Allen is what Mike Tyson was in the '80s. Opponents quiver at the scale. "Basically I try to go out there and punk them, make them quit," Allen said of his Sunday routine. "It's either him or me and it's not going to be me." He brings fear to Sunday. His Sunday Sabbath does not bring rest for the body, or refreshment for the soul, but it does elicit prayer as in, 'Lord, please don't let me get hurt by this beast today.' "Oh, it definitely happens; guys will look to find a way out when they have to play him," Strahan said. "The saddest thing is how many players will watch him on film during the week and then, as the game gets closer, they pull up with some mysterious injury or flu or something. We call that catching 'Allen-itis.'" It happens more than people know. "It's so bad that it's caused some guys to actually get crafty," Sanders said. "Guys aren't going down anymore with an ankle or hamstring on Wednesday. Now guys look ahead on the schedule and make sure they go down with an injury in the third or fourth quarter of the game before they play Dallas. "I'm not fooling. If you take a look at all the "injuries" some linemen have had over the years, it's amazing how devastating the Larry Allen syndrome can be." One former player relayed this story: A few years back, his teammates insisted on Wednesday that their starting defensive tackle would not play that Sunday vs. Dallas. The cause? Allen-itis. After a day of watching Allen on film actually hurt a variety of linemen, his teammates knew the DT was not going to want any part of Allen's destruction. Sure enough, game day found the DT complaining of flu-like symptoms. "Yeah, I've seen that a lot," said Allen, who fought his way off the mean streets of Compton, Calif. "Sometimes you can also tell in the first series that they aren't all there. You can look in their eyes, and if they don't look back at you, you got them." Allen's tenacity and strength are his best traits. Last year, he was filmed bench-pressing a stunning 700 pounds, easily making him the league's strongest Pro Bowl player. "Sometimes I get too aggressive, and I'll get out of balance if I'm trying to kill a guy," he says. "If I'm playing a guy and he tries to muscle me, it's just not going to happen." While others can also dominate with strength, they don't combine this brute force with the nastiest on-field demeanor in the league. "When I'm pulling around the end and see my guy, I'm just thinking I want to mess him up," Allen says in between quick chuckles. "Some turn around, some try to avoid me, some just go down. My dominance is my strength." He isn't a cover boy. But he has a better claim to fame -- when Larry Allen rolls your way, boy, you better run for cover. Anybody got a problem with our choice? Yeah, didn't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 The Flamers Bible The commandments of flaming Make things up about your opponent: It's important to make your lies sound true. Preface your argument with the word "clearly." "Clearly, Fred Flooney is a liar, and a dirtball to boot." Be an armchair psychologist: You're a smart person. You've heard of Freud. You took a psychology course in college. Clearly, you're qualified to psychoanalyze your opponent. "Polly Purebread, by using the word 'zucchini' in her posting, shows she has a bad case of penis envy." Cross-post your flames: Everyone on the net is just waiting for the next literary masterpiece to leave your terminal. From rec.arts.wobegon to alt.gourmand, they're all holding their breaths until your next flame. Therefore, post everywhere. Conspiracies abound: If everyone's against you, the reason can't possibly be that you're a ****head. There's obviously a conspiracy against you, and you will be doing the entire net a favor by exposing it. Lawsuit threats: This is the reverse of Rule #4 (sort of like the Yin & Yang of flaming). Threatening a lawsuit is always considered to be in good form. "By saying that I've posted to the wrong group, Bertha has libeled me, slandered me, and sodomized me. See you in court, Bertha." Force them to document their claims: Even if Harry Hoinkus states outright that he likes tomato sauce on his pasta, you should demand documentation. If Newsweek hasn't written an article on Harry's pasta preferences, then Harry's obviously lying. Use foreign phrases: French is good, but Latin is the lingua franca of flaming. You should use the words "ad hominem" at least three times per article. Other favorite Latin phrases are "ad nauseum," "vini, vidi, vici," and "fetuccini alfredo." Tell 'em how smart you are: Why use intelligent arguments to convince them you're smart when all you have to do is tell them? State that you're a member of Mensa or Mega or Dorks of America. Tell them the scores you received on every exam since high school. "I got an 800 on my SATs, LSATs, GREs, MCATs, and I can also spell the word 'premeiotic' ." Accuse your opponent of censorship. It is your right as an American citizen to post whatever the hell you want to the net (as guaranteed by the 37th Amendment, I think). Anyone who tries to limit your cross-posting or move a flame war to email is either a communist, a fascist, or both. Doubt their existence: You've never actually seen your opponent, have you? And since you're the center of the universe, you should have seen them by now, shouldn't you? Therefore, THEY DON'T EXIST! This is the beauty of flamers' logic. Lie, cheat, steal, leave the toilet seat up. When in doubt, insult: If you forget the other 11 rules, remember this one. At some point during your wonderful career as a flamer you will undoubtedly end up in a flame war with someone who is better than you. This person will expose your lies, tear apart your arguments, make you look generally like a bozo. At this point, there's only one thing to do: insult the dirtbag!!! "Oh yeah? Well, your mother does strange things with vegetables." The Golden Rule of Flaming My flames will be witty, insulting, interesting, funny, caustic, or sarcastic, but never, ever, will they be boring. Here endeth the scriptures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 It's funny. I saw Joe Johnson make Larry Allen look like a little school girl in New Orleans in 98. He was actually tossing him around like a rag doll. So even MR. Allen isn't invincible. :jerkoff: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Okay Nerm....so....what's your point? :shootinth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 I'm quite sure the DT referred to in that article is Stubby. In 2000, remember how he couldn't play in the game because of the flu? People were highly suspicious of it. Remember, Schottenheimer didn't cut Stubby because of the cap, he said he cut him for performance reasons. Now, Stubby wasn't worth what he was being paid, but he was a decent DT, certainly better than Lang. The fact that he punked out of that game punched his ticket out of here. No doubt, Allen is a force. But, a couple of points. If he was so good at LT, why on earth would you move him from there to G? Stellar LTs are coveted in this league - you don't move them to G for any reason - unless you can get someone better to play the position. I don't think anyone considers Adams to be a top-notch LT. Serviceable, perhaps, but why would you move Allen, if he was so good at the position, inside to make way for him? I would guess that he was losing the quickness necessary to block the better DEs/LBs in the league. Next, for all his dominance, the Cowboys have been a piss-poor offensive team the last few years. So, what good has that dominance done them? It surely hasn't translated into winning (except against the Redskins). Would they have been appreciably worse if they just had an average G, instead? To me, it just underscores how being a great G doesn't mean much, and maybe you should look to spend your money elsewhere. According to Glazer, the Cowboys have the best player in the NFL starting on offense, and that offense has been dreadful. Rings a little hollow to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange&Blue Skins Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 The Evil Genius :notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Nerm is excited because on a roster of 22 people, Larry Allen may well represent the ONLY position they have an unquestioned advantage at over the Redskins. Ok, you might say the same about Woodson too, but, perhaps not with the way his play has fallen the last couple of years. Must be painful for Cowboy fans to know that Allen is lost on such a team and this was Nerm reaching out for our sympathy. We're here for you Nermy. We're here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerm Posted August 28, 2002 Author Share Posted August 28, 2002 I just thought it was a cool article and that fans of a team famous for the Hogs would like it. It gives new meaning to the phrase "taking an opponent out of the game" No flame intended. Personally, I think OG is one ot the least important positions in football and I would rather see Dallas use Allen at LT. As some have pointed out, the Boys' O has a lot of room for improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just skins baby Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Evil Genius YOU SO FUNNY!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyskinsfan Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Yep Art, I rememeber his first few years, him and Wright. I remember also how Reggie White's famous "trash" move was used as a "Highlight" film of a certain player being trashed by him enroute to Aikman. Yes he sacked Aikman too. When White charged, he got leverage to Allen's under arm, and with one giant windmill ju-jitsu move, lifted the monsterous Allen off the turf, and simply discarded him like......well......trash I must admit though Allen holds the distinction of frustrating the Skins D-Line almost single handedly. Don't look for that anymore and definitely not against all the LB's. What a difference a year makes. Also, if you will notice, the Cowboys predicat the last 2 seasons on 1 game, the Skins, which Campo focuses on so hard, because the last three coaches gave HIM the possible chance at winning. Do you seriously think SS AND ML is going for any non-sense, Allen and Emmitt or no Allen and Emmitt. Rule: Never put all your apples in one basket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Horse Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 In all honesty, Larry Allen is a beast and is bar none the best guard in the NFL. I'd love to have him on this football team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardi gras skin Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 No doubt. He's a beast and I'd love to have him. But hear that gardener is a beast as well. I'm interested to see how well he does against Allen if his back holds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 what Reggie White did on the DL in the 1980's and early 1990's, Allen is doing on the OL now. If he stays healthy he is going to be a HOFer. And that is from a lifelong Redskins fan, so no blow here At the same time I think the Redskins level of 'challenge' and 'game' has gone up with the additions of some real warriors in the past year or so, and I think the matchups this year with the Cowboys line and the Skins' front seven is likely to be quite different than in past years. we finally have size on the defensive line, speed and tackling ability from the linebackers and a kamikazee mentality from guys like Arrington, Trotter and Shade coming up in run support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 I always liked Shade. Felt like he gets a bad rap for being just slightly above average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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