WATCH: Former Oregon track star Devon Allen flashes Olympic speed on touchdown
Devon Allen has one skill to trump the rest: his speed. The Olympic track athlete who also played football during Mark Helfrich’s time at Oregon, is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. Where, after five years off of playing football, Allen returns, this time at the pro level.
Surely there was some rust to knock off before Allen would start catching touchdowns all over the place, right? Apparently not. Take a look at this lightning bolt play from Devon Allen as he dusts all the Browns players for a deep score:
Obviously, tremendous speed to glide right past those converging defensive backs to catch the pass over the top. And also, some sublime route running from Allen. Gave a little fake head-nod to throw the corner off and get some more separation.
Heck of a catch from Allen. Looks like the former Duck is turning heads on the football field rather than the track once again. He also seems to be getting along with his new quarterback, judging by that clip and this report:
Devon Allen on Jalen Hurts: ‘He’s a great leader’
Set to enter his his third season with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, Jalen Hurts is coming into his own as a leader. One example of that is how the quarterback welcomed in receiver Devon Allen, who joined the team as an undrafted rookie this offseason.
Allen joined Takeoff with Jon Clark to share that story. He said Hurts invited him over to his house for a welcome dinner, where they had a crawfish boil.
“He’s a great leader,” Allen said. “I think something that’s important is to try to build a relationship and rapport with all of your teammates. The first week I was there he invited me over for dinner. We had a crawfish boil. So that was pretty cool. I was like, ‘This guy doesn’t owe me anything and he doesn’t have to say much to me at all because I’m like the sixth-seventh-eighth receiver right now on the depth chart.’
“He made an effort to get to know me, and I think that’s something special about this team. All the guys have really made an effort to be present and get to know everybody on the team and build strong chemistry. I think once we get into the trenches and bullets start flying, that’s when great football teams band together and play for each other.”
The type of bonding you love to see on a football team.