Top 10 Moments of Larry Allen's Career

Larry Allen has to be considered one of the best offensive linemen in the modern history of the National Football League. 

Digging his cleats in the trenches every single Sunday for a loaded Dallas Cowboys team throughout his 12-year career with the organization, Allen didn't receive a lot of publicity. All he did was help open up holes for Emmitt Smith and the running game, while protecting Troy Aikman under center. 

The results were immediate and awe inspiring. 

Allen earned 11 trips to the Pro Bowl and was named a first-team All-Pro six different times. Once moving on from Dallas, Allen joined the San Francisco 49ers for the final two years of his career. For the massive offensive lineman, it was all about returning home at that latter part of what will soon be a Hall of Fame career. 

Let's take a look at the top-10 moments from Allen's extensively great NFL career, which will be honored this weekend at The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. 

10. Chases Down Linebacker, Prevents Touchdown

This is one of the most ridiculous plays that I have ever had the pleasure of watching. How does a 320-pound offensive lineman track down a linebacker in the open field and save a touchdown? 

For all the talk about Larry Allen being a dominating and imposing figure in the trenches, he had to be one of the most athletic players at his position in the history of the NFL. 

Just check out this play and be prepared for your jaw to drop to the ground. 

Amazing! 

9. Returns Home for Final Two NFL Seasons

For the Hall of Fame inductee, the end of the 2005 season was bittersweet. He started all 16 games for the Cowboys and earned yet another trip to the Pro Bowl, but they failed to make the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons and seemed to be in transition. 

So, it didn't come as a surprise that owner Jerry Jones and Co. decided to cut Allen loose. 

After 12 seasons with Dallas, Allen was now looking for another city to call home. 

What better way than to finish up your career where it started at that small school just a few dozen miles north? 

While San Francisco was nowhere near a playoff contender at this point, it did offer Allen an opportunity to play in the comfortable environment of Northern California. 

It also didn't hurt that Allen succeeded beyond everyone's expectations in San Francisco. 

He started 11 games for the 49ers that season, helping running back Frank Gore set the single-season franchise record in rushing yards with 1,695, per The Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Once again, Allen was opening up holes for one of the best running backs in the game. He was rewarded with a trip to the Pro Bowl and recognition from linebacker Patrick Willis who will likely be enshrined in Canton once his playing career is over, per The Contra Costa Times. 

"

I'll never forget my first practice, Frank Gore ran the sweep, and Larry Allen was coming off the block, and I thought I could just make a move on him and go around him. That didn't happen. I felt like Larry Allen pushed me from one side of the field to the next.

"

Talk about transcending generations. After all, Willis was an eight-year-old pup when Allen made his initial start in the NFL more than a decade prior. 

8. Watches Emmitt Smith Break NFL Rushing Record

Without a good offensive line, no running back will succeed in the National Football League. Players like Larry Allen represent those type of players you rarely hear about, but are as important to the success of a team as any position on the football field. 

Emmitt Smith's best friend during what ended up being a record-breaking NFL career had to be this massive tackle, who went to war with his running back on a weekly basis for a good 12 years. 

Smith had the following to say about Allen on Fox Sports Radio this past February: 

"

When you hear other players on former teams, and other teams, say that a couple defensive linemen and defensive ends caught the “Allen Flu” the week we played the Cowboys, that means, ‘I’m not getting in front of Larry Allen this week. I’m going to sit out this week.’'

And that has happened on some teams. So that says a lot about the player they were about to go up against. You’re talking about a guy that was over 300 and something pounds, that can run like a deer… Not to mention, he bench pressed over 600 pounds. And he’s about as gentle as gentle can come, in person. But on that football field, he is a terror.

"

This fits neatly into what Willis said about Allen earlier. Not only did Allen have the respect of his teammates, he had the respect of his opponents. 

Speaking of his teammates, Smith broke Walter Payton's all-time rushing record in an October game back in 2002 against the Seattle Seahawks, per ESPN. 

Unfortunately, Allen was just a spectator on the sideline with an injury. That had to be bittersweet for both the running back and the man who was tasked with opening up holes for him. 

7. 1994 NFL Draft

Sonoma State, a small college in Northern California, currently has an enrollment of about 7,200 students. 

Needless to say, no one who suits up for that small school in Sonoma County expects to draw the interest of the National Football League. 

When Larry Allen put on his gear, there were not expectations that he would end up going in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft to the defending Super Bowl champions, but that's exactly what happened. 

In the matter of just an eight-month period, Allen was playing in front of crowds reaching about 60 times larger than what he saw in college; thus beginning his unlikely rise to the top. 

6. Signs One-Day Contract and Retires a Dallas Cowboy

After two seasons in San Francisco, the bruised and battered warrior returned home one final time. Allen signed with the Dallas Cowboys in August of 2008 in what equated to a sign-and-retire deal, per ESPN.

This was the only possible way Allen could have hung up the cleats. While San Francisco was lucky to have one of the best offensive lineman to ever play the game, Allen is and will always be a Cowboy.

Just a little over three years after retiring from the game Allen was inducted into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.

Fellow Hall of Fame inductee John Madden was on hand to announce the game that saw Allen join the best of the best in franchise history. He had the following to say about Allen's career, per ESPN:

"

There are some times when you know that you are watching one of the best players ever...When I watched a player it wasn't just the game we'd have, but also tape and film leading up to those games.

At first you'd watch him and say, 'This guy's pretty good,' and then he'd keep going and going and he was so strong and had such good balance. Then you'd realize what it was you were seeing -- and that was one of the best of all time.

"

Pretty high praise for someone who had been around the NFL as either a coach or an announcer since 1967. 

"Cowboy up," as some might say. 

5. First NFL Start Against the Arizona Cardinals

Not many rookies get to start for the defending champions, but this was the situation that Allen found himself in against the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 6 game during the 1994 season. 

Veteran Mark Tuinei was injured the previous week against the Washington Redskins, which forced Dallas' hand. 

The results couldn't have been any better for the defending champs. 

They defeated Arizona 38-3 and tallied 350 yards against what was then one of the best defenses in the NFL, led by head coach Buddy Ryan.

Running back Emmitt Smith might have tallied only 22 yards on nine carries, but did score two short-yardage touchdowns. Meanwhile, Troy Aikman put up 231 yards and was only sacked one time.

Allen started the final 197 games that he appeared in with Dallas and San Francisco after this initial start that week. 

4. First Playoff Game Against the Green Bay Packers

It doesn't get any better than suiting up against a conference rival in the playoffs in your very first taste of January action. 

Going up against a Green Bay Packers defense that allowed the fifth-lowest point total in the NFL, Dallas racked up 450 yards and 35 points in a route of Brett Favre and Co. 

Troy Aikman put up 337 yards and two scores, while three different pass-catching options tallied triple-digit yards. 

The complete domination was obvious from the outset, as Dallas took a commanding 28-9 halftime lead behind superior play upfront. 

Aikman was sacked a total of one time against a Packers front seven that included the likes of Reggie White, Bryce Paup and Sean Jones who combined for 26 sacks during the regular season. 

It's this type of utter domination that came to define Allen's career later on. 

3. Named to NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1990s

In order to be named to NFL's All Decade Team, a player must simply be among the best at his position for darn near 10 years. 

This is the honor that was bestowed upon Larry Allen two different times in his career. 

He joined Bruce Matthews, Randall McDaniel and Steve Wisniewski as the four guards named to the 90s team. 

Interestingly enough, both Matthews and McDaniel have already been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Wisniewski is awaiting a call after earning eight trips to the Pro Bowl. 

Not to be outdone, Allen was also named to the team for the first decade of the new millenium. He joined an entirely new generation of guards, including Will Shields and Steve Hutchinson.

His 11 consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl in seasons that he was healthy is another prime example of being an elite player in the NFL for such a long period of time. 

Allen's body of work speaks for itself. 

2. Super Bowl XXX Victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers

The ultimate goal for every player in the NFL is to bring home the Lombardi Trophy. It is what separates legends from the really good players. 

For a lot of players, that first trip to the big game seems to be just the start of something big. Many believe that they'll be back a few more times in their career. Despite this only a handful of players make the trip to the Super Bowl once, let alone multiple times.

Allen helped Dallas to a 12-4 record in his second season in the NFL. The Cowboys ranked third in scoring offense that season, as Emmitt Smith went for over 2,000 total yards and what was at that time an NFL record 25 rushing touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference. 

It goes without saying that Allen played a huge role in the Cowboys' success during the regular season that year. 

Dallas ended up scoring over 30 points per game in the playoffs, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX. 

For the Cowboys franchise, this win represented long-awaited revenge against a Steelers team that had beaten them in the Super Bowl twice before. 

For Allen, it seemed to be the beginning of what would be multiple trips to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that's not exactly how it played out. 

1. Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speeches tend to bring tears to all real football fans. It's the understanding that these players put everything into accomplishing a goal and worked their butts off to find themselves with a bust in Canton. 

For the players themselves, these speeches are usually filled with emotion and reflection. 

Rarely do you see an inductee show the emotion that we saw from Allen immediately after finding out he has been selected to join the rarest of company. 

The embedded video gives you an example of exactly what Allen accomplished in his career, how he overcame so much to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the eventual understanding that this was the end of the road. 

When Jerry Jones introduces Allen this upcoming Saturday, we can expect this emotion to spill over. 

You made it, Mr. Allen. 

Now the only thing to look forward to is whether Allen's speech will rival that of the guy he literally bloodied himself up for on the football field, Emmitt Smith. 

Vincent Frank is an NFL featured columnist at Bleacher Report.

Vincent is the head sports editor at eDraft, co-host of Draft Sports Radio (which airs every Monday and Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. ET) and a fantasy writer for Pro Football Focus.