Philadelphia Eagles: 30 greatest players in franchise history

It might happen or it might not. Cornerback Eric Allen has a compelling Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy. Though he will have to likely wait until he is a veterans committee selection, let’s not forget how talented of a defensive back he was for the Eagles to start his NFL career. Philadelphia used its second-round pick to take Allen out of Arizona State in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Allen’s sophomore season in the league was sensational. He made his first trip to the Pro Bowl and made his only first-team All-Pro squad of his 14-year NFL career. It helps that he set a career-high in interceptions in a season with eight than campaign. From then on, Allen was a fixture on the NFC Pro Bowl team through the mid-1990s.

Allen would make five of his six Pro Bowl squads while in Philadelphia uniform. After seven stellar seasons with the Eagles, Allen would play the last half of his 14-year NFL career split between the New Orleans Saints and the Oakland Raiders. Allen made his sixth and final Pro Bowl in his first season with the Saints in 1995. He would play in 217 games in his 14-year NFL career.

Outside of suffering a season-ending knee injury in 1998 with the Raiders, you could always count on Allen to be a great defensive back for whatever team he was on. Since retiring in 2001, Allen has been inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame and made the 75th Anniversary team. You can see him doing analyst work today for places like ESPN and the Pac-12 Network. Allen’s back-nine of his career wasn’t good enough to garner him Canton enshrinement fresh out of the league. Maybe there is a chance the former Eagles standout gets there one day?