Thoughts on Beau Allen as the former Eagles defensive tackle calls it a career

The Pro Football Hall of Fame won’t be the final stop of the NFL journey for everyone who plays the game. Think of how many Philadelphia Eagles walk in and out of the NovaCare Complex on a year-in and year-out basis.

There’s a reason why there are less than 400 men that have had the bust carved and placed in Canton while, at any given point of every regular season, there are a total of 1,696 players on 32 NFL rosters and another 512 taking up residency on their respective squads. The Hall is a special place occupied by the most unique of fraternity.

We expect guys like Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce to wind up there when their playing days are over, even if there have been recent statements made to debunk those claims. We haven’t heard those statements made about Beau Allen, nor should we expect to. Still, as Allen announced his retirement from pro football on July’s first Friday, it’s still hard to think about him without smiling.

Here are a few thoughts about the former Eagles defensive tackle, Beau Allen, as he officially retires from the NFL.

Beau was never an all-star. He never made an All-Pro team. He only started eight of the 66 games he played in for Philly (that includes three memorable playoff games that resulted in a Vince Lombard Trophy). He only produced three tackles in those playoff games, but we liked Beau.

He worked his tail off for his Eagles teammates. He gave maximum effort on every snap he was given. As long as you can promise Birds fans that and you deliver on the promise, they’ll love you forever. That’s the point, and that’s why we had to give him his proper sendoff before he walks into the next stage of his life. Keep in mind the fact that he’s only 30 and won’t turn 31 until November.

87 tackles, two sacks, and two pass breakups were what Beau Allen contributed to the Eagles’ cause during four seasons. As Birds fans, we haven’t discussed him much since he left the nest. He didn’t do much after signing a three-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers worth $15 million. In 27 career games there with eight starts there, he notched 30 tackles and 0.5 sacks.

He left Tampa for Foxborough in 2020, where injuries derailed any momentum that he could enjoy with the New England Patriots before he could get anything going. Other jerseys be damned though. Again, Beau is an Eagle.

As stated earlier, we haven’t spoken about him in a while, but one day, when the 2017 championship squad is brought back to Lincoln Financial Field and honored or the Birds draft another gritty defensive lineman from Wisconsin that plays hard, maybe that will take us back to thoughts of Beau. We’re pretty sure a few reasons to smile will accompany those thoughts.