Damon Allen

Damon L. Allen (born July 29, 1963) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback.

He played 23 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Allen was sixteenth in overall voting for the 1984 Heisman Trophy.

He also played in the Senior Bowl college All-Star game (completing 6 for 8 passes for 50 yards, 1 touchdown, and rushing for 20 yards on 3 carries).

Allen was not only an outstanding football player, he was also a superior baseball player.

He helped his Titans' baseball team win the 1984 College World Series, leading his team to a regular season record of 66-20 as a pitcher.

He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft in the seventh round, the same year the Tigers won the Major League Baseball World Series.

Allen joined the CFL as a free-agent in 1985, signed by the Edmonton Eskimos, and threw for 661 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season as a back-up to Matt Dunigan.

In the 1987 season, Allen played in the Grey Cup championship game, replacing the injured starter Dunigan, and led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 38–36, at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium.

Allen never signed a professional, major league baseball contract with the Tigers, but did sign one with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1993.

Allen reported to the Pirates' spring training camp in 1994, but ultimately left their camp and decided to play in the Canadian Football League.

In 2005, he was the CFL Most Outstanding Player at 42 years old, becoming the second oldest MVP of any North American sports franchise (oldest is Gordie Howe of the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association, MVP at age 46 in 1974).

He was a formidable passer and rusher, as he retired only 323 rushing yards behind his brother Marcus.

Allen retired as professional football's all-time leading passer with 72,381 passing yards after he surpassed Warren Moon's total of 70,553 yards (in both the CFL and NFL combined) on September 4, 2006, in the annual Labour Day Classic.

He also retired in third place in all-time CFL rushing yards with 11,920 yards, behind Mike Pringle and George Reed.

The 2007 season marked Allen's twenty-third season in the CFL and he officially announced his retirement on May 28, 2008, at age 44.

Allen is the younger brother of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen.

Allen has been mentioned as one of the greatest CFL quarterbacks of all time after winning four Grey Cups with three different teams.

He also was a three time Grey Cup MVP.

In May 2010, Allen launched the Damon Allen Quarterback Academy, in which he personally teaches the skills and strategies of quarterbacking to students of all ages and skill levels.

Damon has three daughters and a son.

They live in Oakville, Ontario.

Damon is employed as special assistant to the GM of the Toronto Argonauts.

Allen started playing football by the age of six for Valencia Park's Pop Warner in San Diego.

Allen played safety on defense.

In the Junior Peewee league, in his first year as a quarterback, Allen's team won the championships.

This was followed by two undefeated seasons, and winning the Junior Peewee league title for three years in a row.

In high school, Allen was a fine two sport athlete.

In football he was the starting quarterback at Lincoln High School.

He had a 22–2 record as starting quarterback at Lincoln High.

Allen was a first team all-CIF player and Tribune Athlete of the Year.

He led his team to consecutive 2A Division CIF Football Championships.

In baseball, Allen was a pitcher with a record of 14–2, and his Lincoln High baseball team was rated #1 in San Diego County with a record of 24–4.

He was a First team All-CIF Utility Man which also made him Tribune Athlete of the Year in his senior year.

Damon went on to play college football for California State University, Fullerton.

There, Allen led the Titans to two Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) championships.

He also broke a 26-year-old NCAA record throwing only three passes that were intercepted, in over 300 attempts and broke seven school records.

He was a first team PCAA quarterback, and was named the UPI All West Coast team quarterback along with UNLV's Randall Cunningham.

He is currently fourth in all-time professional football passing yards and second in all-time CFL passing yards after he was surpassed for first place by the Montréal Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo on October 10, 2011.

In 2012, he was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.