Damon Allen
Allen at a Toronto Argonauts game in 2023 | |||||||||
| No. 9 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | July 29, 1963 San Diego, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Lincoln (San Diego, California) | ||||||||
| College | Cal State Fullerton | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| 1985–1988 | Edmonton Eskimos | ||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Ottawa Rough Riders | ||||||||
| 1992 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | ||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Edmonton Eskimos | ||||||||
| 1995 | Memphis Mad Dogs | ||||||||
| 1996–2002 | BC Lions | ||||||||
| 2003–2007 | Toronto Argonauts | ||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career CFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Stats at CFL.ca (archive) | |||||||||
Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2012) | |||||||||
Damon L. Allen (born July 29, 1963) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 23 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL). 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 Montreal Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo on October 10, 2011. 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. He won four Grey Cups with three different teams, and was the game's most valuable player three times. In 2005, he won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award at 42 years old, becoming the second-oldest player in North American professional sports history to be named a league’s most valuable player (after ice hockey’s Gordie Howe, who was selected most valuable player of the World Hockey Association in 1974 at age 46). He was a formidable passer and rusher, as he retired only 323 rushing yards behind his brother Marcus. In 2012, he was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
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.
In 2018, Allen was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.