Eagles sign two-time Olympic hurdler to play receiver

 

Talk about thinking outside the box.

The Eagles on Friday announced they signed wide receiver Devon Allen, who once put off a football career to pursue his dreams as an Olympic athlete.

Allen, 27, hasn’t played football since the 2016 season at the University of Oregon, but recently worked out at the Oregon pro day and turned heads. The Eagles had him in for a visit on Thursday and that led to a contract.

"It's now or never because I don't want to get too old," Allen said at last week’s pro day, via the Eagles’ website. "I don't want to turn 30, 31, and then try and get into the NFL. I know the skill gap is still there from college to the NFL, but I think when I did play college and when I did play at a pretty good level, I would consider myself talented enough to play in the NFL."

Allen (6-0, 198 pounds) is a three-time U.S. national champion in the 110-meter hurdles and represented the United States in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He finished fifth in the Rio Olympics (13.31) and was fourth in Tokyo (13.14).

His production was limited in 2015 and 2016, but Allen’s best season of college football came in 2014, when he caught 41 passes for 684 yards and 7 touchdowns. In his college career, he averaged 17.0 yards per catch.

At the Oregon pro day a week ago, Allen ran an unofficial 4.35 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

"To be honest, I knew I was going to run fast,” Allen said, via Oregon Live. "I don’t spend a lot of time on the 40, but I know this is what I do for a living, so I expected to run pretty quick. I’m sure they expected it too; they didn’t expect the track guy to run slow. It’s good to get a fast time on paper.”

Allen also told Oregon Live that he plans on competing at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in June and the World Athletics Championships in July, both in Eugene, Oregon.

Once that’s over, it’ll be time for training camp.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-sign-two-time-olympian-devon-allen

Look at best he comes in, shows a little and can contribute as a depth guy and perhaps on STs. At worst there's really no loss.