From sacking to curling
Two months ago, Jared Allen rode a motorcycle to centerstage at halftime of a Vikings game, finalizing a fun summer of festivities surrounding his induction as the 380th member in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This week, the iconic quarterback-chaser and calf-roping sack celebrator is competing against the best in the world in an entirely different sport: curling. Allen made his Grand Slam of Curling debut Tuesday at the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe event in Stateline, Nevada. He did well but lost his first match in a shootout, 10-9.
Justin Arenburg of SportsNet recapped Day 1 and Day 2 of the tournament with details on Allen.
Here are snippets of what he wrote:
If Tuesday was any indication of how the matches for USA's Team Jared Allen will go the rest of the week, everyone is in for must-see TV.
Allen and his squad were given no 'easy match' in his debut as they had to take on World No. 5 Ross Whyte. Although after the first end, it looked like it might be too easy for the former NFL legend. …
Allen, who played defensive end his whole career in the NFL, found himself in an unusual situation, an offensive shootout where he was trying to get points on the board.
After Allen scored one in the fifth to take the lead, Whyte clapped back in a big way, and put up a rare four-ender to take a three-point lead with two ends left. …
Just like Allen did in his NFL career when he saw an opportunity to sack the quarterback, he pounced at the opportunity to score a big end and even the game against Whyte in the eighth end by hanging three on the board.
Allen's four-man team wasn't as competitive Wednesday, succumbing 11-1 to Sweden's Team Niklas Edin. Edin is a seven-time world champ and was touted by Arenburg as a future Hall of Famer in curling.
You can read about Allen's love for the sport, which he discovered after a wager with a friend on an Arizona golf course late in his 12-year NFL career, in this Forbes article. The backstory is Allen bet his buddy he could pick up another sport and become an Olympian. Seven years ago, Allen formed a team of retired NFL players – Marc Bulger, Keith Bulluck and Michael Roos – to compete in the Curt Mesabi Classic of the World Curling Tour. In the Forbes story, he said some of his football skills can transfer over.