Stephen A., Shannon Sharpe & Booger McFarland remember Larry Allen | First Take

Hall of Fame offensive lineman Larry Allen died suddenly on Sunday while on vacation with his family in Mexico the team just announced Allen was one of the most dominant linemen in the NFL during a 12-year career spent mostly with Dallas Shannon I'll start with you what do you remember from the great Larry Allen they're not three better offensive linan that's ever played the game of football that's better than Larry Allen he he could be he could have been a Hall of Fame right tackle he could have been a Hall of Fame Right Guard he was a Hall of Fame left guard he could have been a Hall of Fame left tackle he was that good he could do it all he could run block he could pull he can pass protect he was unbelievable and this just breaks my heart at 52 years of age so much life ahead of him and to have his life suddenly end in the fashion that which he did did in which it did you had you had to like see it you had to see it up close booger I don't know if you ever wi against La Larry Allen but you had to see him you had to be on the field and to watch him and to hear defensive I'm talking about top notot defensive player D lineman talk about this man linebackers talk about this man he struck fear because he was the ultimate move of man against his will that's what football is about you try to move a man against his will and more times than not Larry Allen move men against their will my heart breaks for his family the Cowboys in the 49ers and anybody that was that's that was touched by the passing as we all are a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame man this breaks my heart man rest in peace Larry yeah no doubt man my I my condolences go out to his family I I'll tell you a quick story Shannon this is the first time I played against La uh the Cowboys are breaking the HUD on everybody was always talking about like the matchup between Larry Allen and Warren Sapp you know two Hall of Fame potential players at that time because they hasn't they haven't gone into the Hall of Fame as of yet and so they break the Huddle and we call a defense and I'm matched up against LA and when La breaks the Huddle La has got this I think it was chewing the back because he played with it in his mouth and it's kind of running down and they call the defense and and I'm over there in front of LA and I turn the sap I said hey man we need to switch to strength call on this defense they didn't come to see me against La they came to see you cuz I'm going on the other side I'm not dealing with that guy right there and sa looked at me and he was like you know what you right and so that kind of typifies man when you talk about the fear no I wasn't afraid of LA but that that that man right there he struck a cord in defensive lineman because you knew what you had to deal with and me as a fan I knew he was one one of if not the best offensive guard to ever play the game and I played with a Hall of Fame guy waren South and as a player on the field at the same time as him I caught myself peeping over kind of watching the matchup that was going on between them he was Unreal he was an athlete we've seen him the the the the chase down play where he chased down uh one of the running backs or or linebackers that they got an interception linebacker for Saints yes Ju Just just an unbelievable player man and I I think people don't realize because he was an offensive lineman and didn't touch the ball how dominant he was and I think it's up to us who played the game to share with people hey he didn't touch the ball but when you talk about the 10 or 15 most dominant players to ever play this game you can't have that conversation without Larry Allen well the thing about it is that the beauty of a show like this is that you know you have people like YouTube to highlight and illuminate exactly what you just did because there's no way in hell I could provide that you guys played the game you played with him you played against him you speak to his level of a great of greatness and all anybody like myself and others who didn't play can do is defer to y'all listen to y'all peel the stories from it and then come up with whatever statistical data exist to support and augment what you've said so allow me to try to do that literally doing nothing more than trying to complement exactly what you two just articulated first things first EMT Smith one of the greatest running backs in NFL history who retired as the alltime leading Russian NFL history you talk about your heartbreaking both of your hearts break breaking um I didn't know Larry Allen if y'all are heart to Breaking imagine how EMT Smith is feeling 11 straight 1,000 yard seasons Larry Allen blocked for him eight of those years eight of those years so imagine how EMT Smith is feeling right now that's number one the point2 2013 Hall of Fame and duck D Shannon like you pointed out a one time Super Bowl champion just looking at some of the stuff here Shannon you guys know this but you didn't articulate it so allow me to I'm looking at my stats here it says here Larry Allen played all but one position on the offensive line in his 12 seasons in Dallas played each position but Center you don't hear about that in today's NFL playing that I mean you just don't hear it both tackle positions both in I mean damn I mean you can't say enough about them right then you've got that 11 Pro bowls six First Team all pro Selections in his 14 Seasons name to the NFL's all 1990s team and all 2000s team both decades two decades this brother is on the alltime team to show you his level of greatness that's spanning two decades ladies and gentlemen and last but not least considered one of the strongest men to ever be in the NFL with a bench press of 700b and a squat of 900b that's what we're talking about with this brother right here Larry Allen so just you know Shannon said it best my heart goes out out to his F 52 years old man 52 years old your whole life ahead of you is is really sad my heart goes out to his family really Stephen A he could he could and I think Bole attested this he could have been an allpro at all four of those positions and he would have gone to the Hall of Fame at any of those positions had he stuck with it that's how great he was he wasn't good he was great and he wasn't good he was dominant and he could slide but when you put down and you needed fourth and one you needed third and goal on the goal line you run behind 73 52 years young gone far too soon we send our thoughts and prayers to the Allen Family