Kuechly delighted in the fun Allen brought with him during his final season, but he also recognized the decade of greatness that preceded it.
And from the start of his career, Allen began to show what he was capable of.
Drafted in the fourth round in 2004 by the Chiefs, Allen put 9.0 sacks on the board as a rookie. Then 11.0, then 7.5, and then a league-leading 15.5 in 2007 for a 4-12 Chiefs team, providing more evidence to him that all his individual accomplishments wouldn’t fully satisfy him.
And even being in Canton, that thought never escaped him.
“I would say it’s surreal, because it was never expected, right?” Allen said. “I didn’t play to obtain Hall of Fame status, I played to try to be the best football player I could be, right? And to chase those guys, the Bruce Smiths, the Reggie Whites, the Julius Peppers, it was to chase greatness, you know? Derrick Thomas was a massive driver of my success because when you get drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs as an edge player, you’re chasing one ghost, and that’s Derrick Thomas. His shadow looms over the organization and rightfully so. So I tried to learn as much about him as I could.
“I did have that selfish mentality of I wanted to make every play, right? I felt that’s how I helped my team win by being the best defensive player I could possibly be. So it’s humbling, it’s surreal when you finally get here, but I think you look back and say, even though this wasn’t my motivation, when you look back at the totality of the career, you’re like, yeah, I should probably be here with these guys. And I think they would probably say the same thing.
“That’s what’s great when you get to talk with other Hall of Famers, is you realize you have a mindset, you have a character trait in common with a lot of these guys, right? They were chasing greatness, and they might have had side motivations as well. Maybe some people wanted to get paid, obviously, we’re all chasing a ring. But at the end of the day, you know, we were trying to be the best at our positions.”