As a member of the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1990s and 2000s, Larry Allen was widely recognized as one of the NFL's premier offensive linemen, and he established himself as one of the most decorated offensive players in Dallas Cowboys and NFL history.
In 14 NFL seasons since being drafted in the second round out of Sonoma State, Allen was named to more Pro Bowls (10) than any other offensive player in Cowboys history. He also earned another Pro Bowl berth in 2006 while finishing his career with the San Francisco 49ers, bringing his Pro Bowl total to 11 selections. He was also named All-Pro seven times, six times at guard (1995-97, 1999-01) and once at tackle (1998). With his Pro Bowl selection at tackle in 1998, he became just the third player in league history to be selected to the Pro Bowl at more than one offensive line position during his career, joining Bruce Matthews (guard/center) and Chris Hinton (guard/tackle).
An ankle injury in the second week of the 2002 season limited Allen to five games and snapped his seven-year string of trips to the Pro Bowl, the fourth-longest streak in club history and the standard for Pro Bowl selections by a Dallas offensive lineman. Allen fully recovered from his injury and earned his eighth Pro Bowl selection in 2003, tying Emmitt Smith as the only Dallas offensive player to be selected to eight Pro Bowls. In 2004, he earned his ninth trip to Hawaii. Allen is tied with Mel Renfro (10) for the second-most Pro Bowl selections by a Cowboy, with both players trailing Bob Lilly (11).
He played all but one position along the offensive line in his 12 seasons in Dallas, moving between right tackle (1994), right guard (1995-97), left tackle (1997-98) and left guard (1999-03). During his illustrious career in Dallas, Allen was a member of an offensive unit that posted the four lowest sacks allowed totals in club history with 18 in 1995, 19 in 1996 and 1998, and 20 in 1994. He also played a very important part in Smith's race toward the all-time NFL rushing mark, having blocked for eight of Smith's 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Smith gained 11,463 of his 17,162 career yards with Dallas after Allen joined the Cowboys in 1994 and was a pivotal member of the Super Bowl XXX Champion team in 1995.
With a career-best bench press of 700 pounds and a squat lift of 900 pounds, Allen is also considered to be the strongest man to ever play professional football. After missing most of 2002 with a sprained left ankle that required surgery to remove bone spurs, Allen went on to start 48 straight games before signing and playing for two seasons (2006-07) with San Francisco where he started the final 27 games of his career. Allen started 197-of-203 career games played.
Allen's NFL TotalsGAMES/STARTS: 1994 (16/10 - Dal.), 1995 (16/16 - Dal.), 1996 (16/16 - Dal.), 1997 (16/16 - Dal.), 1998 (16/16 -Dal.), 1999 (11/11 - Dal.), 2000 (16/16 - Dal.), 2001 (16/16 - Dal.), 2002 (5/5 - Dal.), 2003 (16/16 - Dal.), 2004 (16/16 - Dal.), 2005 (16/16 - Dal.), 2006 (11/11 - SF), 2007 (16/16 - SF). Total: 203/197.