Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees announced, Arizona State legend gets recognized

The NFL held its 14th annual Honors awards show Thursday night, during which they announced their newest class of players enshrined in the league's Hall of Fame. In a surprise move, the committee only voted in four players, but one of them was an Arizona State legend: cornerback Eric Allen.

Allen was a San Diego native who committed to Arizona State as part of the final recruiting class of head coach Darryl Rogers, who was soon replaced by John Cooper. The Sun Devils saw immediate success under Cooper, and Allen's ball-hawking skills were a big part of that change.

Allen was a junior on the 1986 team that finished 10-1-1, beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Allen, who had tallied seven interceptions in his first three years, finished his senior season off with a whopping eight picks. That precipitated him being drafted in the second round in 1988 by the Eagles.

In Philadelphia, Allen became one of many stars on a defense led by head coach Buddy Ryan, previously the architect of the legendary 1985 Bears defense and father to current coaches Rex and Rob Ryan.

Allen recorded three or more picks in each of his seven seasons with the Eagles, setting a record in 1993 by returning four of them for touchdowns; that record stood until last season, when Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland broke it.

Allen then had brief stints with the Saints and Raiders before rounding out an impressive 14-year career that never saw him finish a season without an interception. In fact, Allen had just two seasons without multiple picks, a testament to his elite ball-hawk skills. He finished his career with six Pro Bowls and three All Pro honors. To date, only 20 players in NFL history have more career interceptions.

Allen had been eligible for the Hall of Fame for quite some time, but this marked his first time ever being named a finalist. And, after years of waiting, he was inducted to the Hall of Fame, a momentous achievement. Notably, he is the first cornerback in Eagles history to achieve such a feat, though Allen is the 10th Sun Devil to be enshrined in Canton.

Two other Sun Devils were finalists for the Hall of Fame this year: safety Darren Woodson and edge rusher Terrell Suggs. While Suggs was left out in his very first year of eligibility, Woodson was a former teammate of Allen's before winning three Super Bowls with the Cowboys; to this day, he leads the franchise in career tackles.

Woodson has been eligible for 17 years now, and this marked his third straight year being named a finalist, but the former Sun Devil, a Phoenix native, was once again denied the honor.

While the hope remains that Woodson, as well as Suggs, will get the recognition he deserves next year, there is still plenty to celebrate. Allen is one of the best to ever do it for the Sun Devils, and he was a key part of one of the best teams in program history. There is no question that he is deserving of this honor.