Toronto – At a media conference today at Turf Lounge in downtown Toronto, CFL legend Damon Allen announced his retirement after a staggering career. One of the most
accomplished and celebrated players in the CFL, Allen’s unprecedented
23-year career as an elite quarterback spanned three decades and
included four Grey Cup Championships, two Grey Cup MVPs, one Grey Cup
Offensive Player of the Game, one CFL All-Star nomination and one CFL
Most Outstanding Player Award.
Allen’s 72,381 passing
yards are more than any other player in professional football, and his
11,914 rushing yards rank as the third-highest total in CFL history –
just 329 yards behind his brother, Pro Football Hall of Fame running
back Marcus Allen’s career rushing total. He has played for CFL teams
in Edmonton, Ottawa, Hamilton, Memphis, B.C. and Toronto and won
championships in three of those cities. He is one of just three
quarterbacks in league history to run for 1,000 yards and pass for
4,000 yards in a single season (Tracy Ham and Kerry Joseph) – an
achievement he reached in 1991 with the Ottawa Rough Riders.
Damon Allen remarked, “The game of football has given me every emotion a person can
feel. It has been a dream ride. I have given football my mind, body and
soul. When it is all said and done, I have met some incredible people.
I want to thank the fans across the Canadian Football League for
supporting me, the players in the CFL for challenging me to be the
best, and the incredible coaches in our league that continue to teach
the game.”
In just five seasons
in Toronto, Allen has also carved his name into club record books. He
sits second in club history in career passing yards (13,974), career
attempts (1,713) and completions (1,051), career passing touchdowns
(77), and once completed 13 consecutive passes in a game – the
second-best streak in team history. He is one of just five Argos to win
the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award and in 2005 he became the first
Argo quarterback since Doug Flutie (1997) to earn CFL All-Star
recognition.
Allen’s athletic gifts
were just as evident at Cal State Fullerton where he was mentored by
acclaimed football mind Steve Mariucci. His presence turned around a
perennially weak Titan squad and led them to back-to-back PCAA titles.
As a senior, he set several single-season school records and was named
First-Team All-Conference. Allen finished 16th in Heisman voting in
1984.
Allen ends his illustrious career holding the following CFL Regular Season records:
- CFL’s all-time leading passer – 72,381 yards
- CFL’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns – 394
- CFL’s all-time leader in pass attempts – 9,138
- CFL’s all-time leader in pass completions – 5,158
- Longest Pass Completion – 109 yards
- CFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback (ranks 3rd in all-time CFL rushing, by any player) – 11,914
In celebration of Damon Allen’s career, the Toronto Argonauts will be offering a special $9 ticket to
the home opener. This limited offer will be available for one-day only
on Thursday, May 29 and is available by calling (416) 341-ARGO. Damon
and his family will be honoured by Toronto Argonauts’ owners David
Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski at the July 3 home opener.