It's Sunday, and as stated last week, it's my Jersey Sunday blog entry. Today, I'm featuring my first, and so far only football jersey; my Los Angeles Raiders Marcus Allen. This is my most recent addition considering I just picked it up yesterday morning. Fast fact: he is the older brother of former Toronto Argonaut; Damon Allen.
This peice was not easy to grab. I had to find a current Oakland uniform with stitched details, strip it, and drop another fistful of dollars to create what I have right now. I know RBK was not the jersey sponsor at that time and the logos are clear as day, but this was the closest I could get to the real thing. Additionally, I specifically wanted the black one because Marcus Allen and his Raiders team won a Super Bowl Championship [1984] wearing these coloured uniforms. Much thanks to Pickering Pro Image for the cresting job.
No Raiders jersey would look complete without the cap. I'm pretty sure this was released under the Oakland umbrella, but as long as it didn't say that city - it was all good. It's a vintage Starter snapback and it's as perfect as a Raiders hat should be.
Big logos, 2-tone colour pattern, 6 panel construction, and the Starter logo embroidered on the back. Like the Kings cap, I didn't grab it to look like a hypebeast and pretend I'm Eazy-E.
Marcus Allen was chosen 10th overall by the LA Raiders in the 1982 NFL Draft after 3 collegiate years at the University of Southern California where he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award. He also shares the record of 12 games with 200-rushing yards. As a Los Angeles Raiders running back, he helped the team to an 8-1 record and was awarded several Rookie of the Year honours.
In 1983, the Los Angeles Raiders made an extraordinary run through the playoffs and Marcus Allen showcased one of the greatest performances of his career. He scored four touchdowns in that post-season, ran 466 yards and rushed 58 times. The Raiders won their way into Super Bowl XVIII against the Washington Redskins. Marcus Allen set two championship game records rushing for 191 yards and ran 74 yards for one of his two touchdowns that night. The first record stood for 4 years and the latter stood until 2006. They would go on to win 38-9 and Marcus Allen was named Super Bowl MVP.
In the 1985 season, his team finished 12-4 and won the AFC Division Championship. Marcus Allen rushed for 1,759 yards, scored 11 TDs, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP. However, the next 8 seasons would be disastrous for the silver and black. Hampered by injuries and poor draft picks, they made one post-season appearance the next 7 years, head coach Tom Flores took a job further up north, and his troubling relationship with club owner Al Davis was not softening the landing.
In 1993, having as much as he could take in California, Marcus Allen signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Regardless of representing a different city, he led the league in touchdowns and took the team to the AFC Championship game. For his great leadership and effort, he was awarded the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He also led the team in rushing yards in his first three seasons in Missouri. Marcus Allen would retire after the 1997 season holding three league records and respectively ranked #72 on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players [1999] and #85 on The NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players [2010].
Career Highlight and Awards:
1981 Heisman Trophy, 1982 NFL Rookie of Year/AFC Rookie of the Year/NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, 6× Pro Bowl Selection [1982, 1984-1987, 1993,] First Team All-Pro Selection [1982, 1985], Super Bowl Champion and MVP [XVIII/1983], and 1985 NFL MVP.
In 2000, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
With a career spanning 16 seasons, he totalled 12, 243 rushing yards and scored 123 touchdowns.
He also shares a league record for most consecutive seasons with more than one touchdown [16], holds a league record for most consecutive seasons with one/more than one TD [16], and is the oldest player to score more than 10 TDs in a season [37 years].
I just think that we're capable of so much more; we don't utilize all our capacity like we should." - Marcus Allen
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