Jared Allen: The Minnesota Vikings have big goals for the Olympic Games in curling

Have you ever heard that one about the daredevil plasterer who lit an Olympic flame in a four-time first-team All-Pro defensive end?

Jared Allen roars at the mention of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, the face of the 1988 Winter Games and the embodiment of Pierre de Coubertin’s mantra. The beaming, bespectacled British ski jumper finished last in the 70m and 90m races in Calgary but won hearts and minds around the world.

After 136 sacks in 12 NFL seasons, a happily retired Allen and an old friend watched the 2016 feel-good biopic celebrating the life and times of Michael David Edwards. It had consequences.

“Yes! Eddie the Eagle! “Great film,” says Allen The athlete on the phone from Nashville. “That inspired me to make a bet with my buddy and try to make it to the Olympics!

“Eddie the Eagle had to work hard to qualify and become a ski jumper, which was the inspirational side of it. But the thing that I liked about it was, 'Oh yeah, I just have to find a sport that's not on the books and that we're not really good at and join it,'” Allen says, trailing off Laughter from .

And what about the bet?

Allen said he was inspired by Eddie The Eagle (Mike Powell/Allsport via Getty Images)

“The number was meaningless. My buddy threw out a number. I thought, 'Sure, whatever'. Yes, it was over beer… It's more of a gentleman's bet. But no one wants to make a bet! I don’t want to have to tell him he was right – I want him to have to eat crow and tell me I was right!”

So Allen got to work. In 2018, he formed the All-Pro Curling Team with three former NFL players – quarterback Marc Bulger, linebacker Keith Bulluck and offensive tackle Michael Roos – and set his sights on Beijing.

“I started as a jumper, nobody had ever done curling – we were four football players. Life took off and I ended up joining a few other teams. I had no ego, so I ended up playing lead and was pretty good at lead and pretty good at sweeping. So that's where I found my place. I really enjoy playing second – I think second is a fun position. But wherever they tell me they need me, I fit in.”

Even though he didn't make it to the 2022 Games, Allen has performed some minor miracles on the ice.

“I beat (John) Shuster two years ago at the nationals in Denver, last year we beat a team that was in the top 30 in the world, we had some success in Switzerland and Canada, I have to beat some really strong teams play.”, and it was a fun deal.”

But get ready. Just as the Milan-Cortina Winter Games come into view, the plot twist comes.

“I probably won’t play this year,” said Allen, 42. “My team kind of disbanded. A man on my team retired. Another guy has moved on. And then I was actually invited to play this year with Korey Dropkin as his alternate, but USA Curling and the USOPC blamed me and said I didn't have a good enough curling resume.

“Your exact words. We won the national championships and all the trials, but they replaced me as deputy.

“And then they changed our rules – we used to have a two-year point lead for Olympic Trials qualification and now they take the top three point scorers of the year based on their year to date, and then I do a one-tournament play -in.”

Does this mean the Olympic dream… is over?

Allen plays in London (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

“NO! NO! I still have time. I still love curling, I'll still practice, we'll get there,” says Allen. “A lot of people aren't playing this year. Unless you can get to the slams, Shuster, Dropkin and (Danny) Casper have almost already secured the first three places.

“Everyone is asking themselves, 'Why are we traveling and wasting our time for the next year and a half on these tournaments that mean nothing to us?' So everyone’s just trying to train for next year, put together a team for The Challenger and try to win the play-in.”

If Allen wins his bet, it would be another story for one of the greatest NFL personalities of the 21st century.

Allen was drafted by Kansas City in 2004 and traded to Minnesota four years later as the highest-paid defensive player at the time.

The 2009 Vikings are one of the NFL's best fast teams and were led by quarterback Brett Favre to the NFC Championship in the Superdome. There they were beaten by themselves (six fumbles, three lost, two interceptions and 12 men in the huddle in the fourth quarter to knock them out of field goal range) and the New Orleans Saints, who would later be blamed for the Bountygate scandal were punished.

“If we beat the Saints and win the Super Bowl, our 2009 season will go down as one of the best seasons in NFL history,” Allen said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the Super Bowl because we lost that controversial game.”

Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears in 2014 and was traded to the Carolina Panthers in September 2015 for one last hurray. The 15-1 Panthers almost made it all the way, losing Super Bowl 50 to the Denver Broncos.

“It was great fun. It's one of those surreal moments. I tell people that statistically it was my least productive year of my career – I was dealing with injuries and everything – but it was the most successful of my career because the goal is to win the Super Bowl.”

Allen after setting the Vikings franchise single-season sack record (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Allen's career is worthy of Canton (he's been a finalist for four years). He led the league in sacks twice (2007 and 2011), the second time with 22, which made Michael Strahan sweat about losing his all-time record (22.5).

There are plenty of highlight reel moments. These include his one-handed sack on Eli Manning and the tête-à-tête with Donald Penn. And then there's his contribution to one of the most infamous plays in NFL history. You know that.

It was 2008 and when quarterback Dan Orlovsky played for the winless Detroit Lions, he went out of bounds in the Metrodome for safety reasons. Orlovsky — now a standout ESPN analyst — can look back and laugh. Allen still laughs about it.

“I wish he hadn't run out the back – I could have actually beaten him! It was my bag. I actually laughed because Kevin Williams had like four sacks in that game, so I tried to catch up to him. He was angry. This year we had a close sack race. I got a cheap model. I got a free gift!

“To my credit, I have to say that I have mastered the tight end. I was wide open! Could have strangled him. It was a good job that they called a safety,” Allen said.

Johnny Knoxville wasn't so lucky. As the broader public embraced Allen with his signature mullet and everyman appeal, he was invited to California in 2010 to film a segment called “The Blindside” for “Jackass 3.”

“It was a fun deal. Knoxville is a great guy – I still talk to Johnny. I actually found out later that I had severed his sternum when I attacked him from behind.

“We filmed the run where he catches the ball over the middle a few times. He's like, 'Man, come on!' So if you want to see what I'm actually doing, let's drop back to make a pass and I'll hit you from behind. So we did that. There was only one version of that!”

Allen, returning to England for the first time since the Vikings beat Pittsburgh at Wembley in 2013, will be inducted into the London Ring of Honor for Sunday's game between the New York Jets and Minnesota.

He likes what he's seen from his former team so far this season.

“They are aggressive. The most impressive thing is that they get what they need out of their new acquisitions, which are already achieving great success. This is what you like to see when selecting free agents.

“Hats off to the coaching staff for selecting the players that fit their system and creating a system and environment in which they can be successful.”

And he may well be facing a familiar enemy. It's been almost 15 years to the day since Favre and the Vikings defeated the Packers on Monday Night Football. Allen recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks against Aaron Rodgers in a raucous Metrodome. “It was a great day,” he says. “Goodness. Time flies. Whenever I see Aaron, it's very warm!”

But first he wants to find some decent food. “My wife and children are coming, so I want to show them some sights. I want to find some good pubs, have a few pints and some sausages and mash.”

Who knows, maybe he'll meet Eddie the Eagle.

(Top photo: David Berding/Getty Images)