Before now, Ricardo Allen’s professional football highlight came last season when he was one of the featured rookies on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
There was a locker-room issue, a zip-lining trip and the revelation about his superhero drawer full of garments.
But, the former fifth-round pick and his then girlfriend, Grace, would battle through those times. In one of the more memorable scenes, they would pull a word on a stick out of a jar and go over its motivational meaning for the day.
Fast forward. They’ve since married, and they are out of sticks.
However, Allen, who was moved to free safety by the new coaching staff, has plenty to be motivated about after getting cut and brought back to the practice squad last season.
He’s working with the first team as the Falcons try to find a free safety under first-year coach Dan Quinn.
Winning a starting position is enough to be hyper-motivated.
“It’s always an encouraging word,” Allen said. “Every now and then, when times get bad, we go to them. We have done it so long that we do it for bad times now.”
The word he’s using during training camp is a simple one. “‘Focus,’” he said. “I have to just stay focused every day.”
At Purdue, Allen racked up 253 tackles, intercepted 13 passes and scored four touchdowns. The Falcons were impressed with his speed and tackling, Quinn said.
He’s off to a good start in training camp.
“I like him a lot, too,” defensive coordinator Richard Smith said. “I love his speed an athletic ability. He’s doing a great job with it. Once again, coming into these preseason games there is going to be a good battle at that position.”
Allen was drafted as a cornerback, but the new staff believes his skills are better suited for free safety in the new 4-3 under defensive scheme.
“He’s got speed and range,” Smith said. “That’s why we put him there. That’s what we were looking for.”
While William Moore is an apparent lock at strong safety, the Falcons are not ready to announce Allen as the starting free safety. Charles Godfrey, Kemal Ishmael, Sean Baker, Terrell Floyd and Damian Parms are the other safeties in training camp.
During practices, Allen hasn’t looked out of place, but he needs to be more patient and let things develop before he makes his move. He gets to the ball with ease and breaks down to make tackles.
“Ricardo Allen, I’m so excited for his progress with him coming in at a new position,” Moore said.
Allen has moved ahead of Godfrey and Ishmael, who have more NFL experience.
“I think that whole position is going to be a great battle,” Smith said. “We have some younger guys in there who are doing really well, too. I like his demeanor. He’s serious about it. He’s the first guy in the building.”
After being released last season, Allen was re-signed and stashed on the team’s practice squad. He was promoted off the practice squad in December.
He acknowledges that last season was tough mentally.
“Every day in this league is a blessing,” Allen said. “Yeah, you can take it as being a disappointment. Or, you can look at it as, God has a plan for you. I always believed that God had a plan for me.”
He tried to remain upbeat through it all.
“He put me in that position for a reason in order to make me keep working harder,” Allen said. “That made me stay humble and let me keep chasing my dream. That’s how I took it every day.”
Allen tried to learn as much as he could while on the practice squad.
“I took it as a redshirt year,” Allen said. “I came back with a chip on my shoulder. I’m ready to prove myself. I’m ready to show this team what my worth is and that I’m ready to play with them.”
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