From stacking sacks to wild cowboy celebrations, Jared Allen always brought the energy. He did not just play hard – he made sure you remembered it. Ranked 12th all-time in NFL sacks, Allen is now headed to Canton as part of the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. And let’s be real, he earned it. Allen was the only Viking who ever came close to breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record. He finished with 136 sacks over 12 seasons, and he didn’t just walk away but made sure to ride off like a classic cowboy. It was the most Jared Allen way to say goodbye to the game. He always stood out, even post-retirement. 

From throwing quarterbacks to the ground to throwing his hands up like he’d just roped a calf, Allen played the game his way. Even more than the stats, fans remember the flair. The cowboy hat. Even more than the stats, fans remember the flair. The cowboy hat. The celebrations. Even before his one-handed sack on Eli Manning, Allen had been celebrating his sacks the wild way. But not every celebration he did on the field was taken as lightly as he might’ve wanted. Recently, the former DE just opened up to talk about the stories behind those epic moments in his NFL career. 

On The Pat McAfee Show, Jared Allen recently pulled back the curtain on some of his most talked-about moments in the NFL. During the show, Darius Butler asked him about his “I’ve arrived” moment. When did Allen realize he truly belonged in the NFL? “Early in my career, I took some lumps on the practice field,” Allen said. “But I got to practice every day against Willie Roaf. I think he’s the best tackle to ever play. And if I could learn to beat him, I knew I could beat anybody.” That mindset paid off. Allen recalled one of his first sacks – against the Texans. “I obliterated the tackle… And I thought, ‘Okay, we can do this.’” But Allen did not just stop there, he also shared more jaw-dropping stories and one of them was of him being fined. 

Allen recalled that as a rookie, he was still under the rule of the veterans. “So when I was a rookie… the vets would make stuff up for me to do on Saturday… one game they’d make me do spirit fingers.” Allen said, laughing. “No joke, I got a $5,000 fine my first sack. It was a precinct, so it didn’t count against Eli. I did the old, like slap the leg, the… flex the leg out, you know, like bodybuilders do. They said it was se—–y suggestive… $5,000!” That $5K fine came before the real Eli Manning takedown, but the drama stuck with him. 

Throughout his NFL career, the former defensive end racked up several penalties for on-field incidents. In 2008, the league fined him $25,000 for a roughing-the-passer hit on Aaron Rodgers. That same year, he took a $50,000 hit to his pay for delivering two illegal blows to Matt Schaub. In 2012, he faced another fine, this time $21,000, for a blindside block that led to Lance Louis tearing his ACL. However, fines never stopped Allen from being Allen with his signature post-sack celebrations. And there’s a story behind that, too.

Jared Allen reveals the origin of his authentic celebration style 

On the Pat McAfee Show, Allen went on to share how the veteran-imposed wild rituals went on and on for his first couple of years in the NFL. “I had to do the lawn mower one week. They would make me do like high kicks. So finally, it was it was they made me do all sorts of dumb stuff,” he said. In short, it got ridiculous. However, things had to change at one point. 

Allen recalled, “Neil Smith got put in the Ring of Honor and I did his celebration. Hit a home run, had a couple sacks against the good old Chargers… But got a couple sacks and Neil was like, ‘Hey, man. I appreciate you doing my celebration. [But] You need to do something that’s, you know, that’s you.'” And that’s when it clicked. In a league full of players, Allen had to find his own identity to make his own name. So, he had to wonder what makes him unique? That’s how he ended up down memory lane. 

Jared Allen grew up on a horse ranch in Northern California. At age 8, he told his dad he’d play pro football. In the meantime, he was out there roping calves, raising horses, and soaking in ranch life. “I was like man when you calf rope right you throw the calf down you tie up three legs put your hands in the air to stop the clock,”  he said. “So we started doing that on quarterbacks about year… I think my second year and it stuck.”

What followed was one of the most recognizable sack celebrations in NFL history, and it was just him bringing his roots to the field. And that is how Allen defined his legacy. With a mountain of sacks and cowboy celebrations, Jared Allen will be remembered as one of the most authentic personalities in the league.