When the Kansas City Chiefs signed Marcus Allen to be their staring running back in the early 1990s, he was already older than most running backs in the NFL today.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Allen ahead of his participation in the American Century Championship golf tournament and discussed the diminishing financial value of running backs in the modern NFL and his thoughts on Isiah Pacheco.
“You never took yourself out on occasion, but I mean not as often as you do now,” Allen said of contemporary rushers. “To me, when you take yourself out, you take yourself off the field, then allow somebody else to play, which sometimes gives them an idea of somebody else in mind.
“Our mindset was that we were never leaving the field. We’re making ourselves so valuable they can’t live without us. But today, guys make one or two runs, and they’re waving their hand and bringing somebody else in. So it almost allows this whole running back by committee to take shape and form.”
Allen was the NFL’s MVP in 1985 after leading the league in rushing with 380 carries for 1,759 yards. He holds the record for most consecutive seasons with a rushing touchdown, finishing with 16.
“Unfortunately, the league is sort of a me-too product, and if one team has success, everybody else copies it,” Allen explained. “There are running backs that, I think, are special and stay in the game, but they’re getting penalized by a mindset that guys only last so long, or they are only productive for so long.
“I played for 16 years. I like to think I was productive for 16 years and could still play for 17, but I decided not to. Me and Frank Gore, and I don’t know, whoever else played that long. They were the exception and not the rules. So I don’t know, but I like to think that if you have a great running back, you can’t help but utilize him and pay him well.”
Marcus Allen was a BADDD man 👀 pic.twitter.com/2I9zZI0Xp5
— CHIEFS HIGHLIGHTS (@ChiefsHighlight) May 11, 2020
Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco has earned a reputation as a hard-nosed runner who is willing to make contact with defenders in pursuit of extra yardage. Pacheco has dealt with injuries due to this propensity for contact over his first two seasons, as Allen chimed in on his approach per carry.
“He runs extremely hard; I’ve always had this thing: if you carry the ball and you attack every single one, you’re hit, let’s say, four times by four defenders, after 11 straight plays… you’ve been hit 44 times,” said Allen. “Being elusive is good, not trying to run everybody over on every play. I’ve always picked a side; you pick a shoulder, you try to but never make full contact, and you’ll get hit. I mean, you play this game. It’s no avoiding it.
“The good ones, obviously, instead of giving up 100 percent of their body, they give up 98.5 percent. They sometimes feel like they never played, even though they are running hard. Everybody used to criticize Franco Harris for running out of bounds on occasion; you have to. So there are times that you have to avoid contact.”
Current and former NFL stars will join Allen in this year’s tournament, including Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Josh Allen, Doug Pederson, Steve Young, John Elway, Jerry Rice, and more.
The 35th annual American Century Championship occurs from Wednesday, July 10th, through Sunday, July 14th. It airs on NBC, with special coverage on Peacock and GOLF Channel.
Check out the website for more information about the American Century Championship.
