Jonathan allen – an american football defensive

Jonathan Allen is an American football defensive end who started playing for Washington Redskins after he was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Like most footballers in the United States, Allen played the game in college at Alabama. He was ranked second best defensive end by ESPN and was a five-star recruit who was ranked amongst the top of his class.

Jonathan Allen Biography

Jonathan Allen was born in Anniston, Alabama on January 16, 1995. He was less than a year old when his military father, Richard Allen, a nuclear biological chemical specialist in the Army, was transferred and had to take the family to live in Pittsburgh. Growing up, Allen also lived in several other cities/states: South Carolina, Seattle, North Carolina and Maryland, before settling down in Ashburn, Virginia, where he transferred from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake and began to play football at Stone Bridge High School. When Allen’s father enrolled him in Stone Bridge High School, he had no plans or idea it was a school district with a football power.

During his senior year, in 2012, Allen earned a spot as the Virginia Gatorade Football Player of the Year.

Family

After his parents got divorced, Allen and his older brother Richard III were separated for a while; Richard III went to live with their father and Jonathan stayed with their mother for about five years. Allen lost track of his mother since third grade and the family didn’t know where she is. While living with his mother, Allen had quite an unstable life, moving from one hotel to the other and missing school to the extent of repeating the second grade. This made the child custody services in South Carolina to intervene, sparking a child custody battle between Allen’s parents. In 2004, a judge ruled that the two brothers are better off with their father and stepmother whom Jonathan Allen said he loved to death. Yet the brothers wondered whatever happened to their mother after she was asked to receive a psychological evaluation before she is allowed to speak to her sons again.

Career

Jonathan Allen committed to play college football for the University of Alabama after graduating high school. Rated five-star recruit and ranked amongst the top of his class which brought him wide recognition. Starting off as a freshman in Alabama in 2013, he played in 13 games and had 16 tackles. The following year and as a sophomore, Allen played in all 14 games, making 12 starts.

In 2015, his efforts for the Crimson Tide led the team to win the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. His college statistics from 2013 to 2016 shows he played in 50 games; made 152 tackles; 44. 5 losses; 28 sacks and 3 forced fumble.

Analysis if NFL and NCAA in the United States rated Allen as a top defensive tackle and projecting him to be a top-five pick for the NFL draft. However, it wasn’t as predicted after he was diagnosed with arthritis in one of his shoulders and had to undergo surgery. Nevertheless, he was 17th player picked in the 82nd NFL Draft on April 27, 2017, by Washington Redskins. It was his first NFL contract that will last for four years with a team option for a fifth season and is worth $11. 59 million including a guaranteed signing bonus of $6. 57 million.