Allen had a nodding acquaintance with history

Originally published October 4, 1986.

Before yesterday, Kevin Allen was already destined for a place in Eagles history - as a player who lost his starting job while in the hospital, as someone who managed to sleep through an entire day of training camp, as perhaps the biggest first-round bust in team history.

Yesterday was when Allen and his roommate, Scott Cartwright, were arrested and charged with raping a woman and severely beating her male companion in a Labor Day incident on the beach at Margate, N.J.

Cartwright once worked for the Eagles as an intern in the marketing department. His tenure, apparently, was uneventful. Front office employees struggled yesterday to remember anything about him.

On the other hand, Allen's selection in the first round of the 1985 draft guaranteed that he would live his professional football life in the spotlight. And that spotlight never treated him kindly - not from the moment he was drafted until the moment he was released by the Eagles on Tuesday.

The Eagles were choosing the ninth player in that 1985 NFL draft, and they shocked a lot of people by picking Allen, an offensive lineman from Indiana University. He had the size a team looks for - 6-foot-5 and 284 pounds. There was much talk about his"raw talent."

But many wondered why he looked so good on some plays and so bad on others. One pre-draft analysis stated that Allen was"built like Tarzan; plays like Jane." The pick was not particularly popular.

Allen's rookie season got off to a late start because of a prolonged contract holdout. Finally, he settled on a four-year, $1.65 million deal. And, despite having only 10 days of training camp, the coaches inserted Allen into the opening day lineup at left tackle.

The move was a disaster. Leonard Marshall of the New York Giants got an early jump on Pro Bowl balloting with three quarterback sacks in the opener, all of them right over Allen. By one count, Allen allowed 8 1/2 sacks in the Eagles' first four games before the coaches made a change. Allen played only on special teams the rest of the season.

When Allen showed up overweight to an off-season minicamp, new coach Buddy Ryan said Allen"doesn't fit into any of my plans right now." Seven weeks later, after some work to reduce his weight, Allen was penciled in as the Eagles' starting left guard. That was Allen's status as training camp began.

Allen kept the job for one day. He collapsed at the end of the Eagles' first day of practice and was hospitalized overnight for cramps and dehydration. He had been bothered by the same ailments at Indiana, but never so severely. The problem was not apparent in the summer of 1985 because Allen missed so much of training camp during his contract holdout.

Anyway, Ryan gave away the starting job while Allen was hospitalized. Allen returned to practice, but continued having problems making it through an entire practice. Ryan's patience clearly wore thin. At one point, the coach said Allen"doesn't exist."

Then came the big sleep. Allen somehow - despite telephone calls to his room, despite pounding on his door - managed to sleep through a morning practice. Awakened after lunch, he made it to the training room, but not to the playing field. He was seen sleeping on a trainer's table after the afternoon practice.

That was the day Ryan uttered this now-classic line:"You mean the General? You know, everybody calls him the General, don't you? Like 'General Hospital. '"

That day, Ryan said Allen's days with the Eagles were numbered. Several weeks later, as the weather cooled and Allen was able to practice more, Ryan reversed his field and said Allen would make the team as a backup. But all the while, concern about Allen's medical condition grew.

The club sent Allen to a series of doctors in an attempt to determine the cause of the cramps and dehydration. At one point, Eagles trainer Otho Davis speculated that Allen's system was malfunctioning. Most bodies burn fat for energy, Davis said, but Allen's seemed to be burning muscle. That would cause the cramps.

The Eagles placed Allen on the reserve-non football injury list as they awaited results of the medical tests. The final set of tests were conducted at a New York hospital, beginning Labor Day. The Eagles said the tests revealed no medical disorder. They waived Allen on Tuesday, in effect admitting that Allen's first-round selection had been a huge mistake.