College football: Ranking the NFL careers of Heisman Trophy winners 1975-2005

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 6. Marcus Allen, RB, USC

Marcus Allen seems to be the forgotten all-time great. Allen was insane in college playing for the University of Southern California. He started his college career there in 1978, but it was his senior season in 1981 where he had the look of one of the best to hit the gridiron. 2,342 yards broke the record for most yards in a college football season at the time (it’s still fourth all time). Allen was the winner of the Heisman, just destroying names like Dan Marino and Herschel Walker in the final voting.

Allen was immediately great on the field. His first season was shortened by a player strike, but he still won the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Allen would win the NFL MVP just two years later, running for 1,759 and 11 touchdowns. In his first Super Bowl in 1984, Allen broke 200 total yards against the Washington Football Team. In that game, he had a 74-yard touchdown run, which at the time was the longest in championship history. It was broken until Willie Parker in Super Bowl XL.

After an incredible start to his career with the Los Angeles Raiders, Allen’s career fell off the rails in the last few seasons under the Raiders’ regime. Allen was pushed to backup duty and forced to watch as other players got to play ahead of him despite still being effective when he was given the ball. He had a strained relationship with owner Al Davis, and he even called him a “cancer” on the record.

Allen made the Hall of Fame despite coming short of 1,000 yards in his final 12 seasons. His peak was unstoppable. It’s a wonder where he would end up if the Raiders didn’t keep him down seemingly on purpose.