Minnesota Vikings great Jared Allen is having a career renaissance in more ways than one.
As a 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Allen has made several media appearances this year, reminiscing on his illustrious football career. In an exclusive interview with Heavy, Allen recalled the day Brett Favre came out of retirement to sign with the Vikings and his teammates’ shock at seeing Favre walking into the Vikings’ facilities as one of the most vivid memories of his playing career.
Allen is embarking on his own coming-out-of-retirement — but for curling.
The Vikings Hall of Famer is teaming up with two-time Olympic champion John Morris to compete in The Grand Slam of Curling event in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, from November 4-9.
Allen took time out of his schedule to talk with Heavy about finding curling after football, his rivalry-turned-friendship with Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings’ current quarterback quandary.
How Jared Allen Became Obsessed With Curling After Retiring From NFL
Taking on curling as part of a bet to see if he could make the Olympics in a new sport after he retired from the NFL, Allen became obsessed.
The level of precision and focus that’s required of a pass rusher translated well onto the pebbled ice for him. Allen climbed the curling circuit with the All-Pro Curling Team, competing in the U.S. nationals and defeating top-ranked teams internationally before ultimately taking a step back in the past few years.
There were some changes Allen had to make to be successful at the sport.
“It’s so different. You really have to think. A combination of physical and the mental, and you have to be precise,” Allen said. “For football, you use adrenaline to your advantage. In curling, you need to control your heart rate; you can’t get pissed off after a bad shot. You have to reset. The ice is constantly changing. All the small details have fascinated me.”
Finding lessons in many of his ventures over the years, Allen has adapted to the ever-changing ice in curling with ease.
“That’s life, man. It’s a realm of conditions where we are just trying to be consistent and not lose our minds,” he added. “What you learn in sports should directly apply to your life, whether it’s accountability to self or others, short-term memory, focus on the positive, or leave the negatives behind.”
While Allen found success in curling as a former professional athlete, he left an encouraging message that the joy of the game can be found regardless of your background.
“Just find a league and some buddies. It’s like golf: the first few times you’re all over the place; hit a couple of balls straight, you end up having fun.”
Jared Allen Addresses Vikings QB Situation With J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz
The Vikings quarterback situation has been a tough read this season, given an offensive line ravaged by injury through the first four weeks of the season.
J.J. McCarthy pulled off a heroic fourth-quarter comeback over the Chicago Bears in Week 1 but did not lead the offense to a single touchdown outside of that quarter in his first two starts.
Carson Wentz took over for McCarthy, who was injured in a Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He was efficient in a Week 3 blowout victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, completing 14-for-20 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
While the win over the Bengals was grounds for a potential quarterback dilemma, Allen put his faith in head coach Kevin O’Connell to make the right decision moving forward and said it’s not an issue this early in the season.
“They’re going to put J.J. and the team in the best situation to be successful. Clearly, Kevin has been doing this right; they know the pulse of the team.” Allen said. “If I’m Carson, I get the opportunity to work with Kevin, he must be a mentalist. These guys come in and they play like we always thought they could.”
Allen’s vote of confidence in O’Connell comes from the Vikings head coach’s track record.
Coming off a 24-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, O’Connell is currently 36-19 as a head coach with a 65.5% win percentage, ranking 17th all-time and fifth among active head coaches. He’s done so despite having three different quarterbacks as his starter in four seasons with the team. His teams are also 21-9 in single-score games as he’s instilled an unshakeable resilience within the organization.
Jared Allen Surprised by Aaron Rodgers Supporting His Case for NFL Single-Season Sack Record
Along with Allen’s Hall of Fame induction has come an argument for him to be the single-season sack record holder.
The Vikings helped in Allen’s campaign for the NFL to look back on his 2011 season by putting together a video they’ve shared on numerous platforms.
An unlikely advocate made a surprise cameo. As Allen reflected on his displeasure with the NFL taking away a sack he had on Rodgers during the 2011 season that would have given him an NFL record 23 sacks, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback vouched for the man he spent much of his career running from.
“You earned the all-time single-season sack lead. I don’t care what the numbers say because that phantom [expletive] sack they took away from you would give you the record,” Rodgers said. “In my book, you’re the all-time single-season sack leader, my friend.”
Allen admitted he was surprised to see Rodgers stand up in opposition to the snub, but it wasn’t uncharacteristic, given the friendly rivalry that grew between them for years in the NFC North.
“Aaron and I have been talking about [the record] for years. Every single time I see him, he brings it up,” Allen chuckled. “We used to talk a lot of trash, don’t get me wrong, but Aaron has been nothing but respectful to myself and my family. That was cool to see from him.”
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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