DEVON ALLEN GOES PRO

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

Here's an NFL.com article on the decision:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000740951/article/devon-allen-forgoes-ncaa-eligibility-will-pursue-pro-track-career

Here's a video from last night where he says the rehab from his second knee surgery is going well.

"Everything is going well...."

He then says he hasn't made his mind up yet, but then reverses course and says, "I'm making an announcement tomorrow/

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2016/11/watch_devon_allen_discusses_hi.html

DuckLover wrote:

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

The amazing thing is with knee surgeries now athletes don't appear to lose anything. If he loses a step from injury #2, that's it for him. In football you can lose a step and still play. Not so in track.

At the LetsRun.com Poker Classic in Eugene at the Olympic Trials, I met one of Devon's high school coaches. He said a few interesting things. He said he thought Devon's best event might be the 400m hurdles (Devon ran the 300m hurdles in high school), but he didn't ever see him actually running it because he thought Devon could eventually break the 110m hurdle world record.

This was all said in the course of a poker game and not an "official" interview pso take it for what's it worth. But still Pretty interesting.

What you didn't mention was that he is going pro IN TRACK, according to the nfl.com article. Good move and concentrating on track in a perfect world would have happened sooner but the money and attention for the NFL was hard to turn down until the injuries piled up.

DuckLover wrote:

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

Hey, hobby jogger: Are you forgetting the 2017 & 2019 World Championships? Many T&F athletes have stated that the WC are more competitive and sometimes more important than the Olympics.

perspective2 wrote:

DuckLover wrote:

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

Hey, hobby jogger: Are you forgetting the 2017 & 2019 World Championships? Many T&F athletes have stated that the WC are more competitive and sometimes more important than the Olympics.

Yeah but winning the olympics is something real people care about too

I think he should attempt football as a kick returner. He should make a bunch more $, and I dont see him getting better on the track. He's not THAT fast and he's only 5"10. He's reached his max

DuckLover wrote:

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

Ever heard of Omar McLeod?

XY wrote:

I think he should attempt football as a kick returner. He should make a bunch more $, and I dont see him getting better on the track. He's not THAT fast and he's only 5"10. He's reached his max

The 400 hurdle comment is interesting. That may be his best event long term. He should stick with 110 through the 2017 Worlds and then maybe consider the 400 closer to 2019.

But to say that he's not that fast given his age and the times he put out over last year is totally bogus. Hurdlers only get better with age because technique and rhythm are such a huge part of the race.

(He's also probably closer to 6'0. He's listed as 6'1 on some football sites. I'm 5'10 and have stood next to him and he's definitely taller than me.)

he almost broke 13 after coming back from a knee injury, while training much of the year as a football player. it's obvious that he has the potential to run under 13.

Ha...not going to get faster than he has is so off-side. The kid ran 13.01 this year as a footballer. He clearly is phenonm who can go under 13...Even if he never goes any faster, if he could run low-13s for 10 more years, he will make a fortune and win a lot of medals.

He doesn't even have a sponsor yet. They will wait until he is healthy and runs fast. Will he stay on scholarship and run track at UO in the Spring? Also curious about a two sport athlete, if the football and track programs are splitting his scholarship.

perspective2 wrote:

DuckLover wrote:

Great move by him. He's still training with Oregon for the remainder of the year though.

Devon Allen: 2020 110 Hurdles Gold Medalist - you heard it here first.

Hey, hobby jogger: Are you forgetting the 2017 & 2019 World Championships? Many T&F athletes have stated that the WC are more competitive and sometimes more important than the Olympics.

Obviously the WCs are important, but there are a few reasons why I said Olympics.

A) He needs time to develop: no way he wins a WC next year in 2017

B) I'm no Olympian, but I'm fairly certain most people would consider winning the Olympics more important than the WC. In the 400m, is Kirani James winning a WC in 2015 more impressive than Van Niekerk's Gold Medal?

Van N set a world record (that was previously set at the world champs), of course it was more impressive.

DuckLover wrote:

In the 400m, is Kirani James winning a WC in 2015 more impressive than Van Niekerk's Gold Medal?

No, especially considering that Kirani James didn't win the world championships in 2015.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

DuckLover wrote:

In the 400m, is Kirani James winning a WC in 2015 more impressive than Van Niekerk's Gold Medal?

No, especially considering that Kirani James didn't win the world championships in 2015.

You're right he won in 2013, but my point still remains. Winning a WC does not compete with an Olympic Gold medal, even though they are both, obviously, impressive.

Coach wrote:

Van N set a world record (that was previously set at the world champs), of course it was more impressive.

Eh world championships might be more competitive but definitely not more important. Everyone knows Bolt is a 3 time gold medalist in the 100m, how many world championships has he won? I don't know. He's a 9 time gold medalist. I have no idea how many times he's won the world championships.

Also I know there is more money involved in winning an olympic medal and money is certainly important to athletes.