Taje Allen
{{Short description|American football player (born 1973)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Taje Allen
| number = 20, 26
| position = Cornerback
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|11|6}}
| birth_place = Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 10
| weight_lb = 185
| high_school = Lubbock (TX) Estacado
| college = Texas
| draftyear = 1997
| draftround = 5
| draftpick = 158
| pastteams =
- St. Louis Rams ({{NFL Year|1997|2000}})
- Kansas City Chiefs ({{NFL Year|2001|2002}})
| highlights =
- Super Bowl champion (XXXIV)
- Second-team All-SWC (1995)
- 1994 Sun Bowl champion
| statlabel1 = Tackles
| statvalue1 = 83
| statlabel2 = Interceptions
| statvalue2 = 2
| statlabel3 = Sacks
| statvalue3 = 0.5
| pfr = AlleTa20
}}
Taje LaQayne Allen (born November 6, 1973) is an American former professional football player who played cornerback for six seasons for the St. Louis Rams, with whom he won Super Bowl XXXIV, and the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL).{{cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/tajeallen/profile?id=ALL645442|title=Taje Allen|website=NFL.com}}
College career
{{Unsourced BLP section|date=June 2025}}
Allen played college football at the University of Texas where he helped the Longhorns with the last two Southwest Conference Championships and the first Big 12 Championship. During that time he played in the Sun Bowl (which the Longhorns won), Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. He first gained notoriety during his sophomore year when he came off the bench and knocked down a potential game-tying two-point conversion pass to help Texas beat Pittsburgh.
During his junior year, he was the Sugar Bowl roommate of Rob Weaver, a 30 year old who, right before the Sugar Bowl, was discovered to have committed fraud - playing under the name Ron McKelvey - to extend his college playing days.
During his senior year he received a Big 12 Honorable Mention.
Professional career
He was drafted by the Rams in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL Draft.{{Cite web |title=1997 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1997/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He played four seasons with the Rams during which time he started four games. His best season was 1999 when he started 2 games in place of an injured Dexter McCleon, recorded 2 interceptions (the only two of his NFL career) and had 36 combined tackles.{{cite web |title=Taje Allen Stats |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleTa20.htm |access-date=8 May 2023}} He won a Super Bowl ring that season with the Rams. Though he did not play in Super Bowl XXXIV he knocked down a potentially game-winning 4th down pass into the end zone at the end of the NFC Championship Game.{{cite news |title=Titans, Rams Pack for Atlanta |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=24 January 2000}}
Following the 2000 season he became an unrestricted free agent and was signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs. The Chiefs made him available for the expansion Texans after the 2001 but he was not selected in the expansion draft. He was released by the Chiefs a few months later, but signed with them again the next day.{{cite web |title=Taje Allen Transactions |url=https://www.prosportstransactions.com/football/Search/SearchResults.php?Player=Taje+Allen&Team=&BeginDate=&EndDate=&PlayerMovementChkBx=yes&submit=Search |access-date=8 May 2023}} The 2002 season was his last in which he saw limited playing time, being inactive for all but 6 games.
After retiring from football, he moved to Cedar Park, Texas, where he got into sports management first working as an Event Operations Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin and then for the Austin Convention Center.{{cite web |title=Taje Allen,17-Year Department Veteran, Former Longhorn, NFL Player Promoted to Assistant Director at Austin Convention Center Department |url=https://www.austinconventioncenter.com/press-releases/taje-allen-17-year-department-veteran-former-longhorn-nfl-player-promoted-to/ |access-date=10 July 2023}} He has three sons and a daughter. His son Eamon became a defensive back and kick returner for Sam Houston State.{{cite web |title=2023 Sam Houston State roster |url=https://gobearkats.com/sports/football/roster/emon-allen/8883 |access-date=10 July 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{St. Louis Rams 1997 draft navbox}}
{{Super Bowl XXXIV}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Taje}}
Category:Players of American football from Lubbock, Texas
Category:American football cornerbacks
Category:Texas Longhorns football players