'Fear, Respect & The Pursuit of Greatness'

Over the course of 14 minutes from the stage in Canton, Jared explained his why, which became his how.

The burning desire to be great fueled him on the way to becoming the 380^th enshrinee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He blended humor and lessons learned during his marketing studies at Idaho State. This included the concept "they call selling your why."

"The why is your long game. It's what drives you to get up and take whatever steps necessary to achieve your goal. So my why can be summed up with three things: fear, respect and the pursuit of greatness.

"When I'm talking about fear, I'm not talking about that type of fear that cripples you and makes you avoid something," he added. "I'm talking about that healthy fear of failure, that fear that motivates you to do whatever you can to succeed, that type of fear that lets you get knocked down and then realize you don't want to get knocked down again, so you pick yourself up, you learn and improve.

"Respect — I've only played this game for two reasons: the respect of my peers and the respect of those who came before me," he continued. "I will never forget the day I got an email from Jack Youngblood telling me that he thought I played the game the right way. That, to me, is worth more than any All-Pro I've ever gotten.

"The pursuit of greatness — when you respect something or someone so much that you want to honor that thing or that person by being the best you can possibly be," Jared said. "That's why I had the NFL sack leaders taped up in my locker every season, so I could show up to work and physically see greatness and never allow myself to feel like I arrived. Now I apply this why to everything in my life: to my walk with Christ, to my marriage, to being a father; you name it, you've got to have a why."

Jared's 136 sacks in regular-season games from his rookie season through his final campaign were the most in the NFL during that span, topping 2023 inductee DeMarcus Ware (134.5) and 2024 addition Julius Peppers (117). The total ranks 12^th in the NFL since 1982 when sacks became an official statistic.

The defensive end's 19 fumble recoveries and 49.5 sacks on third downs were the most leaguewide from 2004-15.

Jared also previously earned placement in Hall of Fame company by tying for second with Gold Jackets Bruce Smith and Kevin Greene for the most seasons ranked in the Top 10 in the NFL in sacks (eight seasons). Only Hall of Famer Reggie White (11) has posted more Top 10 finishes.

Despite being lightly scouted in Pocatello, he played 12 NFL seasons, spending the bulk of his career with the Vikings (2008-13). Jared started his pro journey with the Chiefs (2004-07) and later played for the Bears (2014-15) and Panthers (2015).

In the video in which Ron presented his son, he thought back to the pre-draft scouting bio that said Jared "wasn't big enough, strong enough, fast enough to play the NFL" and enjoyed a laugh.

"When you tell Jared he can't do something, he's going to prove you wrong by any way means, shape or form," Ron resolutely explained. "He's very self-motivated, so something like that fueled the fire pretty good."

Turning Point & Trade

Jared explained during the SKOL Stories interview how much inspiration he's drawn from Ron's father Ray.

"My grandpa meant the world to me," Jared said. "My grandpa was my hero. I think that's where I'm really, truly blessed: I never had to look outside my family for personal heroes. It's a question that gets asked a lot. It's easy for me because it was my grandfather and my dad.

"My dad from the standpoint, it's funny because you see the letters as a kid, he had a taste of the NFL, was a big, awesome football player," Jared said. "[I kid him now,] 'You were a camp body. You barely got a taste,' but that's more than most people get. As a kid, it was so motivating to have a dad coaching you that had some validity behind it.

"My grandfather was a hero in a totally different capacity. He was this tough, stoic, cowboy to the sense. Always in his hat and vest," Jared continued. "He had a way of drawing you to him. I just loved being around him. I don't know if I even heard him tell me he loved me. He was emotionless, 23 years in the Marine Corps, fought multiple conflicts. You hear stories of your grandpa, and as you get older and find out they're true and just partial stories, you understood his medals, it's like, 'Holy crap.' "

Some turn tail when they get to a turning point. The best and boldest turn it up.

Jared had delivered 27.5 sacks through his first three seasons with Kansas City, but a bad decision resulted in a DUI and a two-game suspension to start 2007.

Ray called Jared and said, "I didn't drag this last name through multiple conflicts for you to [mess] it up."

After pausing for multiple seconds, Jared explained, "It meant a lot to me because, 'Wow, he's not wrong.' Here's my hero, the reason I'm sitting here today, and I'm thinking because I'm a professional football player that I can go out and act any way because society is not going to tell me to chill out.

"For him to tell me that, it really spoke volumes and made me feel like I'm letting him down. How dare I tarnish something he worked so hard to keep alive," Jared continued. "He wasn't worried about tarnishing. He was worried about carrying it through, so that resonated with me and made me want to be better. It made me understand what my last name meant."

Despite only playing in 14 games that season, Jared led the NFL with 15.5 sacks. Talks for an extension with the Chiefs went nowhere fast. After Kansas City rejected a proposal from Jared and his agent, the duo began convincing the Chiefs to figure out a trade.

Jared was interested in Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

Vikings Executive Director of Player Development Les Pico had overlapped with Jared in Kansas City.

"The moment Jared Allen walked into the building at Kansas City, he was a bigger-than-life personality," Pico recalled. "He was confident but not arrogant. His primary concern was when he'd be on the field."

Pico vouched for Jared being at a stage "where he was making every effort to make significant changes in his life so he could have success not only on the field but off" in conversations with Vikings leadership including Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski and former General Manager Rick Spielman.

"I knew in his heart he was ready and dialed in," said Pico.

Vikings leadership concluded the same, sending a 2008 first-round pick, two thirds and a sixth to the Chiefs in exchange for Jared and a selection that was used to pick John Sullivan in the sixth, and working out a contract that made him the NFL's highest-paid defensive player.

"I've had two moments in my life that were fearful actually," Jared confessed. "When I got drafted, it was one of the highest highs of my life because it was my lifelong goal to make it to the NFL, but it was also terrifying because I had just accomplished my lifelong goal. Now what? I don't want to be a bust, so now I have to reset my goals.

"[After becoming] the highest paid defensive player in NFL history … I'm like, 'Oh, crap.' You don't want to be the guy, a one-trick pony, you get paid and shut it down, so now, 'I need to reset goals again," he added. "How do I refocus, get all that weight and distraction off you and just play ball.' But man, to come to an organization like the Vikings, they made it easy.

Pico saw Spielman at the combine this year, just weeks after Jared was announced as a member of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. Spielman reminded Pico of the pre-trade discussion.

"I got a call from Rick Spielman to come up to his office not much before [we signed Jared]. Ownership was in there, Rick was in there, and Rick asked me how I felt," Pico recalled. "I said, 'Jared is dialed in, and I know men can change, and Jared is ready and wants change. He desires success on and off the field.'

"Rick said, 'Here's the deal. If there are more problems off the field, not only will Jared's job be in jeopardy, but you'll lose your job. Are you still willing to sign off?' And I didn't hesitate because I knew his heart," Pico said. "I knew where he was as a man, and I said, 'Absolutely, I'll stand on the table for Jared,' and I didn't ever share that with Jared because I didn't want there to be any more pressure on him. I never said anything to him [until this spring] when I brought him in to speak with the rookies. Jared had a big smile on his face."

Brzezinski, known for salary cap solutions, is a big-time believer in people.

"I think that's a big thing. People want to be believed in," Brzezinski said. "We believed in him; he believed in us. It was a mutual relationship that really fostered, and it was just a pleasure to see him grow as a person, as a human, as a player in the years that he was with us, and it was a fantastic ride."

The Vikings Ride and Beyond

Jared quickly connected with the Williams Wall (Pat and Kevin) and former defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.

"You could tell it was going to be honest, it was going to be competitive, it was going to be raw, and we were all going to get along friggin' great," he recalled.

Kevin Williams recalled how he and Pat picked up Jared at the airport prior to the trade. If the Vikings were going to make the move, they also wanted approval from the Williams Wall.

"They chose us because he was going to be playing alongside us and just wanted to get a feel for the room," Kevin said and later added: "The first time I met Jared, it was, 'Look at this guy in these boots and that hat. Can he play like they say he can?'

It turned out to be a great introductory dinner.

"I know I was excited. We got a true edge guy who could turn the corner and possibly chase guys to me," Kevin said. "I just thought it was a match made in heaven for us to get a true edge guy who could turn the corner."

Jared held up his end of the deal, never missing a game in his six seasons with Minnesota. He recorded 14.5 sacks in 2008 and 2009, helping the Vikings make the playoffs in his first two seasons with the club.

"Him coming in was like the icing on the cake," said Brad Childress, the Vikings head coach from 2006-10. "We had some pretty good defensive front guys, but really having somebody to rush the right-handed quarterback's back was a huge deal for us and made everyone better.

Childress said opponents did their best to avoid "obvious pass situations."

"When we were in the Metrodome and the noise factor, his ability to get off the snap a split second faster than the tackle lifted his hand was a great help," Childress said.

In 2010, Jared added 11 more and doubled that total for a franchise record 22 the following season.

"The biggest thing between '11 and the rest of my career was I didn't miss. I can think of every year, maybe five, 10, eight that you miss," he said. "They started coming in bunches."

Jared recorded 3.0 sacks in each game that season against the Lions and totaled 3.0 more against the Packers. In his first contest against Chicago, he recorded 1.0 and entered the Week 17 season finale against the Bears with 18.5 on the season.

"The only thing standing between Jared Allen and the NFL sacks record was me and my pride, I guess, because I did not want to be the guy that was always on the reel, getting sacked," explained Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who started for the Bears in the 2011 finale.

The Vikings sacked McCown seven times that day with Allen's 3.5 pushing his season total to a franchise record but coming just shy of the NFL mark.

"I can remember breaking out and running to my right, and I can just hear him screaming," McCown said. "I remember hearing him yelling, and I remember running, thinking, 'I'm not going down. I didn't want to be that guy, so I'm trying to try to get away and get the ball out. But that was the one last chance.

"Looking back, because of who he is and what he's about, I wish he had the record," McCown added. "I don't regret anything. I'm glad I threw the ball away, but I wish he got the record, just because of how he played, what he stands for, how he conducted himself on and off the field, just the type of dude he is and the respect that the rest of the league has for him."

Jared contends — and longtime Vikings foe Aaron Rodgers agrees — that his season total should have been 23 for a new NFL record.

"That Monday Night Football game, Aaron Rodgers got the ball, went to step up, drops the ball, and I'm dropping [Marshall] Newhouse on him," Jared recalled. "He picks up the ball, rolls out, he can still throw the ball. I chase him down, tackle him, sack. Nobody's around him. That's two sacks for the game. Wednesday, they take it back."

Stats officials ruled after the game the play should fall under the category of a team sack to Jared's chagrin.

While he'll always think about what might have been without that stat change, the prevailing takeaway from his time in Minnesota is gratitude for his achievements and personal growth, becoming a husband and father and honoring veterans through his Homes for Wounded Warriors foundation.

"That trade was a 'We believe in you.' It was more than money," Jared said. "I started becoming the man I am today from the people in that locker room and that organization. That trade to me was everything because it showed there was a team out there, 'His past is the past. We believe what he's capable of in the future. We believe him as a man.'

"I'm a firm believer God puts you where you need to be when you need to be there," Jared said.