Eagles' Allen: 'We've done some things this offseason'
Safety has been among the more maligned positions on the Eagles as the dissection of an 8-8 season continues, and most expect the Eagles to target the position in the draft.
Eagles' Allen: 'We've done some things this offseason'
Daily News staff
Safety has been among the more maligned positions on the Eagles as the dissection of an 8-8 season continues, and most expect the Eagles to target the position in the draft.
Nate Allen, who enters his third year after being a second-round pick in 2010, says to expect things to be different.
“I’m very comfortable in the system," Allen said. "We’ve done some things this offseason. I’m excited to get back up there with the playbook and getting with the guys and getting ready for the season.”
Among those things is the addition of middle linebacker DeMeeco Ryans in a trade with Houston.
Allen is expected to return to Philadelphia on Thursday.
Allen returned to his hometown of Cape Coral, Fla., yesterday to speak to 600 middle school students at Fort Myers Middle Academy to prepare for the FCAT, a standardized test given to students across Florida to help them prepare for high school.
“I just want to encourage them and let them know that it’s important and that they should take it seriously,” said Allen, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. “I want to emphasize that to them. They might not understand it right now. It’s very important for them to move on to the next level.”
Allen donated $1,500 worth of new uniforms to the school's basketball teams. Nate’s father, Jackie, works at the school as a security guard. His mother, Darlene, also attended his talk to students. Nate also ate lunch with several of the school's athletes after his presentation.
Allen had 48 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions in 13 starts last season. Allen said his goal initally was to make a Pro Bowl when he turned pro, but that he has changed his mindset.
“Winning a Super Bowl is the main thing,” Allen said. “Most NFL guys, they’d give up a Pro Bowl any day to win a Super Bowl.”
“I’m working hard,” he said. “I want to make as many plays as I can. And it’s not just on the field. As an organization, we give back a lot. The Eagles are real big on giving back to the community. We’re one of the top teams in the league for giving back. That’s the main thing. That’s important to me.”
I believe that one quick fact slipped into the article is more indicative of what kind of person Nate Allen is than anything else. It mentions that his dad works as a security guard at that school. He has a "rich son" who he did not ask to help him change his life. That says a lot of positives about who raised our safety! You usually do turn out to be a lot like the old man if he was a positive influence. That is the kind of guys we need on the Eagles.— gotedge- @— gotedge
"like"
— osi is hurt boohoo - well said gotedge.— Clt Philly Fan
Comment removed.- Want to see him and Jarrett playing together from day one. Don't need any Jarrad Pages taking up space. Throw them into the fire and see if they're worth 2nd rounders, if not, move on next season.— JCKevo
- Yeah, who cares if he's an awful football player, as long as he's a character guy. I'd much rather have a congenial safety than one who knows how to play football.— philly-born
- Steve Spagnuolo- is that you? — Nobody Important
Another article designed to make us forget that they drafted Brandon Graham with Earl Thomas on the board... oh yea so was Jason Pierre Paul, M Pouncey, Sean Weatherspoon, Jermaine Gresham, Rob Gronkowski... all available before Allen was picked! I know hind site is 20/20 but come on!!!— desjones- Two words - Mark Barron— Bobphxville
- Pittsburgh has seven Lombardi's, so your best chance of winning an SB is that you eventually make it to Western Pennsylvania. Oh wait, they'll field only football players. Never mind.— mccloudmj
- The Steelers have SIX Lombardis. Sounds like someone is just a casual fan without a lot of knowledge. — erdessy
- Presently yes, it's SIX, not seven. Smart money says The Steelers will have have ten before AR's guys have one. — mccloudmj
- As a juvenile court attorney, first question I ask a teen client is "where's your father?" The answer tells me more salient information than any other— retzlaff
- It is great that he is such a nice guy....but unless he can play and can tackle...who cares.....This is the NFL....winning is tht only thing....and anything short of a Lombardi Trophy in AR's 13th year is utter failure....unless you are a koolade drinking lapdog or the owner...— nuggett
- This was a good article. Hopefully Nate can play hard this season.— carmendmv
- Here's a quick read on the Eagles 2012 season,
http://voices.yahoo.com/will-philidelphia-eagles-dream-team-repeat-last-11189524.html— mud-n-cleats - Hey McCloud, before you post know what you're talking about. Pittsburgh does not have 7 trophies. Granted, they have a lot but if you are going to be an idiot poster at least have the decency to have the correct facts. It's 6 moron ('74, '75, '78, '79, 2005, 2008)! Oh, and they have a rapist as a QB.— oharabri
- I had been corrected earlier. The Black and Gold have six (6), and yous have...Poor Richards Almanac. Good for you. — mccloudmj
- BTW: According to you, then, if I have the decency to have the correct facts, that will make me an idiot poster. Syntax needs a little work. Reconsider your attempt at QB felony records, Skippy. — mccloudmj
- Those comments were some of the lamest I have read in a while. It is April and there is nothing wrong with him coning from a good family... Why not speak to the fact that he is working in the off season to improve on his play coming back from a knee injury?— missurichie
- I used to be glad we went after character guys. Now I could care less. The hideous city to the left (where I grew up) has 6 trophies. We have dick! Give me a team of big, mean, ugly, fighting, trash talking, nasty players. Nate Allen seems like a true humanitarian, but if he can't lay a hit and ball hawk then send him elsewhere.— Witz79
- Wow another Philly.com article about "Ronnie Lott". He must have a subscription to the Daily News. Anyway the stats posted were from 2010. Last year he had 2 INTs and 0 sacks.— guyguy4
- The way a lot of the fans on these sites write you would imagine they had a crystal ball and knew the future. If i recall corectly no one...and i mean no one said to draft JPP, Thomas yes, but not JPP. If Allen and Graham stayed healthy their rookie years they were on pace to put up more than repectable numbers and had as much production and upside as anyone else coming in to that draft. For all the fans sakes I hope they both bounce back after 2 years removed from injury and shut all the critics up...more cause the Eagles need them to have big years if they expect to make it into the playoffs let alone a superbowl. Just think back to the Rich Kotite days, or imagine we were fans of about 28 other teams in the NFL, thats when you really have something to hate.— chrisr
- You are not exactly correct although I agree with you about the hindsight part. The great part about today's world is you can just go back and look up what people were saying regarding the draft. There was not a single mock draft i could find that had Graham ahead of JPP. In fact, Graham was considered a low 1st rd, early 2nd kind of guy. The highest projection I found for him was at 22. Also, every mock had him projected as a OLB or a stand up LB in a 3-4. Not one scout projected him as a 4-3 DE. The Eagles reached for him at 13. — UncleStosh
- To read this comments, you'd think Nate Allen was the worst safety in the NFL. I'd love to hear an argument for that, rather than summary statements.— operagost
- I won't argue he was the worst safety in the NFL but I will put it into perspective for you using the guy they let go, Mikell. Quentin Mikell has averaged twice as many tackels, TO caused(FBL and INT), sacks and passes defensed as Allen over the last two years. So Allen is basically half the player that Mikell was, not that the fans were just mouthing the same stuff the Eagles put out so they could get rid of him. Earl Thomas basically put up identical numbers as Mikell. So now you make the case that Allen is not a colossal mistake considering the examples of the guy who was here before him and the guy the Eagles should have taken. — UncleStosh
- Jst another wasted pick.He stinks.— sewell guy
- Not bad numbers from Allen.— Per Head
- See him standing out this year. A good man and a leader.— Romus
- Good person. Honorable man. Horrible Safety. Please draft Barron!— PhileaglyersFan
- Been a lot of talk about previous mock drafts...so why hasn't there been a lot of mention that most of those same mock drafts where they didn't have the Eagles taking Thomas in the 1st round had the Eagles taking Allen in the second round?— tpizza
- Pls most of those ints came against Rex Grossman same for Kurt Coleman. If Allen n Jarrett can't get it done next yr send them packing with Reid pls. Earl Thomas was right there waiting, I'm not gonna jump on the JPP boat because I didn't bother scouting but I had seen enough of Thomas.— diehardeagle
- at #15 you take lavonte david, then at 46/51 get the dt and...— Richard S
- Eagles need to bring Dawkins in for one year to show Allen and Jarrett the way you're supposed to play safety! And before calling Graham a bust, which it does look like at the moment, remember he did play last year on an injury that typically takes a year to heal from, and then get back into football playing shape . We will have a much better idea of what type of player he is during this season. Have to agree with the posters that said they reached for him, though. Gave up way too much.— antmry312
- Graham didn't play last season after his injury early in the season. Are you talking about Nate Allen?
- It's nice that the Eagles have some character guys. However, as long as they have both Reid and Vick, the Lombardi trophy will NEVER be in Jeff Lurie's trophy case.— ManU63
- In 3 of the early losses last year, the eagles didn't get the ball to McCoy enough. While McCoy averaged 18 carries a game thru 15 games, in the 3 early losses he had 10, 11 and 12 carries.
When you consider the offense was turning the ball over at an alarming rate and McCoy had only one fumble all year coming late in the season, it's just another indication that Andy Reid is clueless on game day. His preparation maybe great but Reid couldn't win the weedwacker bowl, let alone a super bowl.— Fan74 - Let's hear Nate Allen thoughts AFTER he really earns a spot on the D and is not just put in because there are no other options and he was a high draft pick. Like to see something from the guy that shows he can cover and not show up after the catch, that he can take good angles and make good form tackles close to the line of scrimmage and not 20 yards down field. Not impressed at all yet but willing to give him a last chance to show what he has to offer. Just keep quite though and let your play do the talking— connorjr
