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Damon Allen never suggested he was tired of playing football, perhaps only the endless questions about when he planned to retire.
Even though there were several opportunities to go out on top in recent years — after the 2004 Grey Cup victory, or the 2005 most outstanding player award — Allen kept coming back for more, even when injuries struck and his skills and playing time began to quickly diminish.
With that in mind, it was no surprise that the 44-year-old grandfather waited until the latest possible moment to call it quits. He is to make the announcement today, just a day before quarterbacks and rookies are to begin practising for the 2008 season.
Though Allen insisted throughout this off-season he was intent on playing another season, the end has been evident since the middle of last season when he suffered a toe injury during a game in Montreal in early August. Though Allen regained his health by the end of the season, he never saw the field again. And any thought the Argos had for him in their plans for 2008 disappeared when they traded in March for last season's CFL most outstanding player, Kerry Joseph, from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Toronto Argonauts quarterback Damon Allen throws a pass against the B.C. Lions during the first half of a CFL football game in Toronto on June 28, 2007. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)
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With Joseph entering the season as No. 1 and Michael Bishop slotted in behind him, Allen would have been auditioning at training camp for the third-string job. But on most teams, that role is dedicated to a younger quarterback who needs time to develop, and the Argos have a couple they like in Reggie McNeal and Cody Pickett.
Allen was left with the uncomfortable choice between going to training camp, where he would likely be cut, or going out on his own terms.
A sure-fire future member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Allen leaves the playing field as one of the CFL's most accomplished quarterbacks and the greatest in terms of longevity and career statistics.
He began his career with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1985, playing back-up to Matt Dunigan just two seasons after Warren Moon had departed for the NFL's Houston Oilers.
After four seasons in Edmonton, which included him coming off the bench to lead the Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory in 1987, he went to Ottawa in 1989 as a highly-prized free agent. Instead of helping turn the Rough Riders franchise around, he became the object of fan frustration and moved on to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1992 before two more seasons with the Eskimos, which included another Grey Cup most valuable player performance in 1993.
In 1995, he cashed in by signing with the CFL expansion franchise in Memphis. When the Mad Dogs folded after just a season, Allen began a seven-year stint with the B.C. Lions. That ended in 2003 after the Lions signed Dave Dickenson and Allen went to Toronto.
Allen's five highest single-season passing totals all took place after his 34th birthday, an age after which many quarterbacks go into steep decline. That includes his only 5,000-yard passing season when he excelled under the tutelage of former Argos offensive co-ordinator Kent Austin with his only CFL outstanding player award.
In all, Allen played in six cities, won four Grey Cups (being named MVP three times), and completed more passing yards than any player in pro football history, an accomplishment that gained him brief notoriety during the summer of 2006.
But it was around that time that Allen's abilities seemed to drop off, in part because of a sudden lack of mobility. His rushing numbers dipped sharply.
Among the questions sure to be asked today is whether Allen is gone from the game for good. The CFL has a long history of quarterbacks who retire and then come back, including Joe Paopao, Ken Hobart, Tom Pouras and Reggie Slack.
And given the attrition rate of CFL quarterbacks last season, it's not unthinkable Allen could be called into duty some time this summer after his 45th birthday.
