Legendary defensive end Jared Allen was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During a press conference at the Minnesota Vikings’ facility on Tuesday recognizing his achievement, Allen decided to speak on… Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets? It’s quite the surprising source of the latest jokes to be thrown New York’s way, but alas, here we are.
The two-time sack champion, four-time first-team All-Pro, and all-time NFL leader in safeties was speaking on the Vikings franchise’s historic inability to convert its regular season success into playoff success. In doing so, he took some shots at the Jets, using them to illustrate his point that he’d easily prefer the Vikings’ fortunes to some of the league’s worst teams.
“We’re close. And again, I’ll state the obvious. We’ve been close for a long time. The next hurdle in the Vikings organization is, ‘How do we get there?’ And that’s just the truth. But the reality is, too, only one team gets there every year. Right? I’d rather be close than, freaking, who sucks? The Jets? Oh gosh. Being the Jets would be miserable right now. I just can’t believe anybody took that job. Woah, rough one.”
There are many teams Allen could have used to illustrate his point, including the Vikings’ division-rival Bears, whose playoff-victory drought is equal to the Jets’. But Allen decided to go after a team from the opposite conference. Perhaps he developed animosity toward the Jets over the past two years because of Aaron Rodgers, a longtime arch-enemy of the Vikings. Allen had a 5-9 record against Rodgers, plus a 2012 wild card loss that ended his final playoff run with Minnesota.
Recognizing that he would not have been able to make these comments as an active player, Allen found great joy in having the freedom to ridicule another team without repercussions.
“See, you get to say this stuff when you retire! You can say whatever you want! It’s awesome! Talk bad about all the organizations because they don’t pay paychecks, it’s awesome.”
While the Jets took the worst of Allen’s shots, they were not the only team he had jabs for.
After praising the Vikings for allowing him to remain close to the organization, specifically getting the chance to talk ball with head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Allen criticized the Kansas City Chiefs for not providing the same luxuries. Allen was drafted by the Chiefs in 2004 and played four seasons with them, including a 2007 season where he led the league in sacks, but Allen apparently does not feel much love from his original organization.
“I love the [Vikings] organization for allowing me to have, like, you know, just be able to go chat and talk ball and come in and have freedom to come throughout the organization, because that’s not like it at every organization. I’ll be honest, if I walked into the Chiefs organization right now, they would probably be like, ‘Excuse me, who are you sir? You cannot go to that wing. Back to the back.'”
So, it’s not just the Jets who are the butt of the joke this time. Whether you haven’t made the playoffs since 2011 or have won three Super Bowls since then, you are not safe from the wrath of a retired Jared Allen.
