Eagles
Eagles Add Olympic Athlete To Roster
Penn State Great Valley MBA, Penn State Berks Undergrad, Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor, IT Service Manager. I joined Sports Talk Philly in 2017 and root for all the Philly teams (as well as their minor league counter parts).
All posts by Paul BowmanPublished08 Apr 2022
By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Eagles have remained quiet for some time before the draft here, but they did make a move on Friday, though it isn’t one fans will be clambering over.
The Athletic’s Zach Berman reported on Friday afternoon that the Eagles had signed an Olympian to the roster.
The Eagles signed WR Devon Allen, a two-time Olympian and three-time national champion hurdler.
Allen, 27, hasn’t played football since 2016. He was a WR at Oregon.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) April 8, 2022
Devon Allen is an Olympic Hurdler who went to the University of Oregon.
He won first place in both the 2014 and 2016 NCAA Championships in the 110 meter hurdle.
In the past two summer Olympics, he has represented the United States in the event. Although he didn’t get an official medal, he would have won the Wooden Medal in 2021 for placing 4th. In 2016’s Rio de Janeiro games, he also made the final, finishing fifth.
The Eagles signed him, likely hoping that his speed and jumping abilities could translate to the football field and make him a solid receiver.
It’s a low-risk move as the deal likely includes little to no financial impact and would almost certainly allow the Eagles to get out of the deal if it clearly isn’t working while, if it does, the Birds have a receiver option on what may be the cheapest deal possible.
Allen does have some football experience, having played in some games from Oregon from 2014-2016.
In 2014, he appeared in 14 games for the ducks and caught 41 passes for 684 yards (16.7 average). He scored seven touchdowns that season.
He saw action in only nine games and 235 yards on 13 receptions over the next two seasons.
Part of that is due to the fact that, in September of 2016, Allen suffered a severe knee injury that ended his season. It was an ACL tear that he suffered in just the third game of that season. A month later, he announced that he would forego his final year of NCAA eligibility and be going pro in Track and Field.
The Eagles will offer Allen the first opportunity to be scouted and trained at the NFL level.
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