Ricardo Allen to Serve as Honorary Captain for Purdue Football's Game Against Northwestern
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue football program will welcome former player Ricardo Allen to Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday as an honorary captain when the team takes on Northwestern.
Allen, who spent four years with the Boilermakers from 2010–2013, was a two-time All-Big Ten honoree at safety. He tallied 250 tackles, including 14.5 for loss, during his college career.
Appearing in 50 career games at Purdue, Allen recorded 13 interceptions, which ranks second in program history. He returned four back for touchdowns to go along with 22 pass deflections in the secondary. The 5-foot-9 defensive back was twice named second-team All-Big Ten, which came during his sophomore (2011) and junior (2012) seasons.
The four-year starter would later be selected in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, going No. 147 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. Allen played eight seasons at the professional level and made two Super Bowl appearances.
As a member of the Falcons, Allen was part of a 34-28 overtime loss in Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots. Last season, he made his second Super Bowl appearance when the Cincinnati Bengals played the Los Angeles Rams but was once again defeated.
Allen announced his retirement from the league one week after the 23-20 loss. During his NFL career, he registered 355 total tackles, 26 pass deflections, 11 interceptions, one sack and one fumble recovery. Allen now serves as a special teams assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Saturday's matchup between the Boilermakers and Wildcats is scheduled to kick off at noon ET, and the game will be broadcast on FS1.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.