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Hall of Fame 49ers OL Larry Allen Dies at 52

Allen was a Bay Area legend as well as an NFL legend.

Grant Cohn

Jan 15, 1995; San Francisco, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Dallas Cowboys tackle Larry Allen (73) in action against the San Francisco 49ers during the 1994 NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. The 49ers defeated the Cowboys 38-28. Mandatory Credit: James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 1995; San Francisco, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Dallas Cowboys tackle Larry Allen (73) in action against the San Francisco 49ers during the 1994 NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. The 49ers defeated the Cowboys 38-28. Mandatory Credit: James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports / James D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
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Hall of Fame offensive lineman Larry Allen, who played 12 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys and his final two seasons for the 49ers, died unexpectedly while on vacation with his family in Mexico. He was 52. The cause of death has not been reported.

Allen was one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time. He was a key member of the 1995 Cowboys that won Super Bowl XXX, and then he was a first-team All Pro six straight times from 1996 to 2001. Throughout his career, he played every position on the offensive line except center, although he played left guard exclusively from 1999 until his career ended in 2007. He even went to the Pro Bowl in 2006 when he was 35 and a member of the 49ers.

Allen grew up in Compton, California, where he was stabbed 12 times when he was 10 years old. In high school, he moved to Northern California. After high school, Allen first attended Butte College in Oroville, California, then transferred to Sonoma State. So he's a Bay Area legend as well as an NFL legend.

"Larry, known for his great athleticism and incredible strength, was one of the most respected, accomplished offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL," the Cowboys wrote in a statement. "His versatility and dependability were also signature parts of his career. Through that, he continued to serve as inspiration for many other players, defining what it meant to be a great teammate, competitor and winner.

"He was deeply loved and cared for by his wife, Janelle -- whom he referred to as his heart and soul -- his daughters Jayla and Loriana and son, Larry III. The Jones family and the Cowboys extend their deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Allen family and grieve along with the many other friends and Cowboys teammates that also loved Larry."

Rest in peace.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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