Jonathan Allen – From A Stormy Childhood To NFL
One good example of a man who came from a stormy childhood to the limelight is Jonathan Allen is, current a Washington Redskins defensive lineman who was recruited in the round one of 2017 NFL draft. He played college football with University of Alabama team, Crimson tide. He was the 17th NFL pick that year.
Jonathan was born on the 16th of January in the year 1995 in Anniston Alabama. Though he has moved to different cities in his very turbulent early childhood. His father Richard Allen was a military nuclear biological chemist then. Jonathan has been very quiet about his mother’s identity as he reveals that his parents got divorced when he was just two years of age and he and his elder brother, Richard III had to stay in a number of hotels with their mum when their father was off on a military tour of duty in South Korea.
Jonathan’s mother suffered mental instability. She became paranoid at a point and refused to allow her sons communicate with their father. She also withdrew them from school for a protracted period of time and moved to South Carolina. However, in 2004 the court granted Jonathan’s father full custody of the kids after they had spent some years in foster care and imposed on the mother to undergo a psychological evaluation program, which she did not attend.
At the age of 9, Jonathan Allen developed a keen interest in the sports and played in the park along with his elder brother (who was 9 years older than him). He often played with boys much older and bigger than himself and was able to hold his own with them. Jonathan recalled how his dad had raised them with martial discipline and ensured they made up for the school years they had missed while with his mum. He (his father) settled for nothing but excellence in everything for his sons who made good grades in school. Jonathan even excelled in playing the trombone. When he enrolled in Stone Bridge high school in Virginia, Jonathan played in his school’s football team. In his senior year, he was awarded the Gatorade Football Player of the year 2012.
Thereafter he went to the University of Alabama where he played college football with the school football team. In his first year as a freshman, Allen played a total of 13 games and had 16 tackles. In the second year, 2014, he played 14 games in which he started in 12 of them and started all 14 games in the third year in 2015. Through his immense contribution as a linebacker, the Crimson Tide won the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. Allen’s professional career began in 2017 with Washington Redskins. It was predicted that he would make the top 5 picks. However this was not to be because he was diagnosed with arthritis on his shoulder and had to undergo surgery on both shoulders. He ended up as the 17th pick of the 2017 NFL draft. In April 27, 2017 he signed a 4 year contract worth $11. 59 million with the Redskins.
