About a decade and one stadium ago, Jared Allen was the young buck on the Metrodome field looking up at the Vikings' Ring of Honor as the latest in a long procession of premier Purple pass rushers.
Friday, he learned his name will become the 27th added to the Ring come halftime of the Oct. 30 game against the Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Saturday, during a stop at TCO Performance Center for Vikings practice, he was asked which of those names he always wanted most of all to stand alongside forever.
He gave a nod to all of them, of course, including former teammate, lifelong friend and 26th Ring of Honor inductee Kevin Williams. But then Allen went to the very first seed in the grass roots beginning of the Vikings' pass rushing tradition.
"I have a special place in my heart for Jim Marshall," Allen said of the team's iconic ironman. "Jim was one of the first alumni legends, so to speak, that I got to connect with when I first got here. Just to be part of that history that will never go away. That's what Jim instilled in me when I first got here."
With Allen joining the club, the Ring of Honor will include the top six players on the Vikings' list of career pass rushers. The top two — Carl Eller (130) and Marshall (127) — and No. 4 Alan Page (108½) are unofficial because their sacks came before 1982. The others are John Randle (114), Chris Doleman (96½) and Allen, who had 85½ of his 136 career sacks, three of his four first-team All-Pro nods and four of his five Pro Bowl appearances in six seasons as a Viking (2008-13).
"That D-line presence is strong in this building," Allen said. "There are certain organizations that have a knack for certain positions. I don't know what leads to that, but the Vikings have a rich history at defensive line. To be a part of that and to be up there with the greats, it's something that I literally can't describe how humbling and special it is. It's a tradition that hopefully continues. I think it will. We got some great ones."
Speaking of which, as Allen was talking, 27-year-old edge rusher Danielle Hunter, was heading out to field for a team walkthrough. Hunter is eighth on the team's career sacks list with 60½ despite missing all but seven games the past two years because of injuries.
"If [Hunter] stays healthy, I think he can be one of the all-timers," Allen said. "Just the way he moves his body, his strength and size, he reminds me a lot of Julius Peppers.
"He moves with power. And he knows how to use his body. That's something you don't necessarily see in a lot of guys. He's able to finesse guys on the edge and run people over. He has a rare ability to power somebody and finesse somebody around the edge."
The two spoke Friday. Hunter said he was "coming for [Allen's] sack record" of 22 in a single season.
"I said, 'Hey, come get it, I'll be on the sideline cheering you on,'" Allen said. "So that's the kind of drive you like to see. That dude could be insanely special."