Sports
Cowboys Hall of Fame offensive lineman Larry Allen dies suddenly at age 52
Larry Allen was an enormous man with unsurpassed talent and a ferocious demeanor on the football field. In 14 NFL seasons — 12 with the Dallas Cowboys, two with the San Francisco 49ers — he was a six-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman.
“I hear people say Larry was the best offensive lineman in the game, and that’s just not right,” Cowboys teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Michael Irvin once said. “Larry was the best player in the league, and it wasn’t even close.”
Yet Allen, who died suddenly Sunday at age 52 while on vacation with his family in Mexico, had fears rooted in his upbringing in Compton. At age 9, he was stabbed 12 times in the head and shoulder while defending his younger brother, Von, from an older boy whose mother had given him a knife.
After enduring painful stitching of the wounds, Allen became so frightened of needles that he even refused Novocain before his dentist filled a cavity. As for the kid with the knife, though, Allen found him three months after the stabbing.
“My mother said, ‘I’m not raising any punks, so she made me fight this guy,’ ” Allen said during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2013. “She said, ‘You will fight him until you win.’ First day I lost. Second day I lost. The third day I finally won. That was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in my life, never to back down from anybody.”
Allen’s mother, Vera, was his guiding force.
“We would hear the gunfire outside our house, we would automatically roll out of the bed, lay on the floor until the shooting stopped, then get back in bed and go to sleep,” she told The Times in 1994. “After a while, we got pretty good at that.”
She moved with her two sons to Northern California a few years later. Allen attended four high schools and didn’t play football until his junior year, when the family returned to Southern California and he enrolled at Compton Centennial.
A year later Allen again bolted because of gang activity and drug dealing near his family’s home, playing his senior year at Vintage High in Napa while staying with the family of a friend, Steve Hagland. Allen didn’t graduate and drifted to tiny Butte Junior College in Chico, where he dominated on the field but didn’t earn the grades to transfer to a Division I program.
He moved back to his mom’s house in Compton, played pickup basketball and worked odd jobs. Football became an afterthought until Frank Scalercio, an assistant coach at Division II Sonoma State, tracked him down and hauled him back to Northern California.
While trying to convince Sonoma head coach Tim Walsh that Allen was worth recruiting, Scalercio repeated a rumor he’d heard that the lineman could dunk a basketball. Walsh rolled his eyes when Allen — all 325 pounds of him — arrived on campus.
“I was bragging about this kid for months, and would always include the fact he could dunk,” Scalercio told Star magazine. “So here we were, the basketball team is in the gym, a few football players, just all watching him. And he throws down this two-handed slam like none of us had ever seen. The ball was just bouncing on the floor for like 10 seconds and no one said a word. I have never heard silence like that in my life.”
Two years later, Allen wasn’t quiet when he got a call from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on NFL draft day.
Jones: “Son, would you like to be a Cowboy?”
Allen: “Yes, sir!”
The kid from Compton who’d bounced around four high schools, a junior college and a Division II program was a second-round pick of the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“I ran out of my apartment and jumped into the swimming pool with all my clothes on,” Allen said.
Soon thereafter, he bought Vera a house in Sacramento.
“Everything she gave and did for my brother and me, that was the one gift I was able to give to her,” Allen said. “She did everything for my brother and me. My life could’ve ended up much differently.”
Yet sadly, his life ended prematurely. Allen left his wife, Janelle, daughters Jayla and Loriana and son Larry III.
“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 said 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.
“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.”
Just received the heartbreaking news of the passing of our beloved teammate Larry Allen. He was a HOF offensive lineman that dominated opponents regardless of the position played. Off the field, he was a gentle giant that loved his family. Rest in Peace LA💔🙏🏼
— Troy Aikman (@TroyAikman) June 3, 2024
Allen’s exploits on the field are legendary. He excelled at guard and at tackle, ran a 4.8-second 40-yard dash and was astonishing in the weight room — even though he famously didn’t enjoy lifting.
Social media sites Monday were filled with tributes to Allen that included his most memorable feats, such as the time he bench-pressed 700 pounds — 300 pounds more than any teammate — and withstood Rocket Ismail falling on Allen’s chest in jubilation.
And the time he bench-pressed 225 pounds 43 times.
And the time he chased down New Orleans Saints linebacker Darion Conner 50 yards downfield following an interception.
Allen apparently also was responsible for opponents contracting a unique malady.
“Players will watch him on film during the week and then pull up with some mysterious injury or flu or something,” New York Giants All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan said. “We call that catching ‘Allen-itis.’ ”
Allen, who was called for holding only 13 times in 14 seasons, helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season in a 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Six years after he retired in 2007, he rattled off the names of many teammates, coaches and family members during his Hall of Fame induction speech in Canton, Ohio.
“My goal was simple, to earn a seven-letter word called respect,” he said. “The respect of my teammates, opponents and the NFL. Today, my mission is complete. I also played hard, whistle to whistle, to make my opponents submit. And today, I’m submitting to you. I just can’t wait to see my buddies.
“I’ve been blessed to play the game I love. And remember this, it has never been about me, Larry Allen, but the many, many people that helped me out.”
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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