NEW ORLEANS — His year with the Panthers was one of the least productive of his Hall of Fame career.
He was constantly in pain, with a ruptured disc in his back shortly after arriving.
He couldn't feel his foot for weeks at a time.
But new Pro Football Hall of Famer Jared Allen wouldn't have traded his time with the Panthers for anything.
After going through some tumultuous stints with the Chiefs, Vikings, and Bears, experiencing highs like leading the league in sacks twice and lows like regime changes, he just grinned when asked about his brief time with the Panthers.
"I got to Carolina, and joy, joy got brought back into football," Allen said late Thursday night, shortly after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026.
Allen's time with the Panthers was brief, just 15 games including the playoffs. He also had exactly 2.0 of his 136.0 career sacks there (he's 12th on the all-time list).
With a talented team worried about depth after an injury to Charles Johnson that landed him on IR, former general manager Dave Gettleman traded a conditional sixth-round pick to the Bears for Allen on Sept. 28, 2015.
And upon arriving in Charlotte, Allen felt like he had been freed.
"You know what, honestly, my last couple of years in Minnesota, from a fun standpoint, it wasn't that fun playing football, right?" Allen said. "I mean, because we had lost, we had several coaching changes, and we were going through another coaching change at the tail end, and so I went to Chicago. I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to win football games and, and have fun playing, and then Chicago when I got I ended up being that whole organization got gutted after my first year there again. I was like, oh my goodness.
"So I laugh when I look back at it now. I always say this. It was the worst production there I've ever had, and I went through injury. I blew my L5 (disc) out again in like the third practice I was there, ruptured my L5 again. Couldn't feel my left leg. I couldn't lift my heel off the ground for three weeks, played through that, broke my foot, so I got a lot of injuries there. I played in the Super Bowl with a broken foot.
"But when I would come home, and I like we were having fun. Like football was fun again."
Of course, joining a team that would go 15-1 and had gigantic personalities like Cam Newton and Thomas Davis, veteran leaders like Charles Tillman, and certified stars like Luke Kuechly helped.
And Allen, while enjoying the highlight of his professional career, just grinned, recalling perhaps the least consequential season of his life.
"It was humbling because it was the worst year I had, but the most success I've ever had playing football because I got to play in the Super Bowl," he said. "So I think it was a good reminder of what the game was really about, and for me to end on that note and be able to carry those memories with you instead of always chasing a number, right? Guys get caught up chasing money, chasing titles, chasing awards, chasing stats.
"So, for me to have my final year, but we were just having fun playing football, and I got to play in the Super Bowl in my hometown, which was pretty awesome."
