Marcus Allen's brother:
Argos' Allen going long
HAMILTON - Toronto Argonauts quarterback Damon Allen became the all-time leading passer in professional football history under a canopy of blue and orange pastel at sunset last night, a beautiful setting that lent a feeling of significance to a game that threatened not to live up to its billing.
Play was stopped for a presentation near midfield with Canadian Football League commissioner Tom Wright, the Argos' ownership group and Steve Mariucci, the former National Football League coach who was Allen's positional coach at Cal State Fullerton two decades ago.
The 43-year-old claimed his piece of sports history with a shovel pass to Arland Bruce III early in the third quarter of the Labour Day game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a short dump that ended with the slotback crossing into the end zone 29 yards away and with Allen creeping past Warren Moon to become the most prolific pivot in the game.
Allen, in his 22nd CFL season, entered last night's game needing 165 yards to snatch the record from Moon, who finished his long career in Canada and the United States with a combined 70,553 yards. Allen finished the game with 207 yards against the Ticats, leaving him at 70,596 in his career.
He also finished with a win, as the Argos rolled to their fourth straight victory -- a 40-6 rout in front of 28,891 mostly disgusted Hamilton fans. The Argos (6-5) now hold sole possession of second place in the East Division, two points behind Montreal.
"Right now, I'm just playing the game of football, trying to line up every week and go out there and play with the joy and the passion of a kid," Allen said. "I'm just playing the game. And if I can keep it that simple, then I can really appreciate the things I've done once my career's over and not take it for granted."
Allen's pursuit of the record even made some news in the United States. He was the subject of a profile in The New York Times last week and was featured in yesterday's editions of the San Jose Mercury News and The Seattle Times.
His flirtation with history was documented more thoroughly in Canada and provided the parallel benefit of distracting fans from unsightly blemishes in both Toronto and Hamilton.
The Argos were without the services of running back John Avery, who was sidelined with a foot injury, and they were also down a body on the offensive line. Left tackle Bernard Williams returned home to Georgia late last week after being charged with one count of sexual assault.