Keenan Allen almost quit football after Week 1

[JMC00]

Allen was persona non grata in the Bolts early-season offense, failing to play a single snap in the Week 1 loss to the Texans.

"After I didn't play after that first game," Allen said, via U-T San Diego, "I was about another snap away of not playing from quitting."

He was serious, too.

After three seasons playing his college ball at Cal, Allen contemplated going back to Berkeley to finish his degree, with an eye toward perhaps becoming a music producer. He even leaned on his mother for guidance.

"'I need help. I'm losing. I'm about to quit,'" Allen recalled of his conversation. "(I wasn't) living up to my expectations of starting. I've never been a role player-type guy. Not easy at all. ... I've never had to do it before. I never had to adjust."

Keenan Allen nearly quit Chargers after Week 1 - NFL.com

 

[Claremonster]

He is probably the offensive rookie of the year. Pretty good draft pick.

 

[JPPT1974]

Glad that he did not quit. As he really toughed it out. Way to go Keenan!

 

[JMC00]

Patriots luck, they draft him in the 3rd, he gets Josh Boyce'd, quits football and people on here kill Belichick for taking him.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

OT: Keenan Allen almost quit football after Week 1

Patriots luck, they draft him in the 3rd, he gets Josh Boyce'd, quits football and people on here kill Belichick for taking him.

That is what I was thinking. If he was drafted here, I don't think he would have made it past TC if he was that close from quitting.

 

[ausbacker]

All I took from that is if things aren't going well for him, Allen is going to crumble. It'll be interesting to follow his career to see how he handles adversity, because it will happen in the NFL. That said, he's put together a fine rookie season and looks to be a damn fine player in the making.

 

[Deus Irae]

He obviously made the right decision.

 

[patfanken]

All I took from that is if things aren't going well for him, Allen is going to crumble. It'll be interesting to follow his career to see how he handles adversity, because it will happen in the NFL. That said, he's put together a fine rookie season and looks to be a damn fine player in the making.

Exactly, ausie. This kid clearly has had a great rookie season, but all I got from this story was, here is another WR diva in the making.

I know we all seem to like to anoint future stars immediately, but rather than being a heartwarming story about Keenan Allen, I think its more a warning of future problems when things don't go his way.

 

[Deus Irae]

That is what I was thinking. If he was drafted here, I don't think he would have made it past TC if he was that close from quitting.

Players sometimes think about quitting. It happens. Hell, TFB almost quit Michigan and transferred because of his situation there.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

OT: Keenan Allen almost quit football after Week 1

Players sometimes think about quitting. It happens. Hell, TFB almost quit Michigan and transferred because of his situation there.

Just amazing how you hear about how they think about quitting. But I guess some grow from the adversity (toms case) or don't.

 

[supafly]

Aside from all of the comments regarding players who have quit or almost quit, it also proves that there is a grey area of sorts when trying to assess all of the traits that go into our specific system, and whether or not a player can handle the atmosphere here in N.England.

Some are hits, some are misses--but I have a feeling that certain things were done to try and get the immediate kind of production that we needed out of our rookie WRs this year, as opposed to different years. What those things were exactly, is anyone's guess, and of course I could be wrong. It just seems that we may have implemented or taken away some aspects that may have been more of a barrier in years past.

Either that, or they simply got lucky.

 

[captain stone]

Who got lucky?

 

[supafly]

Who got lucky?

The N.England Patriots--in terms of being able to gain more production from their rookie wideouts than in past seasons.

That's not what I honestly believe though. I believe that certain aspects were added/removed due to the fact that we really had no other option this year, specifically when the Hernandez/Gronkowski situations became evident. I think there's a decent chance that they helped to increase their odds of contributing a bit more than in past seasons.

Hence the "either that, or they got lucky" comment.