It was Season 13, episode 9 of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ taped just a few months after the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4, 2018. Jason Kelce and Beau Allen were in a scene together late in the episode, Kelce had a few lines. Allen didn’t say anything, though he may have grunted out “yeah.”
Allen will tell you they cut his lines. Kelce told me back then, when I asked why Allen didn’t have any lines, the retired center said, “because he couldn’t remember them.” He laughed when he said it, so maybe Allen’s take is the right one.
Either way, Allen’s public speaking will be tested once again, more than six years later, after it was revealed that the retired defensive tackle will announce one of the Eagles’ draft picks on Day 2 of the NFL Draft next Friday.
Some teams have multiple players who will do the draft selection, one for the second-round announcement, the other for the third round.
Allen is the only one listed for the Eagles, so may he handle both picks on Friday, if the Eagles don’t part with their overall picks at 64 and 96 on Day 2.
One announcement or two will be a test to "remember his lines" from the walk to the podium after he receives the draft card backstage.
Allen was a seventh-round draft pick out of Wisconsin in 2014, the 224th player taken overall. He played four years and in 63 games with eight starts while with the Eagles, and was a part of the rotation when the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He played 23 snaps (30 percent) in that 41-33 win over New England and made two tackles.
He left in free agency after winning the Super Bowl and spen the final two years of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was a popular figure in an Eagles locker room that oozed chemistry - a big reason the Eagles won both their Super Bowls - and, during training camp of his rookie year, he showed a couple reporters a video on his phone of him slam dunking a basketball, an athletic feat for someone 6-3, 325 pounds.
Asked if he showed that video to then-head coach Chip Kelly, Allen quickly put the phone away.
