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purpose of becoming an NFL player. He's on his way. Entering his senior season at Purdue, Allen has established himself as one of the Big Ten's best cornerbacks with his scrappy, savvy play. He's a proven playmaker, too. He is the only player in school history to return four interceptions for touchdowns. But, to Allen, those statistics are only means to reaching the ultimate. During the spring, he had a countdown to the NFL Combine. "Once he saw his brother get burned, he felt like he took his career away from him. That made him stronger and more motivated," his mom, Brenda Green, said. "So Ricardo picked it up and he carried it on. "It's an amazing journey for him. It's unbelievable. When he's got his mind made up, you can't stop him. He's going to do it." New focus When Ricardo Allen first told his mom he wanted to play football, he said she thought it was a joke. Far from it. His mentality had shifted since the accident. No longer was he going to be the guy who didn't play any sports, whose time was spent on video games and YuGi-Oh, a card game. So entering his freshman year at Mainland, a program that consistently churns out major college talent, Allen told the coach he wanted to play. He forged his mom's signature on the insurance form. But after about two weeks, Green realized her youngest was coming home from school late wiped out. He'd been walking the two miles each day from practice. She said he could continue to play — with a caveat. "I said, 'If you start whining, I'm going to take you off the team,' " Green said. "He never whined one day." Allen never even considered it. He was the teenager, after all, who was courageous enough to walk up to P.J. Smith, the person who trained most of the athletes in the neighborhood, and tell him he wanted to work with him. Smith wasn't sure Allen was serious. He found out quickly enough. "I woke up to a guy knocking on my window at 7 in the morning, asking me if was ready to work out," Smith said. "I opened a door that I didn't know would GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com never close." They logged countless hours at the football field doing drills, working technique, gaining speed and getting stronger. Allen had his jump rope with him wherever he went — still does. Allen would invent new drills to push himself, while Smith always demanded more, preaching "enough is never enough" and "when you're tired, do more." Allen never missed a day — even when the smothering Florida heat seemed too much. He'd see the players who already were "the greats" in the area — O.J. Ross, Chevin Davis, Marlin Lang — pass by the field while he was training, and they'd tell him to keep working. But they never came out and trained with him. "There'd be some days where I didn't want to go train, but I always did because I wanted to be better than them," Allen said. Allen thought he'd see results — playing in games — quickly. He didn't. He played in six as a freshman, prompting ascension to varsity, but then never touched the field the rest of the season. Allen's response was pouring even more effort into the offseason to learn and perfect his craft and get his body in premium shape, flipping tires and running to exhaustion. He figured he'd play then as a sophomore, but his safety spot was given to a freshman. Ultimately, Allen earned the spot back but played only four games that season. His junior year, that was going to be his "blow-up year." After it was done, though, he still hadn't been offered a scholarship. He didn't even get a letter from a college until the middle of his senior season. It was then that Allen started questioning why he was doing all the work. Smith, though, told him to stay patient — and keep working. So Allen did and ultimately scored the scholarship to Purdue. "On the weekend, it was a non-stop thing, from waking up in the morning to watching film on his own, to jump-roping for hours. He never stopped," Smith said. "I really don't think he believes in rest. Gold and Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 6 • 51