Eagles WR Devon Allen flashes Olympian speed with impressive 55-yard touchdown catch against Browns, promptly hits hurdle celebration

Abraham Smith

Devon Allen is one of the best hurdlers in the world. On Sunday he showed how this athleticism can pay off on the soccer field.

In the third quarter of the Eagles’ preseason matchup against the Browns, Allen sped through the Cleveland high school and lay down in the end zone for an impressive 55-yard touchdown from Reid Sinnett.

Allen said as soon as he saw the ball in the air he knew he was going to come down with it.

“I’ve played football for a long time, it doesn’t really change in terms of thinking when the ball goes up in the air,” Allen said after the game. “Reid made a great pitch. I think it’s probably a 55, 60 yard pass so Reid has a strong arm so I’m glad I got there. Made it easy for me I could just catch in the end zone and lay on the floor. But yes no, it was cool, it was cool that the coaches gave me this opportunity.

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Allen has won the US national championship in the 110-meter hurdles three times in his career (2014, 2016, 2018) and reached the finals at the Olympic Games in both 2016 and 2020.

While Allen is best known for his hurdling up to this point in his career, he is a fascinating football player himself. In 2014, he caught 41 passes for 684 yards with seven touchdowns in Oregon despite struggling with injuries throughout his football career.

Allen is in his first NFL preseason since signing an undrafted rookie contract with the Eagles in April.

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Allen returned to his roots shortly after the touchdown catch. His celebration consisted of him hopping through the end zone, something he said he developed while speaking to Tyree Jackson before the game.

“It was funny that I was just like, ‘Oh man, Tyree’ – one of our tight ends, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know what am I going to do when I score?’ He said, ‘You should do a hurdle, I said, ‘Got you,'” Allen said.

This celebration may sound familiar to Ducks fans as he celebrated it while he was in Oregon.

Devon Allen 40 times

There is no doubt that Allen is fast. He wouldn’t be a national hurdles champion if he couldn’t run fast. But what is its straight-line speed?

When Allen competed in Pro Day in Oregon, Allen put on an impressive performance 4.35 seconds 40 times, according to OregonLive.

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That’s certainly fast enough for it to work in the NFL. Legendary receivers DeSean Jackson and Calvin Johnson, along with active standout receivers Terry McLaurin and Quez Watkins, are among the receivers posting at the NFL Combine at the time, according to Stathead.

Another angle of the route he ran shows how easy it was for Allen to charge past the defense.

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