Getty Image / David Berding
Former NFL defensive end Jared Allen is one of my favorite NFL players of the past few decades.
He was an absolute beast on the field but it was his off-field antics that I remember the most, like his groundbreaking mullet haircut and the time he speared an elk while hunting.
For the past several years, Jared Allen has been trying to make the Team USA Curling squad. And he’s just upset the 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist at the 2023 USA Curling National Championships, a massive, MASSIVE upset.
Jared Allen Upsets Olympic Gold Medalist At Curling National Championships
Jared Allen is currently a member of Team Smith which includes Jason Smith, Dominik Maerki, Hunter Clawson, Jared Allen, and Eli Clawson.
Allen previously played on a Curling team that included former NFL players Marc Bulger, Keith Bulluck, and Michael Roos.
His current team is stacked. Jason Smith was on the 2010 Olympic team and they just beat one of the best Curlers in USA history.
The team they beat, Team Shuster, is made up of John Shuster, Chris Plys, Matthew Hamilton, John Landsteiner, and Colin Hufman. John Shuster won a Gold Medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and became the first American to ever win gold in Curling.
Shuster has qualified for NINE World Championships and has appeared at FIVE Olympic Games. He’s royalty in US Curling. And Jared Allen and his team just upset the best in the game.
That monumental upset was the first of 7 draws in the 2023 Men’s National Championships. The event runs all week culminating with the Men’s Final on February 11th.
Allen’s Team Smith will now face Team Ruohonen in Draw #2. You can click here for a full rundown of the times and that YouTube channel above will feature live action throughout the event.
Former #Vikings great Jared Allen formed an ex-NFL players curling team that beat Olympic champions at the U.S. Championships on Sunday night.
Allen's team included former #Rams QB Marc Bulger, and once included former #Titans LB Keith Bulluck and OT Michael Roos pic.twitter.com/H5rTX94jeH
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 6, 2023
Since retiring from the NFL, Jared Allen has been attempting to make the US Olympic Curling Team. Back in 2018, Allen told former US Olympian Lou Nanne “I’m giving myself four years to make the Olympic curling team.”
It’s not unrealistic to think that Jared Allen is now on the cusp of making the next Winter Olympic Games with Team USA Curling.