28 Facts About Ermal Allen

Ermal Glenn Allen was an American football quarterback and assistant coach.

Ermal Allen grew up in Tennessee and attended the University of Kentucky, where he played basketball, track, golf, and football.

Ermal Allen instead went to play for the Cleveland Browns of the competing All-America Football Conference, who won the league championship that year.

Ermal Allen played in Cleveland for one season, returning to the University of Kentucky in 1948 to serve as an assistant football coach under Bear Bryant.

Ermal Allen stayed at Kentucky after Blanton Collier took over as head coach in 1954, working as the team's defensive coordinator.

Ermal Allen became the head of the Cowboys' research and development department in 1970 and was charged with scouting opponents.

Ermal Allen won Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII with the Cowboys and remained with the team until retiring in 1983.

Ermal Allen died of cancer in a Dallas hospital in 1988.

Ermal Allen grew up in Morristown, Tennessee and was a star athlete at Morristown High School.

Ermal Allen attended the University of Kentucky, where he played football, basketball, track and golf.

Ermal Allen was on the varsity football team between 1939 and 1941, playing as a tailback under head coach AD Kirwan.

Ermal Allen was a triple threat man, handling passing, running and kicking duties for Kentucky.

Ermal Allen was a member of a Kentucky golf team that lost only one match in 1940 and went undefeated in 1941 and 1942.

Ermal Allen played varsity basketball between 1940 and 1942, earning a spot on the Southeastern Conference all-star team in his final year.

Ermal Allen enlisted in 1942 and spent four years in the Army, rising to the rank of major.

Ermal Allen returned to the University of Kentucky to finish his education and play a final year of football.

Ermal Allen spent the rest of the year coaching backs under Bryant.

Ermal Allen was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League in 1947 but instead joined the Cleveland Browns of the competing All-America Football Conference.

Ermal Allen competed to be a backup for starting quarterback Otto Graham in the team's T formation offense.

Ermal Allen struggled to learn Cleveland's formations, which differed significantly from the single-wing formation his Kentucky teams used.

Ermal Allen returned to the University of Kentucky in 1948 and was named the football team's offensive coordinator under Bryant.

Ermal Allen remained an avid golfer as he continued his coaching career, winning the Kentucky Amateur Golf Championship in 1955 and 1958.

Ermal Allen came in second place in the tournament in 1956 and tied for first place in a tri-state championship.

Ermal Allen left Kentucky in 1962 to become a backfield coach for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys under head coach Tom Landry.

The Cowboys won Super Bowl VI in 1972 while Ermal Allen was with the team.

Ermal Allen suffered a heart attack before the 1973 season, but remained with the team until 1983.

Ermal Allen died of cancer in 1988 at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas.

Eugene Meeks, who played college football with Ermal Allen, said he was one of Kentucky's best-ever athletes and a dominant golf player during his time at the university.