Eagles sign Olympic hurdler Devon Allen

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Devon Allen put his football career on hold to pursue Olympic dreams on the track, but he’s going to give the gridiron another shot.

The Eagles announced that they have signed Allen on Friday. Allen last played football as a wide receiver at Oregon during the 2016 season.

That’s the same year that Allen made his first Olympic team as a 110 meter hurdler. Allen finished fifth in Rio and made the team again last year. He finished fourth at the Tokyo meet. Allen also won three national titles in the event.

Allen caught 41 passes for 684 yards and 7 touchdowns during the 2014 season at Oregon, but injuries limited him to 13 catches over the rest of his time at the school. He took part in the school’s Pro Day last week and caught the Eagles’ eye while running a 4.35 40-yard dash.

“It’s now or never because I don’t want to get too old,” Allen said, via the team’s website. “I don’t want to turn 30, 31, and then try and get into the NFL. I know the skill gap is still there from college to the NFL, but I think when I did play college and when I did play at a pretty good level, I would consider myself talented enough to play in the NFL.”

Allen will join the team for their offseason work and try to show that his long absence from the football field hasn’t robbed him of his ability to make plays in the passing game.