Keenan Alexander Allen is an American football player for the  Los Angeles Chargers in the National Football League. He plays the Wide-receiver position. The Chargers drafted him in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2017.

Allen was born on April 27, 1992, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He attended Grimsley Senior High School before transferring to Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro, where he participated in football, basketball, and track. He was a standout on both sides of the football field for the school. He was a high school All-American in 2009. Rivals.com rated Allen as a five-star recruit. Allen committed to the University of Alabama to play safety before switching to the University of California, Berkeley to play wide receiver.

Also read: No early quarterbacks in NFL draft show focus on defense over offense

He started for the University of California‘s GoldenBears football team from 2010 to 2012. He had 46 receptions for 490 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman in 2010. Allen had a career-high 98 catches for 1,343 yards in his sophomore season. He had 61 receptions for 737 yards and six touchdowns as a junior in 2012. He graduated from college after that year with a record 205 catches for 2,570 yards (third in college history) and 25 touchdowns.

NFL Career:-

The L.A Chargers selected Allen in the third round, 76th overall, in the 2013 NFL Draft, despite the fact that the team already had solid depth at wide receiver. Following that, Allen signed a four-year, $2.81 million contract with the Chargers, which included a $613,800 signing bonus. Allen finished his rookie season leading all NFL rookies with 71 receptions and leading the team with 1,046 receiving yards—breaking John Jefferson’s 1978 Chargers rookie record of 1,001 yards. He won the PWFA ‘Offensive’ Rookie of the year.

Allen agreed to a four-year, $45 million contract extension with the Chargers on June 10, 2016. After being injured in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, he was diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and missed the rest of the season.

Also read: Who is Zion Johnson?

Allen returned from injury in the season opener the following year, recording five receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown in a 24-21 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year after an outstanding 2017 season following a torn ACL in 2016. He had 102 receptions for 1,393 yards and six touchdowns this season.

Allen signed a four-year, $80.1 million contract extension with the Chargers on September 5, 2020. In a 21-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3, he had 13 receptions for 132 yards and one touchdown. Allen set a season-high with 16 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets in Week 11.