Yeah, we saw that guy before he was making plays on Monday Night Football:
Ricardo Allen interception seals Atlanta's Monday Night Football win over Philly. https://t.co/EJ4VDnzf4Y
— GoldandBlack.com (@GoldandBlackcom) September 15, 2015
THIS Ricardo Allen pick sealed the W for the @AtlantaFalcons. #PHIvsATL http://t.co/0vs9iXGYv8
— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2015
That's Ricardo Allen, a pseudo rookie with the Atlanta Falcons and former Boilermaker. At Purdue had had 13 career interceptions, second only to Stu Schweigert in school history. He also tied the FBS all-time record by taking four of them back for touchdowns. After being drafted in 2014 he spent a year ont he practice squad, but fought hard and earned a job as Atlanta's starting safety.
Tonight was his first career action and despite a 15-yard horse collar penalty, he had a big night with five tackles, two assisted tackles, and his first career interception which clinched the game. It came on a tipped Sam Bradford pass, and the Purdue-centric Twitter exploded.
"Ricardo's worked so hard coming into his 2nd year. (...) He's done a great job and came up with a huge play at the end" -Matt Ryan on Rico
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) September 15, 2015
Congrats, young man. may this be the first of many interceptions!