Jared Allen in Phoenix but not for SuperBowl festivities

**DrunkHillbilly** · 02-01-2008, 10:40 AM

Outdoors with KC's Jared Allen

Margie Anderson
Special for The Republic
Jan. 31, 2008 03:17 AM
Could there be a downside to being one of the better defensive ends in the NFL?

Kansas City Chiefs standout Jared Allen will be in Hawaii next week to play in the Pro Bowl. He is the first Chiefs defensive player to be selected to the game in five seasons. Allen, 6 feet 6, 270 pounds, had 15 1/2 sacks this season, with 64 tackles in 14 games this season.

The 25-year-old out of Idaho State has been dominant, with 43 sacks in his four NFL seasons.

Now, where's the downside?

Allen misses out on a lot of the hunting he loves because football keeps him busy during hunting season.

So he was more than pleased to share his passion for the outdoors last week on a fishing trip at Bartlett Lake.

His lifelong love

Growing up in Northern California, Allen spent a lot of time at lakes with his family, fishing for largemouth bass.

"We used to go to a big lagoon near Eureka when I was a kid," Allen said. "Mom would cook breakfast over a fire, and we'd spend the morning catching bass."

Although he fell in love with football at age 8, he never has lost his love of the outdoors.

His bird dog lives with a buddy in Missouri, and Allen loves going after Nebraska pheasants whenever he gets the chance. He managed to bag a couple of whitetail deer in Kansas and Missouri last year and is enjoying the 150 pounds of venison they yielded.

"I was really happy to get those deer," Allen said, "because you never know - if you got a deer every time you went hunting, they'd call it killing, not hunting."

Allen has had a home in Scottsdale for two years, and he loves it here. He lives in Arizona from January to July, and he's up for a fishing trip whenever he gets the chance.

"Every time I go fishing, everybody catches their limit but me," he said.

In spite of that, he braved the cold and wind to try his luck at Bartlett Lake and found out that the bass would take a bright crankbait fished right up on shore. The high, muddy water rendered the more natural baits almost invisible.