Larry Allen, who passed away June 2, 2024 at the age of 52, played tackle for the Butte College football team from 1989 to 1990. He went on to play 203 games at guard across 14 seasons in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

While in the NFL he was considered by many to be strongest man in the NFL. He bench pressed 700 pounds and squatted 900 pounds at the Strongest Man contest at the Pro Bowl.

But those accomplishments — as other-wordly as they were — barely begin to tell his story. A Compton native who attended six different high schools, Allen flourished in Butte County under the mentorship of Butte College Coach Craig Rigsbee.

“He was a pleasure to coach, and he was one of the best humans I’ve had the pleasure to coach,” Rigsbee said. “If you want to look at one guy, who football absolutely shifted the paradigm of his whole family and generations to come, look at Larry Allen.”