Edmonton Eskimos (first stint) Allen joined the CFL as a free-agent in
1985, signed by the
Edmonton Eskimos, and threw for 661 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season as a back-up to
Matt Dunigan. In the
1987 season, Allen played in the
Grey Cup championship game, replacing the injured starter Dunigan, and led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup victory, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 38–36, at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. His first Grey Cup win, Allen earned
Grey Cup Most Valuable Player honours in the championship.
Ottawa Rough Riders In
1989, Allen signed with the
Ottawa Rough Riders. Ottawa missed the playoffs with a 4–14 record. In
1990, Allen set single season career highs in passing yards (3,883) and touchdowns (34), and rushing yards (776) and touchdowns (7). His contributions helped Ottawa make the playoffs for the first time since the
1985 season. Ottawa lost the East Semi-Final to the host Toronto Argonauts. In
1991, Allen once again set single season career highs in passing yards (4,275), and rushing yards (1,036) and touchdowns (8). He was named an
Eastern Division All-Star for the first time in his CFL career, and helped Ottawa make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Ottawa lost the East Semi-Final to the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats In
1992, Allen signed with the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 18 games, Allen threw for 3,858 and 19 touchdowns, and rushed for 850 yards and 7 touchdowns, in his only season in "Steeltown."
Edmonton Eskimos (second stint) Prior to the
1993 season, Allen was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos, his second stint with the team. That year, Allen was the winner of the
Eddie James Memorial Trophy, awarded to the leading rusher in the West Division, after he gained 920 yards. His yardage total was second in the league only to Winnipeg running back
Michael Richardson's 925 yards. Edmonton finished second in the West, defeated Saskatchewan in the West Semi-Final, and defeated Calgary in the West Final. In the West Final, Allen threw 4 touchdown passes in a blizzard. Allen helped the Eskimos to victory in the
Grey Cup game, winning his second title, and was named
Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in a 33–23 win over the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In
1994, Allen led the Esks to the
Western Division Semi-Finals, only to lose to the
BC Lions.
Memphis Mad Dogs In
1995, Allen signed as a free-agent with the
Memphis Mad Dogs. He appeared in 15 games with the CFL expansion team, and threw for 3,211 yards and 11 touchdowns on 228 of 390 passing. Allen also rushed for 427 yards in his only professional season in the United States.
BC Lions In
1996, Allen joined the
BC Lions. In
1999, BC finished with a league-best 13–5 record. Allen threw for 4,219 yards on 315 of 521 passing with 22 touchdowns, ran the ball 136 times for 785 yards and 8 touchdowns, and threw for more than 300 yards on five occasions. Allen was voted to the CFL's West Division All-Star team. BC hosted Calgary in the West Final. Late in the game, BC trailed by 2 points when Allen fumbled. Calgary recovered, ran out the clock, and advanced to the Grey Cup in BC's stadium. with the
Grey Cup in January 2001 In
2000, Allen became the CFL's all-time leading passer on October 28 against
Hamilton, throwing for 345 yards to surpass
Ron Lancaster's previous
record of 50,535 yards. Allen completed 324 of 525 passes (61.7%) to lead the CFL with a career-high 4,840 passing yards. Allen was nominated as the Lions' Most Outstanding Player at the CFL Player Awards. BC defeated Edmonton in the West Semi-Final, and played Calgary in the West Final. BC returned the favour from the year prior by defeating the first-place Stampeders in the West Final when Calgary was hosting the Grey Cup. Allen captured his first
Grey Cup with the Lions (third of his career) throwing for 234 yards in a win over the
Montreal Alouettes.
Toronto Argonauts In
2003, after the acquisition of
Dave Dickenson as their new quarterback, the 39-year-old Allen was traded from the BC Lions to the
Toronto Argonauts for a second-round draft pick in the
2004 CFL draft, and a third-round pick in the
2005 CFL draft. Allen's Argonaut re-debut was a 20–18 season- opening loss to the
Saskatchewan Roughriders that also marked Allen's 300th regular season game of his CFL career. In Week 7, Allen became only the third quarterback in professional football history to pass for 60,000 yards against his former club, the BC Lions. In a Week 17 loss to the
Ottawa Renegades, Allen completed 20 of 39 pass attempts for 203 yards, with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown, giving Allen 334 career touchdown passes, and surpassing Ron Lancaster for the most career touchdown passes in CFL history. Allen would lead the Argos to the Eastern Division Final that year as well. In Week 9 of the
2004 season versus
Montreal, Allen exited the game in the third quarter with a fractured left tibia, and spent Weeks 10–16 on the injured reserve roster. There was considerable concern that Allen, at 41 years of age, would never come back from such a severe injury, but he did. In Week 17, Allen dressed as the third quarterback (behind
Michael Bishop and
Romaro Miller) for a game against the BC Lions. In Week 18, Allen dressed as the backup quarterback behind Michael Bishop and entered the game versus the
Calgary Stampeders at the end of the second quarter. Allen completed his first thirteen pass attempts, making him the second quarterback in Argonaut history (
Mike Rae, 17 of 17 versus Montreal, August 12, 1975) to complete more than 12 passes consecutively in a game. Allen finished the game with 18 of 23 pass completions, and his 82.6% completion percentage ranks fourth in Argo history for a single game. In the
2004 Grey Cup Championship against the BC Lions, Allen was named
Grey Cup Most Valuable Player for third time in his legendary career. Allen led the Argos to their fifteenth Grey Cup Championship and won his fourth championship. Allen finished the game with 23 of 34 pass completions for 299 yards (longest gain, 34 yards) and 1 touchdown pass, and rushed 5 times for 10 yards (longest gain, 5 yards) and 2 rushing touchdowns. Allen continued his assault on the record books during the
2005 CFL season. On October 27, 2005, Damon reached the 5,000-yard passing plateau for the first time in his 21-year CFL career by posting a 34–11 victory against the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The win guaranteed Toronto a first-place finish in the CFL East plus home field advantage in the playoffs. The game took place before 40,085 fans; the largest crowd for a CFL game in Toronto since 1992. However, the Argonauts were defeated 33–17 in the 2005 East Final by the
Montreal Alouettes, thereby thwarting their hopes of repeating their 2004 Grey Cup win. In 2005, Allen won his first
CFL's Outstanding Player Award. In that year, he also hosted the inaugural "Damon Allen Quarterback Challenge" which featured top CFL quarterbacks participating in various skill competitions. In the Quarterback Challenge's second year, Allen won the event. In
2006, Allen started the opening home game of the season against the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats and broke the middle finger on his right hand on Toronto's third play. Allen was injured trying to break his fall after taking a late hit from Hamilton safety
Wayne Shaw, who was penalized on the play. Allen missed nearly a month and a half of action with a broken finger, returning on July 29 vs. the
BC Lions. to commemorate Allen breaking the
All-Time Pro-Football Passing Record in 2006. On September 4,
2006, at the
Labour Day Classic against the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Allen broke Warren Moon's record (70,553 yards) to become professional football's all-time passing leader. The record-setting completion, a 29-yard shovel pass to wide receiver
Arland Bruce III, took place at 5:02 of the third quarter. The game was suspended briefly for a presentation by CFL Commissioner
Tom Wright. Allen's triumphant pose with the record-breaking football was captured by a photographer and later released by the Argos as a commemorative poster on their website. In November 2006, Allen was voted one of the CFL's
Top 50 players (#14) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network
The Sports Network/TSN. On January 18, 2007, Allen underwent successful surgery to repair the middle finger of his (right) throwing hand and was back in the gym training, in less than 24 hours. On February 28, 2007, Allen re-signed a contract with the Argonauts for one year plus an option. Allen started the 2007 season as the Argos starting quarterback beating out
Michael Bishop and former NFL starter
Mike McMahon. However, he was replaced in the third quarter of the first game by Bishop despite having gone 14–18, 130 yards and a touchdown. Allen was then bumped down to third on the depth chart. However, after Bishop went down with a wrist injury and McMahon failed to impress, Allen stepped into the starting role once again. However, in his first game back as starter he injured his toe. Allen was placed on the nine-game injured list and
Rocky Butler took over as the Argos starting quarterback Allen announced that his retirement as a player on May 28, 2008, but will stay with the Argos as a special advisor to
CEO Pinball Clemons.
Rankings upon retirement Service 3rd in career CFL games played (370) 1st in career CFL starts by a quarterback (304)
Passing 1st in career professional football passing yards
Rushing 1st in career CFL rushing yards, quarterback (11,920) 3rd in career CFL rushing yards (11,920) 1st in career CFL rushing touchdowns, quarterback (93) 3rd in career CFL rushing touchdowns (93) ==Post-retirement==