Former Vikings star Jared Allen on curling team that stuns 2018 Olympic champions at U.S. Championships

Pioneer Press
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Former Vikings all-pro player Jared Allen was part of a huge upset in the world of curling Sunday night when a team he plays for upset a former Olympic championship team in the opening round of the U.S. Curling Championships in Denver.

Allen, a defensive end who played six of his 12 seasons in the NFL with the Vikings, helped lead Team Smith over Team Shuster 10-6 in the first round of the tournament.

Team Smith plays out of Nashville and is skipped by Minnesota native Jason Smith. Team Shuster, playing out of Duluth, is the tournament favorite after winning Olympic gold in 2018 and finishing fourth at the 2022 Olympics

Teams in the eight-team tournament play each of the other teams in a round-robin format at the week-long event. The winner qualifies for the World Championships in Ottawa in April.

Team Smith rallied from a 6-5 deficit to beat Team Shuster by scoring two points in the ninth end and then three more in the 10th.

Allen has been a curling enthusiast for years and has played competitively since shortly after the end of his NFL playing career after the 2015 season.

He was inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor during a home game last fall, on Oct. 30, making his entrance by riding into U.S. Bank Stadium on a horse. He played for the Vikings from 2008 to 2013. Raised on a horse ranch in California, he played college football at Idaho State.

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