Beau Allen would love to hang out, but he's got a Super Bowl to play
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Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Beau Allen is back on his home turf this week for Super Bowl LII. The Minnetonka native is lecturing teammates on the cold and hoping for some of his family's famous seven-layer Jell-O.
"I've been like a tour guide almost, spouting off fun facts about Minnesota, talking about Prince and Bob Dylan and, you know, the Twin Cities, stuff like that," he told reporters Tuesday as he held court with a big smile and a local coffee at the Mall of America.
Allen graduated from Minnetonka High School in 2010 before heading to the University of Wisconsin for college. He said it feels good to be back in his home state.
He grew up a Packers fan and said he has "no remorse" over knocking his hometown Vikings out of the playoffs earlier this month.
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Allen, 26, never missed a game as a player at Wisconsin and missed just one in his first four NFL seasons. Sunday will be different from all of them, playing for the Super Bowl just a few miles from home, he acknowledged.
"Football's a game of emotions so it's tough. I usually try to stay pretty level when I'm playing, not really get too high, get too low, and try to be as consistent as possible, but I think that'll be a little tougher this time around," he said. "Not only because it's the Super Bowl, you know the biggest game in the world, but because it's in my hometown, too. "
Allen's been fielding a ton of calls from friends and family to meet up. He already had date set "to pet my dog and see my parents" and hopefully his mom would whip up some of that Jell-O goodness that made it onto his official Eagles biography.
He also said he hopes to squeeze in a trip to his old high school stomping grounds, but he's had to tell people that he's kind of busy this weekend.
"It's just people trying to meet up and asking me if I have free time," he said. "I'm like, 'no, I don't have any free time man. It's the Super Bowl.' "
