papachaz Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) followed a twitter link for McClure and found this article, thought it was a pretty good readhttp://espn.go.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/15012/falcons-safety-ricardo-allen-getting-up-to-speed-thanks-to-film-study-with-wifeIt's not uncommon for Atlanta Falcons free safety Ricardo Allen to be lectured about his play while eating dinner. In fact, it's the norm.This is not a reference to nightly sessions inside the training camp dining hall alongside veteran teammates. This has nothing do with lessons learned from defensive pass coordinator Raheem Morris or secondary coach Marquand Manuel, either. The person most likely to critique Allen's footwork or tackling technique after-hours is the same person who dissects film with him regularly; the same person who quizzes him about formations drawn up on a grease board: his wife, Grace."It was a new extreme getting the white boards, but it's pretty much like a date night," Grace said. "And we'd be like, 'All right, let's have some dinner and we're sitting down at the table, so let's study some film.'" Ricardo Allen, the second-year, once-cut player who continues to make a seamless transition from cornerback to safety, became an avid student of the game during his sophomore year at Purdue. He would pluck clips of Charles Woodson off YouTube and meticulously dissect them. Now, he's ramped up his study habits in preparation for an unexpected starting role in coach Dan Quinn's defense.As the Falcons move closer to the Sept. 14 season opener against thePhiladelphia Eagles, Allen would be the first to single out Grace for aiding his preparation. "She studies just as much," he said. "She can tell me what I do wrong before I even notice. One time I overran a play and she was like, 'The reason you overran that play is because you crossed your feet.'"I sit on the ground and draw every formation, every coverage known to man. She'll be like, 'In this formation, who travels with the tight end?' I'll be like, 'The strong safety travels with the tight end.' Then she'll be like, 'Where's the nose tackle at?' And I'll say, 'The nose tackle is away from the tight end.' Where's the three-technique at? 'To the tight end's side.' When she's quizzing me and we're going through defenses, you just naturally learn it." Ricardo and Grace Allen sit on a hill overlooking the field at training camp. Courtesy Grace AllenRicardo and Grace started dating at Purdue in 2012 and got married this past April. Grace played soccer and ran track in high school, but her passion for football evolved while watching Ricardo blossom into an NFL prospect and eventual fifth-round draft pick. "He's always been smart," Grace said. "He's always studied. That's been his craft. But this year, it's not like we were just going to study. We were going to draw it out, too. And we were going to write everything out, and be very specific. It would be abnormal if we didn't do it."The primary focus of their film study these days is Earl Thomas, the All-Pro free safety who thrived in the Seattle defense Quinn previously coached. Ricardo, who's 5-foot-9 inches and 187 pounds, actually went to a Colts-Seahawks game two seasons ago to get a closer look at how the 5-foot-10-inch, 202-pound Thomas plays. The trek was well before Allen found out he would be asked to play a similar role in the same defense."I had already watched all of his film from 2014, but I had to go back and watch 2013 and 2012, too," Ricardo said of Thomas. "He's amazing in the open field. He erases all bad plays. Anything that goes wrong, he's there. He never stops his feet. He knows how to close as much ground as possible, and he gets the shot on them and gets them down. I don't like to jinx people, but he very rarely misses tackles."Grace noticed something, too. "I don't really follow a lot of teams other than Ricardo and the Falcons, but (Thomas) has that dog in him," she said "I want to be careful saying this because everyone's trying to compare Ricardo to Earl, but I see a lot of that same heart. Something they always say about Ricardo is his size and he's not big enough, bad enough. And I always say to him, 'If size is what mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle, and he's not.' "It's about that heart, and that's the same thing I see in Earl."Ricardo continues to impress his teammates and coaches daily with his rapid maturation. He'll have the pressure of being the team's last line of defense, but he looks capable of covering plenty of ground. "I train hard in practice," he said. "I make my mistakes in practice so when I get in the game, I know what's going to happen. I know what the running back is going to do when he tries to push my cushion. I know if I'm already pushing to my leverage, it's very rare that he's going to try and cut back into me because he's most likely going to try and bounce it. You've got to learn to see things before the play even happens."Studying with Grace has made him see things that much clearer. Edited August 18, 2015 by papachaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direwolf Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 That... is fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySG Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I love him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanish_falcon Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Awesome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownorg Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Great Read.Glad to see he's studying that hard and I so hope it shows on the gridiron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovie_Lover Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 'If size is what mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle, and he's not.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigSmackDaddy Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 **** good read. I knew I liked Allen and like him even more now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peoriabird Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Smith'ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazbykr Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 So glad to see that heart in him. All the great ones have talent and the dedication to detail.That slows the game down for them. Great read thnx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krammmit Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I almost pulled a TL;DR but I am glad I didnt. I haven't heard the Earl Thomas comparison to him hut man, if that's true, I'll go ape ****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papachaz Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) I think it definitely helps that Grace is an athlete too. I know less about soccer than I do football, but I'd imagine they use some kind of sets and plays, right? so she'd be able to "read the field" so it seems at least it seems she knows what to ask him to make him think! Edited August 18, 2015 by papachaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lornoth Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Fantastic read. Got me really excited for Allen. I love the bookworm players, they always have a better chance to be great. Nice that he can do it with his wife too, makes everything nicer for him i'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atljbo Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 ****....... Im a Grace fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTann Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Grace for NFL Wife of the Year.I had never heard of Ricardo Allen until the moment we drafted him. Right then, I looked at his YouTube highlights (yes it's YouTube and yes it was only a highlight video) and immediately thought, "wow this dude plays with energy, fire, passion, emotion, you name it," and I labeled him as one of my "big surprise" picks. I was disappointed when he was initially cut last year. He favorited one of my tweets, about him being underrated and that he has loads of talent, sent to him back when Quinn was hired.I really hope that he pans out to be a great player for us. He's only in his 2nd year and wasn't really given a chance to perform last year; if he shows out this season then just imagine what he could be in 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimifalcon Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 that is good stuff there man,has a woman that not only has his back but is making him better.This just underscores the new attitude the team has.I see big things for Ricardo and the defense in general.Grace is a bad ***! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GritsPittz Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I still think he's going to be the weakest link on our defense. I hope I'm wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovie_Lover Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I still think he's going to be the weakest link on our defense. I hope I'm wrong though.Sour puss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTann Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Not sure if this was posted Friday or has been posted since then, but I'm just going to leave this here (was re-tweeted by Ricardo Allen). Ricardo Allen retweetedTyrann Mathieu @Mathieu_Era Aug 14Falcons D looking stout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndySG Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Grace for NFL Wife of the Year.I had never heard of Ricardo Allen until the moment we drafted him. Right then, I looked at his YouTube highlights (yes it's YouTube and yes it was only a highlight video) and immediately thought, "wow this dude plays with energy, fire, passion, emotion, you name it," and I labeled him as one of my "big surprise" picks. I was disappointed when he was initially cut last year. He favorited one of my tweets, about him being underrated and that he has loads of talent, sent to him back when Quinn was hired.I really hope that he pans out to be a great player for us. He's only in his 2nd year and wasn't really given a chance to perform last year; if he shows out this season then just imagine what he could be in 2016.Attitude is the word that always comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugger8 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I love him.Him? I love her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likeriver Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 This is one of the coolest things I've read this offseason. Ricardo is one lucky dude. Not just to have a wife so into to football, but to have someone who supports him and takes such a deep interest in what he does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Nice Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 That's a good woman right there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazoo Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 So Ricardo's wife is on record saying size doesn't matter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb743f Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Can she play safety? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.11 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) I think it definitely helps that Grace is an athlete too. I know less about soccer than I do football, but I'd imagine they use some kind of sets and plays, right? so she'd be able to "read the field" so it seems at least it seems she knows what to ask him to make him think!Sets, yes. Plays, only on set pieces. Soccer is a lot more intuitive, but there are some similar concepts. Edited August 18, 2015 by JerseyNo12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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