Allen hoped to go in first round but waited to hear name at CFL draft
POTTAGEVILLE, Ont. - Taurean Allen was fidgeting on the couch. He slipped quietly out to the porch, but moved back inside after only a few minutes, settling on the main stairwell of his home to stare at the BlackBerry perched between his feet, as if it could be willed into making a sound.
The tension radiated through the house, where three dozen friends and family members had gathered to watch the CFL Canadian College Draft. Allen, a 23-year-old defensive back from Wilfrid Laurier University, had been projected to go in the first round, but was still waiting for a call as the television broadcast crept toward completion on Sunday afternoon.
"At first, I was calm - I was OK," his mother, Audryanne Wilson, said. "But then, they go into the second round. Second pick ... third pick ... and I'm thinking, 'C'mon what's going on here?"'
With only 20 minutes remaining in the broadcast, facing the ignominy of being forced to follow the remaining four rounds online, Allen's phone finally stirred. The Calgary Stampeders had selected him with their second pick, taking him 13th overall.
The living room erupted. Allen moved into the kitchen, where he shed tears in the arms of his girlfriend, Angie Mennen.
"Relief, excitement, happiness and elation," Allen said. "One of the greatest moments of my life."
Allen was named an OUA first team all-star three times as a defensive back at Wilfrid Laurier. He had entered Sunday's draft ranked as the eighth overall prospect, and was rated the highest at his position.
His agent had assured him that, if Calgary opted not to take him with the fifth overall pick - which the Stampeders ultimately used to nab kicker Rob Maver (University of Guelph) - it would definitely take him with the 13th pick.
Calgary finished 10-7-1 last year, falling to Saskatchewan in the West Division Final one year after claiming the sixth Grey Cup title in franchise history.
The Stampeders employ Brandon Browner, one of the best cornerbacks in the league, and have not explicitly told Allen how they might plan to use him in the defensive backfield.
In the meantime, Allen, who grew up in west-end Toronto, has been told he will have the chance to play a "large role" on special teams.
"It's looking up," he said. "It looks like I'm going to have a decent role on a team if I go out there and prove myself. I've just got to go out there and compete and earn my spot."
It has already been a busy spring. Allen and his girlfriend moved into a house an hour's drive north of Toronto in the last week of April, days after he had written the final exam for an honour's degree in communications.
The couple moved in with a pair of housemates to help cover the costs, and live around the corner from Mennen's parents and the family-run landscaping company for which she works.
"It's going to be such a new experience," Mennen said. "He finally fulfilled the dream he's always wanted since he started playing football."
She has never been to Calgary, and because of their house and her job, she will have to settle on visits. Mennen will remain in Ontario when Allen moves West to follow his dream, and the couple will have to settle for having their winters to spend together.
His mother will also visit. Wilson said she named her son - whose first name is pronounced "Toe-ree-an" - after Taurean Blacque, an actor who played Det. Neal Washington on the popular 1980's television show Hill Street Blues.
"I was hoping it would be closer to home," Wilson said with a smile. "But one thing about that boy, he's flexible. He's adaptable. He'll still come back to this, but I'm sure he'll be very happy in Calgary - and I know that the Calgary Stampeders are getting a great player, and he's worth the wait."
