Usually, if you're the biggest, the toughest, the meanest and definitely the strongest, you're going to be the best

No exceptions here as Larry Allen was all of those and then some. An unknown talent from a relatively unknown school, he was drafted as a project player who eventually became arguably the greatest guard in NFL history and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Picked in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft out of tiny Sonoma State University, a Division II school in California, Allen joined an already-talented offensive line that had anchored the Cowboys to two straight Super Bowls.

While he spent most of his rookie year as a backup who filled in at various spots due to injuries, Allen put himself on the proverbial map in a Monday Night Football game played late in the season on Dec. 19, 1994 against the New Orleans Saints. Despite his 330-pound frame, he chased down Saints linebacker Darion Conner, who was headed to the end zone on an interception return. But Allen sprinted more than 50 yards to tackle him inside the 20-yard line, preventing a score. After that, the Saints would only manage a field goal.

Television announcers Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf couldn't stop raving about Allen's athletic ability. Soon enough, the entire NFL world would know about his brute strength as he became the most dominating offensive lineman in the league.

In the early 2000s, Allen once bench-pressed over 700 pounds, which only provided the visual proof of his strength, something opposing defensive linemen and linebackers had known for years with the way he had bulldozed them out of his way.

Allen went on to make 10 Pro Bowls with the Cowboys, and another with the
San Francisco 49ers at the end of his career. Mostly a guard during his playing days, he had to move to left tackle in 1998 because of injuries and still made first-team All-Pro and the Pro Bowl.

He retired after the 2007 season and was inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Ring of Honor in 2013.