Vikings Cut WR Aundrae Allison

by Christopher Gates on Aug 4, 2009 5:46 PM CDT in Minnesota Vikings

I had a nice little article about the potential battle for WR roster spots in Training Camp all ready to go, but the Vikings have decided to go and make a change, so now my article is a bit out of date.

Yes, in a move that comes as a bit of a surprise. . .to me, anyway. . .the Vikings waived WR Aundrae Allison this afternoon after being unable to work out a trade for him. Allison, the Vikings' 5th round selection in 2007 out of East Carolina University, has long had a reputation as an outstanding athlete with great speed. Unfortunately, he also had a reputation for having a lousy work ethic and for having a bit of an attitude problem.

If I had to guess, the latter is the reason that he now finds himself unemployed.

Allison does have his name in the Vikings' record books. . .he holds the record for the longest play in team history with his 104-yard kickoff return against the Detroit Lions in 2007. He looked to have a pretty bright future with the Vikings as a return man, having broken a few returns for 40+ yards as a rookie. Then, in 2008, he only fielded 6 kickoffs with a long return of 22 yards as Brad Childress thought that Maurice "Straight Into the Pile" Hicks was a better option at the kick return spot (among others).

Allison had fallen behind both Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud on the depth chart, and with the Vikings only keeping five or six receivers, there was no room for Allison on the team. He's young enough and he's a very good athlete, so I don't think he'll be out of work long. Maybe he'll make more out of his next opportunity than he made out of his chance in Minnesota.

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Its too bad...

I always had a soft spot for Allison. I remember the year he got drafted he was a possible 2nd rounder on most rankings so I thought we got a big steal in the 5th. Made some good plays, but just never seemed to get any of the coaches behind him. He could still be a great player for someone. Here’s hoping Jaymar ends up the real WR steal from the last few years.

by NYCVike on Aug 4, 2009 6:17 PM CDT reply actions

I liked Allison

… and hoped he’d break out last season. But I kept hearing that he was lazy, and kept seeing Darius Reynaud where Allison should’ve been. I’d rather see what we’ve got with Jaymar Johnson than hold on tight to another underachieving wide-out.

by virginia viking on Aug 4, 2009 6:53 PM CDT reply actions

Too bad

I was always an Allison fan. Always sucks to hear when guys don’t have good work ethics.

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by fetch9 on Aug 4, 2009 7:46 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, few flashes I saw of him I thought he would be awesome, too bad he never furthered that potential. Perhaps this will motivate him to do better in the future.

"If you're gonna shoot, shoot, don't talk"

by VikesFaninNM on Aug 4, 2009 8:04 PM CDT reply actions

I Hope we keep 6 receivers on the roster. Berrian, Rice, Harvin, Johnson, Reynauld, and Wade. in that order.

by RickyBrune on Aug 4, 2009 8:04 PM CDT reply actions

I was rooting for him as well. But work ethic is VERY important at that level.

He probably got away with it in college because he was such a good athlete, now he is in a league with 55 good athletes on each team.

If his coach was worth his mettle, he would have coached that attitude out of him.

by Bjorno on Aug 4, 2009 8:58 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

The real problem is that the bears are lacking in WR, and Allison might be a tempting morsel for their talent starved WR corps.

by Bjorno on Aug 4, 2009 9:00 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

+1

by PurplePeopleEaters09 on Aug 4, 2009 9:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Twitter killed any trade possibility

Drew Rosenhous first leaked the story on twitter this morning. He said the Vikings plan to either trade or release Allison by 5pm today. I believe Allison is a client of his, and he leaked that info because he gets paid if Allison signs a new contract. I don’t think he would have gotten any money if the Vikings just traded him. Wow. I really hate that guy.

by PurplePeopleEaters09 on Aug 4, 2009 9:18 PM CDT reply actions

Ditto

Thinking the same thing…

It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a Viking to raze a village.

by Luft Krigare on Aug 4, 2009 9:28 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

Rosenhous screwed us all right, but at the end of the day he works for Allison, and its in Allison’s best interest to be a FA so he can decide where he wants to play. If he gets traded he has no say in the matter.

by NYCVike on Aug 4, 2009 9:36 PM CDT up reply actions

not exactly

The waiver system is in place right now so he can’t exactly play anywhere.

by Cobra312004 on Aug 4, 2009 11:48 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't know

I don’t know if I completely agree. When they traded Williamson the same thing came out that the Vikes were going to cut that sorry excuse of a wide reciever and he got traded. Also you hear all the time that teams are going to cut a guy if they can’t trade him. I am not saying Rosenhouse is a good guy or a good agent. I think he’s a D-Bag but at the same time this kind of thing happens all the time.

by BP31 on Aug 5, 2009 10:40 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm shocked! Shocked!

I’m shocked that no other team wanted to give up anything for a Vikings WR in trade, after that WR had fallen to at least #7 on the Vikings depth chart (behind Harvin, Berrian, Wade, Rice, Johnson, Reynaud). I can’t imagine why no other team wouldn’t jump at the chance to grab Allison, instead of waiting to pick him up free of charge.

Did the Vikings manage SERIOUSLY think that any other team would actually make a trade for Allison?!? They must have because they tried to shop him. Why do they continually insist on revealing themselves as idiots?

by aladdinwa on Aug 4, 2009 10:07 PM CDT reply actions

Oh darn.

No more Allison 40 yard catches out of bounds after he pushes off and gets flagged for it anyway.

I’m gonna miss that. sarcasm drip drip

by Hoss-Drone on Aug 4, 2009 11:06 PM CDT reply actions

Allison’s attitude probably had little to do with this move. Reynaud and JJ have been clearly outplaying him all off season. It’s possible he realized this and requested this move to allow him an opportunity to latch on with someone else.

I always like Allison and I wish him all the luck with his next team (so long as it’s not a division rival).

by Cobra312004 on Aug 4, 2009 11:46 PM CDT reply actions

Too bad.

I thought Allison had potential, but if he’s getting cut this early in the preseason, I’m sure it was more than warranted.

by Eric J. Thompson on Aug 5, 2009 2:14 AM CDT reply actions

Exactly

They could have hung on to him til Sept 1. Letting him go now is saying that they’d rather put their time and focus on the other WRs, and that Allison is more of a distraction than a serious contender. I don’t think that helps his cause in being shopped around by his agent, he might have done better to hope for the trade.

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We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!

by DCPurple on Aug 5, 2009 9:00 AM CDT up reply actions

Go Bears and take the Cubs with You

Good riddance. Hope Allison continues his lackluster attitude with da Bears. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out of Mankato.

by Elgar on Aug 5, 2009 12:36 PM CDT reply actions

Maybe he’ll go to Pittsburgh. It’s not like they’ve ever taken a guy from the Vikings who was a good returner but supposedly had attitude problems and couldn’t get any playing time and was replaced by Maurice Hicks and turned into a pretty good ball player.

by JasonW on Aug 5, 2009 4:28 PM CDT reply actions

He will play somewhere next year. I don't know how much, but in the NFL.

Allison ended up the odd man out with the emergence of Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud.

Can Sidney Rice stay healthy?

Shiancoe should have a good year. Pro Bowl?

Bernard, Percy and AP oh my!

by VikesPma on Aug 5, 2009 6:09 PM CDT reply actions

Early Departure

I kinda liked the guy as a player he had a lot of ability. If they let him go this early it may not have been because he was that much of a problem or that his agent is a moron. It may be just so he can get on somewhere else right away so that he has more time to get used to a new system. I heard of this happening once or twice before but can’t remember who it was. The coach came out and said it wasn’t because he was that bad it was because he wanted him to have a decent chance of catching on somewhere else. Who knows I may be completely wrong and he is a complete distraction.

by BP31 on Aug 5, 2009 10:47 PM CDT reply actions

Allison

Good riddance, I say.

This is weird for me since I love having at least 1 speedy WR on the team, but since Childress & Bevell & Co. so rarely gave him a chance to burn past a defender or three, then he was just taking up space. And if his work ethic was less than stellar, then all the better since a guy like him needs to be working on his receiving skills CONSTANTLY in order to make use of any chances to run past the D and catch a TD.

by KC Viking on Aug 6, 2009 9:41 PM CDT reply actions