Jared Allen: Future curling gold medalist?

When former Minnesota Vikings’ great Jared Allen decided that he didn’t want to step in as the team’s emergency long snapper. . .and by that, I mean “he probably didn’t even consider it”. . .I assumed it meant that he had other stuff to do. Apparently that’s the case, but it sounds like he’s aiming for something that none of us would have expected.

Over at 1500 ESPN, Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad had Minnesota hockey legend Lou Nanne on their radio program today. Nanne was asked if there were any sports in the Winter Olympics that he gets hooked on, and his answer revealed that Jared Allen might be pursuing something that none of us could have seen coming.

A Olympic gold medal in. . .curling?

Apparently, Allen was a frequent visitor to the St. Paul Curling Club during his time with the Vikings. According to Nanne, Allen (who now lives in Nashville) is attempting to get a rink set up there in Music City, U.S.A. Allen then told Nanne that he’s “giving himself four years” to make the Olympic Curling Team, and that the U.S. has never medaled in curling, he wanted to be one of the people that brought it home.

UPDATE: Thanks to user “PurpleTillDie,” I stand corrected. The U.S. did win a medal in curling, a bronze in 2006. They have never brought home a gold medal, however, which is what I’m guessing Nanne was talking about. My apologies to the 2006 U.S. Curling team.

Now, I’m not sure how serious Allen is about this whole thing, but if the guy says that’s what he wants to do, I damn sure don’t want to be the one to tell him he can’t. Besides, I have to imagine that he’d be a better skip than a quarterback.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll see Jared Allen, mullet and all, out there on the rink in Beijing in 2022. I don’t know if I’d bet significant amounts of money on it or anything, but it could happen.