A 21-year-old Marcus Allen found himself in a third-and-goal situation lined up directly behind quarterback Jim Plunkett.
The score was 13-10 in a tightly contested AFC Wild Card matchup against the Cleveland Browns, the first playoff game in Allen's career. With the chance to go up 10 points, the offensive formation was a simple read for the Browns defense – the ball was going to Allen.
Nevertheless, the rookie back didn't care. He was confident in the play call.
"14-15 blast, that's what we normally ran while we were down there," Allen recalled. "All I remember is just trying to score. It didn't matter how I did it. I would never try to be cool or say that I wanted to run it in there standing up.
"If I felt I had to crawl in, I had to back in, I had to jump over or belly-flop or whatever. I was just trying to score and get into the end zone."
Allen never allowed fear to creep into his psyche. The rookie had the approach of attacking life head first with intensity, which quite literally translated over to the football field.
The 1981 Heisman Trophy winner came into the league with high expectations. Despite rushing for 22 touchdowns and over 2,300 rushing yards his senior season, he slid to the 10th pick in the 1982 NFL Draft and was selected to the Oakland Raiders, who would relocate to Los Angeles later that year.
Allen didn't expect to be there at No. 10, or even for the Raiders to select him in that spot. In the pre-draft process, Allen had only one brief conversation with a scout for the Silver and Black that lasted less than 60 seconds.
"They asked me, 'How much do you weigh?' And I told them 210 pounds and they said, 'OK, bye.' That was it. And the next thing you know I was drafted."
Overall, he couldn't have been drafted into a better situation. The Raiders were coming off their second Super Bowl title in franchise history two seasons prior. Additionally, the team was relocating from Oakland to Los Angeles, putting Allen back in the Los Angeles. Memorial Coliseum where he became a college football sensation as a USC Trojan.
Allen believes he slid to the Raiders due to the teams before them having other needs in the draft, along with people doubting if the slimmer, elusive back would translate to the next level at a time where the league was dominated by power backs.
"I remember going into camp and just trying to be quiet, keep my mouth shut," Allen said. "I didn't realize when you're a Heisman Trophy winner, there's a target on your back. But I would also say, I wouldn't say there was a chip on my shoulder, but I felt I was the best player in the draft. But they took nine people in front of me."
After winning the starting job out of training camp, he quickly started to prove that the Raiders did indeed get a steal with the No. 10 pick. In Allen's first NFL game, the Silver and Black defeated the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, 23-17, on the road in Candlewood Park Allen rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown with four receptions for 64 yards to boot.
The following week, the Raiders traveled to the southeast and defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 38-14. Allen accounted for 142 scrimmage yards with both a rushing and receiving touchdown. He even completed a 47-yard bomb to Cliff Branch on a designed pass play. It was his first of eight career games recording a pass completion, a rushing attempt and a reception in a single game – being one of 11 Raiders in franchise history to accomplish that feat.
It became clear that Allen wasn't just a threat on the ground, but could be a reliable target for his quarterback.
"I prided myself on every aspect of the game," Allen said. "Whether it was blocking, whether it was running routes, I like to think I was fortunate because I was one of the few. There's lot of guys, running backs today, they can catch some swing passes. They may run an occasional wheel route, but I was doing a little bit of everything. I was running corner routes. ... I was throwing touchdowns. I was really lucky to be a big part of the offense but not in a limited way. I was able to be utilized all over the field."
But with Allen's early success came hardships – a few of which were out of his control. After his Week 2 showing against the Falcons, the Raiders didn't play another football game for two months. The NFLPA went on strike as they renegotiated their collective bargaining agreement with the league. Additionally, the Raiders were still in the process of fully moving to L.A. While the team was playing home games in Los Angeles, their headquarters remained in Oakland – forcing them to commute nearly 800 miles round trip for home games.
While jet lag set in as the season prolonged, the Raiders continued to dominate coming out of the strike. The squad finished the season with an 8-1 record and locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Allen secured AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award and First-Team All-Pro honors after leading the league in rushing touchdowns (11) while also catching another three receiving touchdowns.
"I always look back and say, 'I wish that they didn't have those eight games taken away,'" Allen said. "I always think about the numbers I could've put up, but you know things happen. It was the way it was supposed to be. But we were a pretty good team. We were formidable at home and we were tough on the road and we had all-stars really everywhere."
Despite being the No. 1 seed in the conference, the Raiders didn't receive a first-round bye. Due to the strike-shortened season, the league opted for a 16-team "Super Bowl Tournament" for the playoffs with the top eight teams in each conference receiving a playoff berth.
The Raiders were tasked with facing the eighth-seeded Cleveland Browns in an AFC Wild Card matchup. Allen's scouting report indicated the Browns had an "opportunistic" defense that was fundamentally sound. He was also excited about the chance to face his old college teammate, linebacker Chip Banks, who had been named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.
For most rookies going into their playoff debut, there's an ounce of jitters or butterflies. For Allen, it was the complete opposite.
"It was all business and I wasn't afraid," he said. "I think that year kind of demonstrates that. I don't think you can have that kind of year if you are. But my thinking is that I'm going up next to some of the toughest guys in the league and I practice against them. And they don't get any tougher around the league. So again, I felt very comfortable."
From kickoff until the clock hit triple zeros, the rookie of the year was in his element. He totaled 147 scrimmage yards with two rushing touchdowns in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
His first touchdown was a sweep to the left that made the score 10-3.
"Like in many cases, you have one guy you've got to beat and one backer you've got to block. And if I can remember correctly, put a move on the corner and was able to get into the end zone."
His next score was the 14-15 blast up the middle that put the game out of reach for the Cleveland Browns.
"He wasn't afraid to put his nose in there and he would just stone you," said Tom Walsh, the Raiders assistant coach during Allen's rookie season. "That attitude permeated and carried over. We expected him to play that way. That's why he was drafted where he was drafted. We weren't shocked by it. There was no surprise because we knew that's what he could do."
Allen and the Raiders came away victorious, 27-10, making it the first of five playoff wins for the running back in a Raiders uniform. However, his rookie season came to an end the following week, as the Raiders were upset by the New York Jets in the divisional round 17-14. The Jets defense limited Allen to 36 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Nevertheless, the running back and his team would come back with a vengeance the following year, finishing with a 12-4 record in 1983 and defeating the Washington Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII for their third title in franchise history.
Allen was awarded Super Bowl MVP for a record-setting 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame running back rushed for 1,347 career yards in the playoffs, the fifth most in NFL history.
His lasting memories of his first playoff victory are more than what happened in the game. They revolve around his teammates that helped him through the grind of his rookie season plus their ability to win over their new city together.
"I was extremely confident going forward after having that great year. But not just individually, it was big for the Raiders to come from Oakland to L.A. and make to the playoffs and capture the market," Allen said. "Let's not forget that. If we would've lost, that would've been horrible, or if we had a terrible season. But we captured the fanbase there and we got their support. That was important to all of us.
"All I did was – I did what I thought that I could do, I did what I knew I could do and I did what I guess a lot of other people didn't think I could do."
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