Eric Allen is officially a Pro Football Hall of Famer

His enshrinement is long overdue, but he’s in Canton now.

At long last, Eric Allen is in the Hall of Fame.

Over the weekend, the best cornerback in franchise history stood alongside Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe for their official induction ceremony in Canton, OH. With more than 100 Hall of Famers sitting behind him and his sons on hand to introduce their father, Allen went on to deliver a special shout out to the team that drafted him for whom he became a star.

“Thank you to the legend, Buddy Ryan, for drafting me in 1988,” Allen said. “It was an honor to wear those Kelly Greens and represent the city of brotherly love.

“Whether it was Buddy’s Boys or Bud Carson’s Gang Green, we did so much damage on the football field. All us Eagle guys, we had just an outstanding defensive football team. Whether it was Seth, the late departed Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Byron Evans, just a tremendous football team in Philadelphia.” (quotes via NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank).

At 5’10” and just 185 pounds, Allen was never the biggest corner in the league. But he was renowned for his ability to cover any team’s No. 1 receiver in the Buddy Ryan/Bud Carson “46” defenses played by the Birds in the late 1980s/early 1990s. His 54 career interceptions ranks tied for 21st in NFL history, the same as contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer Darrell Green, one more than Hall of Famers Ty Law and Deion Sanders and two more than Hall of Famer Champ Bailey.

Allen was a starter from opening week of his rookie season, hauling in five INTs. In his second season, he was a first-team All-Pro with a career-high eight interceptions and his first Pro Bowl nod. In all, Allen was a second team All-Pro two times (1991, ‘93) and made six Pro Bowls in his first eight years, five of them with the Eagles. During the Birds’ scintillating come-from-behind wild card victory over the Saints in 1992, Allen capped off a tremendous comeback with his first Pick-6 in the postseason. In 1993, he finished with a league-high FOUR defensive touchdowns, including this legendary return in Week 4 against the Jets, the signature play of his career.

If you’ve got five minutes, check out this highlight reel.

His role in the Buddy Ryan-Bud Carson scheme was of vital importance, given the frequency of zero-blitzes the two legendary coaches frequently employed at opposing offenses. Ryan and Carson relied on Allen to be singled-up on an opposing team’s best receiver, often times in one-on-one coverage without safety help. His ability to allow the 46 Defense to work by playing effectively on an island helped make the Eagles’ defense of that era to remain one of the most effective and ferocious for the entirety of his time wearing green and silver.

Following the 1994 season, Allen left Philadelphia along with a number of other players from that vaunted Ryan/Carson defense in free agency, signing a deal with the New Orleans Saints, recording five interceptions and starting 16 games every season. He was later traded to the Oakland Raiders where he played the final four seasons of his career through his age-36 season, leading the league in INTs in 2000 with 3. He had 15 interceptions after turning 33 years old.

In all, Allen never finished a season without a pick in his illustrious 14-year career and had a knack for finding the end zone.

After years of coming up short, a bronze bust of the Eagles’ greatest cornerback in team history now sits in all its glory inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

At long last.