Eagles sign Olympic hurdler Devon Allen, who missed Tokyo medal by .04 seconds

The Philadelphia Eagles are betting big on athleticism with their latest signing.

The team announced Friday they had signed former Oregon wide receiver and current Olympic hurdler Devon Allen, who has not played organized football since his final season with the Ducks in 2016.

Allen's signing comes eight months after he competed in the 110-meter hurdles at the Olympics in Tokyo. The 27-year-old reached the finals, but missed out on his first Olympics medal by 0.04 seconds. Jamaican Hansle Parchment upset American favorite Grant Holloway for gold, while Parchment's compatriot Ronald Levy edged out Allen, in the fifth lane below, by a nose to take bronze.

Tokyo was Allen's second Olympics, having reached the finals and finished fifth in the same event at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He also reached the finals at the 2019 world championships in Qatar and is a three-time national champion.

Devon Allen had star potential at Oregon

Before his time as a full-time track athlete, Allen was a potential star at Oregon, joining the program in 2013 as a four-star recruit with obvious athleticism. He looked promising in his redshirt freshman season, posting 684 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 41 receptions, an average of 21 yards per catch.

A knee injury sustained in the 2015 Rose Bowl negatively affected Allen's sophomore season, however, with only 94 receiving yards in six games. By that time, he started focusing more on track and made it all the way to Rio the next year. Allen still tried to keep playing with the Ducks' football team after his Olympics appearance, but saw his career end after another knee injury.

He still showed his potential in his final game before the injury, posting 141 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches against Virginia.

Now, Allen is trying to resurrect his football career. He worked out for NFL scouts at Oregon's pro day earlier this month and got another workout with the Eagles on Thursday, per the team.

In case you're wondering what Olympic-level hurdling translates among football prospects, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds during the pro day, which would have been the seventh-fastest time among wide receivers at this year's NFL combine.

Allen also explained why he's giving football another shot, via the Eagles:

The Eagles clearly believe that last part could be true, and now he'll get a chance at an NFL roster spot six years after his last football game.