Jeremiah Allison has spent most of his life dreaming about making it in the National Football League—his hometown Minnesota Vikings in particular.
Now he has. Only not in pads and a helmet.
The former linebacker, now 30, joined the team as an associate counsel last week, eight years after trying to make the Vikings as an undrafted rookie free agent. His struggle from big man on campus to league castaway was chronicled in the NFL Network documentary series “Undrafted.”
Always in the background were the words of Allison’s head coach at Washington State University, the late Mike Leach, who earned a law degree before becoming a football legend. Make law school a part of your future, Leach told Allison, and when it’s time I’ll help you get there. Allison remembered, and Leach kept his promise.
“Becoming a lawyer was always Plan A. Being an NFL player was just a dream,” said Allison, who came to the Vikings after three years as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer for medical devices giant Medtronic PLC.
Jeremiah Allison
Photo Courtesy of Jeremiah Allison
At the Vikings, he reports to senior director of legal and business affairs Ronika Carter, who joined the team last year. Carter described Allison’s new job as: “We’re contract lawyers, dealmakers, and business strategists.” Allison knows he has a lot to learn transitioning from Medtronic’s large law department to the NFL, whose 32 teams tend to have lean legal staffs, but he’s used to a challenge.
“This is marrying two of my loves, football and the law,” Allison said.
Allison comes from a family of die-hard Vikings fans. That included his mother, Lucille, who died in August 2012, just days before Allison’s first college game.
She died waiting for a pacemaker, a product made by Medtronic that likely would’ve saved her life, Allison said. Leaving Medtronic, where he started working in 2019 as a legal intern while in law school, was bittersweet.
“The company really had a personal connection to me,” Allison said. He gave his notice at Medtronic on July 19, his mother’s birthday.
Leach Disciple
Allison, who moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles when he was 6, was part of Leach’s first recruiting class at Washington State. During his four years at the school, Allison helped turn around a losing program and starred in many big games. A highlight was nearly upsetting future NFL star Christian McCaffrey’s Stanford University squad in 2015.
It was Leach, an innovative football mind, who encouraged Allison to think beyond his NFL aspirations. Even after Allison’s time in Pullman, Washington, was over, Leach continued to be a career resource.
“When I needed letters of recommendation for anything, he was right there,” Allison said. “And his name holds weight.”
Leach introduced Allison to Michael Baumgartner, a former Washington state senator who hired him as an aide in 2017. At the time, Allison’s NFL dreams were on hiatus, but Baumgartner encouraged him not to give up playing just yet. Allison could use his ability on the field to see the world.
Allison, who had never been outside the US, signed that year with the European Football League’s Milan Rhinos. During his few months traveling throughout Europe with the Italian club, which over the years has been home for many American footballers, Allison came to terms with the end of his playing days.
“What people don’t tell you is that you can wait for the NFL to call, while working at McDonald’s or at a car dealership, but they’re not paying you to stay ready,” said Allison, who had a stint at a car dealership before Baumgartner hired him.
NFL Bound
Allison started at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in late 2017 and graduated three years later from the St. Paul, Minnesota-based institution. He studied for the bar exam when the Twin Cities were roiled by the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. In early 2021, Allison passed the bar.
A few months ago he applied for the Vikings legal job he now holds. Allison realizes that while he didn’t make the league as a player, he still beat the odds.
“Breaking an NFL roster is difficult, but the legal team—there’s only three attorneys here,” he said. “It definitely puts things in perspective.”
He’ll work with Carter and Vikings chief legal officer Karin Nelsen, who was hired by the club in 2016—the same year Allison first walked into the Vikings’ practice facility—after a long career at Cargill Inc. The trio and a paralegal, Greg Jolly, are the Vikings’ in-house legal team.
Allison’s eager to see where his NFL path takes him. Alan Page, a former Vikings player who made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, became a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Kevin Warren, a former lawyer and executive for the Vikings, runs the rival Chicago Bears.
The news of Allison’s hire is already opening doors for him. He’s been in touch with Chuck Arnold, a Washington State alum and president of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. He also received congratulations from several former coaches.
August is a busy month for NFL lawyers with a new season set to begin. Allison jokingly claims he’s still ready if the Vikings need him elsewhere, noting he wouldn’t mind the pay raise that comes with it.
“Hey, I’ll take a Justin Jefferson contract,” he said.