The outside linebacker and offensive lineman locked horns against each other, sparingly, in a pair of games last season between the Texans and Chiefs. Allen signed with the Texans as a free agent on March 10, so he'll practice against Mercilus today in OTAs and in the future.
But that’s not the root of their familiarity.
“He was my roommate in college,” Allen said in a recent Texans Radio interview. “So we’re really good
buddies.”
Teammates at the University of Illinois, Allen was in Champaign from 2008 to 2011, while Mercilus arrived on campus in 2009.