With NFL training camps kicking off in a matter of weeks the Atlanta Falcon’s Riccardo Allen and Akeem King took advantage of their remaining days off by taking their first ever trip north of the border to promote NFL Canada and Play 60.

The teammates arrived in Toronto and immediately noticed the NFL’s influence outside of the United States.

“I think that’s actually one of the coolest parts of it,” Allen said. “Actually coming to a different country and bringing our style of football because it has football here already, but you know bringing our style of play. Just coming over here and actually seeing the fans that we’re building here.”

Attending the Hamilton 5-on-5 Flag Football League playoffs at Tim Hortons Field highlighted Allen and Kings’ visit. More than 400 youth players were recognized for their continued commitment to the NFL’s Play 60 campaign of spending 60 minutes a day doing physical activity.

“We’re really happy to go out there and be able to reward the kids and play with them,” King said.

A trip north was a welcome break for the Atlanta teammates before the grind of the NFL season begins.

Allen and King shared similar paths to securing a slot on an NFL roster. Both currently find themselves playing different positions than they did when they were originally drafted.

“I was drafted and I ended up getting put on the practice squad,” explained Allen, who played his college ball at Purdue and was drafted in the fifth round by the Falcons in 2014. “When Coach [Dan] Quinn came in from Seattle they told me, ‘you don’t fit the profile, [you’re not] the Richard Sherman size to be a corner’ and they said we’ll give you a chance at free safety.”

After not getting any playing time during his rookie season, Allen made the switch from cornerback to free safety and played in 15 games during the 2015-16 campaign.

Just like Allen, King switched roles within the secondary before even playing a game in the NFL. Only he went the opposite direction and moved from safety to corner.

“I played strong safety in college so all offseason I was training [to play] safety. When I came to corner I still had a lot of learning to do,” said King, a San Jose State product. “Once I finally got my shot I was ready to make the most out of it”.

After moving to an entirely different position during his first NFL training camp, the Falcons 2015 seventh round pick suited up for five games with the Falcons.

“I kind of entered with a chip on my shoulder,” King said. “I thought I was better than where I got drafted.”

Following his rookie campaign, King appears ready to tackle training camp with a bit more experience under his belt.

“As a rookie your head is kind of everywhere,” The second-year corner said “You’re just trying to figure out where to go. Now you kind of already know what you’re doing so you’re able to focus a lot more on football.” 

Allen echoes his teammate’s thoughts on the importance of experience as he enters his third year in the league.

“Once you get that freshman year in college it’s like you’re a rookie,” explained Allen. “Then you start to be the best in college. Then you go to the NFL and that first year feels like it’s the first time you’ve ever played football because you do some things that you’ve never done before.”

Heading into this NFL season the Falcons look to make it to the postseason for the first time since 2012, but projecting where they’ll finish isn’t something that Allen wants any part of.

“I’m not big on expectations because when you put an expectation on yourself it’s kind of like you limit yourself also. You ask everybody right now what’s the expectation and everybody wants to win the Super Bowl. If a team isn’t talking about that they probably shouldn’t be here.”

The Falcons jumped out to a 5-0 start last season, before losing eight of 11 to close out the year and finish at .500.

“Essentially it turns into everything is about the team,” Allen stated. “Our team did that really well in the first five games and then I feel like that kind of got away from us and we started to focus on “me” goals and that’s when you lose yourselves.”

Allen remains confident the Falcons can regain their identity. He believes there is enough talent on the roster to bounce back and have a strong season.

“If we’re all clicking together we’re unstoppable.”