He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent, scraped and clawed his way up from the practice squad to make his first roster, and spent four years pining for more playing time with the Green Bay Packers, so Geronimo Allison knew how dangerous the decision to sit out the 2020 season could be to his career.
But as a new father whose wife, Evette, gave birth to the couple’s first child at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last April, Allison thought more about how dangerous it could be to his family if he didn’t.
One of 66 NFL players who opted out of last season, Allison is back playing football this summer in training camp with the Detroit Lions. He is fighting for a roster spot at one of the team’s thinnest positions, wide receiver, and has no regrets about taking a year off.
“For myself, for my family, it was the best decision because this is what I do,” Allison said after Day 4 of training camp Saturday. “I play football. Like I said, I know football’s going to be there. I’ll have opportunities to get out there and showcase my talent and play, so I just had to take that time for myself, for my family and just do what’s best.”
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Allison, who asked that his now 17-month-old daughter’s name not be used in this story, said he and his wife made a “unit decision” to opt out of the 2020 season largely because of the unknown.
Science on the virus still was evolving last summer, as it is now. NFL protocols to keep players safe and buildings clean were being rushed into place. Moving cities in the middle of a pandemic seemed unappealing. And the Allisons were going to great lengths to stay out of public spaces.
“New team, changing cities, middle of a pandemic. Newborn. Like, decision’s easy to make,” Allison said. “You got to do what’s best for you and your family with the unknown out there. So I just made the best decision for me and my family.”
As a stay-at-home father, Allison was able to see most of his daughter’s milestones, things like sitting up, rolling over, walking and talking.
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To stay football-ready, he bought a JUGS machine that he used in the backyard, with his wife feeding balls into the machine while his daughter napped or sat in her rocker at the back window inside.
He worked out regularly at his home gym in Green Bay. Eventually, when that got too mundane, he joined a local training facility, Synergy Sports Performance, where he worked out while masked.
Every day when he came home, he gave himself a rapid COVID test, swabbing his nose and waiting for the results in the garage.
When the NFL gave players a chance to opt out again this season, Allison decided it was time to play again. He has not been vaccinated and still is researching that decision, but he said he and his family still live cautiously — his daughter only leaves the house when both he and his wife do, he said, and one of them often stays in the car with her wherever they go — and is comfortable with the daily testing and social distancing precautions in place for unvaccinated players.
“I think the time helped,” he said. “The time helped. Just let everything kind of mellow out and get some type of normality to it. That helped me kind of understand what I was coming into this year, what I was getting prepared for mentally and then physically wise. So this year, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew what was going on. They had protocols, they had measures in place to keep us safe and it was all good. So this year I was way more prepared going into it than how it was sprung on us last year.”
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Of the three Lions who opted of last season, Allison, who signed a one-year deal in March of 2020 and had his contract toll for this season, is the only one left in Detroit. The Lions released offensive lineman Russell Bodine before the start of the new league year in March and waived defensive tackle John Atkins in June.
Allison said he initially feared his decision to opt out would be held against him, but when the Lions overhauled their coaching staff and front office in the offseason, it gave everyone a fresh start.
“I think if it would have been the same staff and the same operations, I would have been like a little bit like, ‘Will they hold it against me?'” Allison said. “But being with a new operations team and new coaching staff, it’s an open slate for everybody.”
Blank slate or not, Allison still has work to do to make the Lions’ 53-man roster.
Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman have played as the No. 1 and 2 receivers most of camp, and Kalif Raymond and rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown seem next in line for jobs. Allison, a part-time starter who caught 89 passes for 1,045 yards during his four seasons is Green Bay, is competing with the likes of Quintez Cephus and Damion Ratley for one or two roster spots.
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At 6 feet 3, his length and versatility could be an asset to a group that lacks proven playmakers. But whatever happens, he won’t fret his decision last year.
“I feel like it’s wide open,” Allison said. “Everybody’s getting their opportunities here and there, making plays here and there and at the end of the day, they’ll narrow it down and make a decision on who they want, who they feel comfortable with.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.