It quickly became a short night because Allen barely had time to catch a couple of hours of sleep before the Eagles' rookies and selected veterans had to report to the field for morning practice.
It was the first day of what should be an interesting training camp for Allen and the Eagles.
Of all the first-year players the Eagles bring into training camp, Allen was the one who could least afford to miss any practices.
Although head coach Andy Reid wants defensive end Brandon Graham, who like virtually all of this year's first-round draft picks remains unsigned, in camp, his absence won't start to be a problem unless it drags beyond today, when the veterans report to camp for Saturday's first full-team practice.
Allen, however, knew it was bad for him to miss even the first day of training camp.
Drafted in the second round out of the University of South Florida with the pick the Eagles acquired from the Washington Redskins in exchange for Donovan McNabb, Allen is already penciled in as the Eagles' starting free safety.
Even McNabb wasn't handed a starting spot on his first day of training camp.
And neither were wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, nor running back LeSean McCoy, nor linebacker Stewart Bradley.
In fact, you have to go back to 2000 and defensive tackle Corey Simon to find an Eagles rookie who was penciled in as a starter on the first day of camp.
That's not to say that Reid hasn't had the idea in the back of his mind for other rookies to eventually become opening-day starters - the careers of guard Shawn Andrews and defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley come to mind.
