SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KRON) – During the San Francisco 49ers’ journey to Super Bowl LIV, one fan was always there cheering in the stands of Levi’s Stadium.
49ers super fan Marlon Allen was not only at every home game for the past two seasons, he also traveled to 12 of the team’s 16 road games.
Allen certainly stands out in a sea of gold and red. He’s part of a fan club called Spartan Niner Empire, so his go-to game day outfit includes a spartan helmet with a football-style face cage, a cape, a jersey, and aviator sunglasses.
“I go a little bit above-and-beyond, because my passion doesn’t allow me to do something mediocre,” Allen said.
He first started cheering for the team at age 5 because he liked the color red.
Allen later moved from North Carolina to Santa Clara so that he could be closer to the team he loves so much. He picked a home with a view of Levi’s Stadium — which he refers to as “mecca” — , he filled a man cave with an impressive collection of 49ers’ memorabilia, and covered the walls with San Francisco’s “Greatest Of All Time” players.
When asked who he considers to be the top-three “Greatest Of All Time,” Allen answered, “Ronnie,” (Ronnie Lott), “Jerry” (Jerry Rice), and “TO” (Terrell Owens).
One of his favorite pieces of memorabilia is an autographed black and white photograph of “The Catch,” showing wide receiver Dwight Clark’s infamous leap to complete a touchdown pass from Joe Montana during the teams’ 1980s glory years.
San Francisco will attempt to re-establish its glory as champions by tackling the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Feb. 2.
The 49ers clobbered the Green Bay Packers to win the NFL Conference Championship on its home turf, and of course, Allen was there.
“That was amazing. It was just surreal. I’m a super optimistic fan, so I believe in the niners all the time. I never predict a loss, I believe in 16-0 until we lose. And when we lose, OK, I accept the loss and go on to the next game,” Allen said.
Allen didn’t have to accept many losses this season as the 49ers’ defense clobbered the rest of the NFL’s offenses.
“I saw something special in training camp, going to training camp practices. You could see the comradery. This year there was just a vibe, and then for it to actually come to fruition now, it’s just amazing,” Allen said.
While Allen doesn’t like to make Super Bowl score predictions, he did say that the Chiefs’ offense should not under-estimate how good the 49ers’ defensive line really is.
” (Patrick) Mahomes is a skilled quarterback. But if we get up, we’re not going to surrender a 24-point lead or a 10-point lead. I think once we get up … all gas no brakes,” he said.
