Following a vote by the hall of fame selection committee, the class of 2021 will be announced Feb. 6 in Tampa, the eve of Super Bowl LV. While Allen might not complain if his name isn’t called then, he hopes the wait won’t be too long.

“It would be one of the greatest honors of my career,” said Allen, who lives with his family in Nashville, Tenn. “It’s the pinnacle obviously of every individual honor to be so immortalized in Canton.”

Allen was selected by Kansas City in the fourth round of the 2004 draft had a breakout season in 2007, when he made led the NFL with 15½ sacks and was named all-pro. But Allen, who had three arrests for driving under the influence in Kansas City, was not signed to a long-term extension.

The Vikings took a chance on Allen and acquired him in a trade. He was signed to a six-year, $73.5 million contract, the richest at the time for a defensive player. He was able to get his personal life in order and continued to excel on the field.

“I think I held my part of the bargain in the contract,’’ Allen said.

Allen had 11 or more sacks in each of his six Minnesota seasons, including 22 in 2011. That remains tied for the second-most in NFL history behind the 22½ that Michael Strahan had with the New York Giants in 2001.

“He put up some crazy numbers when you look at it,” said Brian Robison, a Vikings defensive end from 2007-17. “At the end of the day, he’s definitely a hall of famer. Whether it’s first ballot or second ballot or whatever, that really comes down to the voters. But in my mind I think he’s 100 percent deserving to go into the hall of fame (in 2021).”

With the Vikings rebuilding, Allen did not re-sign after the 2013 season. He said he had his retirement letter written before Chicago signed him to a four-year, $32 million deal in March 2014. He played less than two seasons with the Bears and the last half of the 2015 season with Carolina. His final game was the Panthers’ 24-10 loss to Denver in Super Bowl 50.

Allen hopes to be joined in the hall of fame by defensive tackle Kevin Williams, a friend and former teammate in Minnesota, where Williams played from 2003-13. Williams, who finished his career with New Orleans in 2015 and also is eligible for the first time, told the Pioneer Press last December he deserves to be enshrined.

Williams also considers Allen hall of fame worthy.

“He was almost impossible to stop,” Williams said. “He played the game at a high level and he had a high motor and it paid off for him.”

Allen also hopes one day to be in the Vikings Ring of Honor. But that would have to wait at least a year since the Vikings have not announced any inductees for this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s hard for me to sit here and brag about my own career because I think if you do it right, everybody else will do the bragging for you,’’ Allen said. “But do I think I’ll be in the Ring of Honor? Yes. I would have loved to have finished my career in Minnesota, and been there for 10 years and hold every record in that building, but the body of work I put up in six years was pretty good.”