Wide left. Wide right.
Those are common football terms, but their association is to kickers, not the big fellas who do the blocking. For Buffalo offensive lineman Hunter Allen, wide left and wide right almost kept him from playing high school football this season.
"We couldn't find this kid shoes anywhere," said Hunter's mother, Rhonda Allen.
The reason? Hunter, who is 6-foot-4 and 345 pounds, needed size 15EEEE football cleats. For the uninitiated, each "E" stands for extra, so Hunter required extra, extra, extra, extra wide shoes.
"It's a nightmare, let me tell you," Rhonda Allen said.
Size 14 shoes are too short, 16s are too roomy. Hunter tried to wear 15EE cleats - you know, just extra, extra wide - to a West Virginia State football camp this summer, but departed the campus in anguish.
"They were so ridiculously tight that by the end of the camp, I had blisters and could barely walk," he said.
"He wore them one time," his mother added.
Hunter's parents scoured the Internet for shoes with enough room for his enormous feet. EBay had long been reliable for the family, but searches there proved fruitless. Shoe companies that had previously been able to accommodate Hunter were empty-handed.
"New Balance was the only company we could get them from but they discontinued them," Hunter said. "We were lucky when we found those, so this year we had so much trouble. It seemed like there were no 15EEEE cleats anywhere in the world.
"Being told by companies that we don't make these shoes, we never make them this big, it's kind of a downer to hear. You think you're abnormal."
Something had to be done, or Hunter was going to miss the 2015 season. A family friend posted a message to the social media website Facebook in a plea for help, and Mike Dunlap, a Poca High grad and the 1984 Hunt Award winner as the best high school lineman in West Virginia, stepped up to the massive challenge.
"That's a big foot, man," said Dunlap, who downplayed his role in the search.
He started reaching out to friends in the industry - coaches, equipment managers, NFL personnel. Eventually, someone came through for Dunlap and the Allens. Good thing, too, because Hunter started practice this August without any cleats at all.
"I didn't really realize it for the first couple days of practice when I was still without cleats," Hunter said. "I practiced in my tennis shoes but it made all of our drills so much more difficult than it should have been."
Hunter has been an integral cog in Buffalo's offensive line during the Bison's impressive start to the season. It wouldn't have happened without a network of friends ... and people who didn't know him at all. His long-sought Nike Code Pro 15EEEE cleats gave him the opportunity to play the sport he loves.
"I felt blessed," Hunter said. "These are people that I've never met, they've not met me, and they are doing all this stuff to find me cleats. It shows not all people are bad. There's quite a few good people out there."
There's also a few bigger people in Hunter's family, so the search for cleats could be an annual ritual.
"I've got cousins who are 6-7, 6-8 and probably 400 pounds," Hunter said. "I've got a lot of potential to grow."
Thankfully, the Allens already have secured a pair of 16EEEE cleats. Hunter, who will celebrate his 17th birthday on Oct. 22, will likely need them.
"The pair of 16EEEE are a tad too big," Rhonda Allen said. "They should eventually fit him perfect. He's only 16 years old. He's still growing, that's for sure."
Sheesh.
Hunter may be big and strong, but he couldn't help but be touched by how he found comfortable homes for his quadruple wides.
"I'm still shocked at how everything came together right when I needed it," he said.
It was a fitting conclusion to a story about not being able to find a fit.