Jared Allen spent less than a season with the Carolina Panthers after being traded from the Chicago Bears in late September, but the recently retired defensive end heaped praise on the team's culture during an appearance on NFL Network's "Total Access" on Thursday.

"They have some great talent there," Allen said, according to NFL Network's Kevin Patra. "That place is literally a walking cliche. I got in there and was like, this can't be real. It's like a mirage, and no one knows about it? This is cool."

The 33-year-old Allen reached the Super Bowl for the first time in his 12-year career with the Panthers, then decided to ride off into the sunset after the defeat to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

While his own statistical production was far from what he managed in his prime, Allen believes he experienced something special in the last year of his career, and credits head coach Ron Rivera for creating the environment.

"Again, like I said, there's zero drama. Zero. I mean, I've never been on a team where there's zero locker room drama at all," Allen said. "And the veterans have done such a good job ... the young guys make it easy to lead because they follow. But it's all because coach Rivera has set this culture - it is a player-run locker room but that stems from the head coach. ...

"And they coach the crap out of you, but in a good way. It's not overly done."

The Panthers only lost two games all year - the Super Bowl and a regular-season game versus the Atlanta Falcons.

They also enjoyed a 14-game winning streak to open the season, which could partly explain the lack of tension in the Panthers' locker room: It's easier for everyone to get along when you're routinely blowing opponents out.