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Josh Allen blossomed into a bona fide football celebrity over the last few months, but one insider believes there’s not much worry that the attention is going to his head.
After keeping a relatively low profile through his first three seasons in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills quarterback has stepped into the spotlight more with the conclusion of the last season. He was tapped for two high-profile golf events, made appearances at the ESPY Awards and even saw his date nights become fodder for celebrity tabloids.
But Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News said that despite his increasingly busy schedule, Allen is still able to keep his priorities straight — and his recent trip to Las Vegas is the perfect example.
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Putting the Bills First
Earlier this month, Allen had a rare offseason absence as he left voluntary OTAs to practice and then compete in The Match, a televised golf competition where he and Patrick Mahomes took on Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Though it meant a few days away from his teammates, Allen quickly showed that his priority remains with the Bills, Skurski noted.
“Here’s why I’m not worried about it, though,” he wrote. “Allen played golf Wednesday in Las Vegas. It would have been incredibly easy for him to chill in Vegas for another day, but instead, he hustled back to Buffalo and was at Thursday’s practice. As a reminder, all practices up to this point in the offseason are entirely voluntary. Allen didn’t treat it that way, though. That says a lot about his leadership and commitment to this team.”
Others in the organization don’t seem worried either, Skurski added.
“I don’t think Josh looks at himself that way (as a celebrity). I really don’t,” said Bills general manager Brandon Beane. “I think that’s what’s great about him. I think he’s still the kid from Firebaugh. I mean, I’m around him when he’s talking to his parents or his family or whatever. He’s the same dude. He really is. Obviously, he’s matured.”
There have been some tough decisions for Allen with his increasingly busy schedule, however. As Skurski noted, the Bills quarterback said he hasn’t been able to spend as much time with his personal quarterback coach, Jordan Palmer. The two have usually spent weeks together during the offseason, working out and training in California.
Big Expectations for Allen
It’s likely that Allen will never return to the quiet life as the attention and expectations around him and the Bills continue to grow. The team was pegged as the Super Bowl frontrunner by oddsmakers this offseason, and Allen has started to appear at the top of some analysts’ quarterback rankings.
In his offseason assessment of the league’s quarterbacks, NBC analyst Chris Simms said that Allen has overtaken Mahomes as the best signal-caller in the NFL.
“But Josh Allen is the best quarterback in the NFL right now, there is no doubt,” Simms said. “He is the guy I would take right off the bat. No one is asked to do more for their team, or carry their team more on a weekly basis than Josh Allen.”
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