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For Josh Allen, his rivalry with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes exists only within the confines of the football field.
Ahead of a critical matchup between the AFC-leading teams this week, the Buffalo Bills quarterback opened up about his rivalry with Mahomes and the friendship they’ve developed off the field. While the Bills and Chiefs have battled for conference supremacy over the last three seasons, the two quarterbacks have grown close and even teamed up in another sport.
Allen Speaks of ‘Good Relationship’ With Mahomes
Allen and Mahomes had an intertwined relationship long before they faced each other on the field. The Chiefs traded three draft picks to the Bills in 2017 so they could move up to No. 10 and select Mahomes. The Bills selected Tre’Davious White with the pick they swapped with the Chiefs, then used some of the other picks to move up the 2018 draft board so they could take Allen.
After sitting for most of his rookie season, Mahomes took the league by storm in 2018 when he first started, winning league MVP that year. Allen took a bit longer to develop, but by 2020 the two had grown into the conference’s best quarterbacks and their teams met in the AFC Championship game.
During that time, Allen grew close to Mahomes and the two became friends off the field. They hung out together at a Formula One race earlier in the year, then teamed up for a televised golf tournament against Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
“Again, when we step on that field, we were supposed to be competitors. It’s the old mantra, ‘You gotta hate your enemy.’ But I would say that we have a really good relationship, especially for, you know, the type of games that we tend to play in,” Allen said in an appearance on ‘The Steam Room Podcast‘ with Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley.
Mahomes has shared similar sentiments toward Allen, saying this week that he has a lot of respect for the Bills quarterback.
“Yeah, when you go up against the other great quarterbacks in the league, you always want to win. You always want to compete,” Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday, via Pro Football Talk. “Josh is a great guy. He’s a great quarterback — physically talented, he can throw, can run, he can really do it all. But he’s a great dude too.
Allen-Mahomes Rivalry Taking a Place in History
In an appearance on “Kyle Brandt’s Basement” this week, Allen said it was surreal to think that their rivalry is already mentioned among some of the all-time great quarterback duels like Peyton Manning against Tom Brady or Troy Aikman against Steve Young.
“I’m not going to lie, it kind of dawned upon me today and it’s such a weird feeling and I don’t really take steps back and look it at from that lens too often,” Allen said. “But to know like as a kid I remember watching Peyton and Tom and then Tom and Aaron, to know that people regard me in that type of situation is surreal.”
Allen said it dawned on him when he saw a promo for the Bills-Chiefs showdown on Twitter, but tried to brush it aside and focus on the game. It could have major implications for the AFC playoff race, with the winner taking sole ownership of first place in the conference and earning the inside track to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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