Bills QB Josh Allen Breaks Silence on Old Racist Tweets

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen appeared on the June 23 episode of the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast alongside San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, during which host Will Compton asked Allen about the night he was selected No. 7 overall in the 2018 draft.

Asked whether the momentous occasion was “fun,” Allen said, “Yes and no, it was a hectic time. There’s a lot of s*** that came out, just some crazy stuff. … There were some tweets, me and my buddies would go on each other’s Twitter…” to which Compton interrupted to yell, “Oh, nooooo!”

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On April 25, 2018, the eve of the NFL draft, a series of Allen’s old tweets resurfaced and quickly went viral for their insensitive racial content. Numerous messages included the n-word while one tweet read, “Why are you so white? — If it ain’t white, it ain’t right,” as captured by Yahoo! Sports.

The tweets cited by Yahoo! Sports were from 2012 and 2013, when Allen was a high school student in Firebaugh, California. Allen “acknowledged the tweets to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith late Wednesday night and apologized, saying he was young and dumb,” according to an April 26, 2018, story by ESPN.

“Allen told Smith that some of the tweets made reference to rap lyrics and television, including a saying that was part of an episode from the sitcom ‘Modern Family,’” ESPN wrote. “NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that his sources indicated Allen’s Twitter account was vetted in January and that the offensive tweets were removed then.” The report jumpstarted a rumored “theory” that the tweets were purposely leaked “in order to increase the chances he would fall in the draft to that team.”

During his appearance on “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, Allen said, “I don’t think it was anything terribly bad, but there was a couple of things and it blew up on Twitter, and I just thought my life was tumbling in front of me. I probably lost 10 pounds that day, from crying and throwing up and … So, I fit in my tux pretty good though. l looked good for camera, ya know.”

The tweets did not kill Allen’s draft stock, for which he said he was eternally grateful. Earlier in the podcast, he mentioned how he dreamed about walking across the stage to shake Roger Goodell’s hand. So when the dream became reality, “That moment right there was the only thing I ever wanted in my life, being a quarterback in the NFL. That was the moment it happened.”

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Allen Said He Never Expected the Tweets ‘To Come Up in the Future’

In 2018, Barstool Bets reporter Jack Mac captured deleted tweets not already cited by Yahoo! Sports, many of which were sexual in nature. Mac called the posts “**actually** bad,” while Reddit CFB’s official Twitter account shared a compilation of them and wrote, “PSA to all players…CLEAN 👏 UP 👏 YOUR 👏 TWITTER.”

Kittle, 28, asked Allen on the podcast, “Did Wyoming not say delete your tweets and stuff like that?” noting how his alma mater, the University of Iowa, didn’t allow any of their players to tweet. The three-time Pro Bowler, who was selected by San Francisco in the fifth round in 2017, acknowledged that he deleted his Twitter account after getting drafted.

However, Allen told Compton and Kittle that he didn’t think starting a new account would be necessary. “I went through it and went through, and I don’t think any of this is bad. … Like I had buddies that would steal my phone and tweet something.”

“Didn’t you ever just hop on your boy’s Facebook and put in ‘I’m gay,'” Compton asked.

“That was literally, those were some of the tweets that were on my Twitter,” Allen said.

When Compton expressed sympathy for someone who sent tweets “when you’re young and especially when Twitter is brand new,” Allen responded, “You don’t expect that stuff to come up in your future.”

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Allen Received Immediate Support From Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds

In 2018, after the Bills selected Allen, they traded with the Baltimore Ravens in order to pick up linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with their No. 16 overall pick. Edmunds was asked about Allen’s deleted tweets on draft night.

“A lot of guys don’t say the right things at 15 years old,” Edmunds said, per SB Nation. “I think he has to walk through the door in Buffalo, into the locker room, and just be straight up about it. If he does that, I think it will take care of itself.”

Edmunds’ assessment was prescient. Allen worked to become one of the most respected players in franchise history, both on and off the field.

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