Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been through quite the eventful offseason, welcoming his first child with wife Hailee Steinfeld while also recovering from an injury.
Allen opened up about becoming a father, revealing this week how he and Steinfeld came up with the name Harper Haize for their newborn daughter. The Bills quarterback also revealed what has changed now that he’s a parent.
In an interview with E! News, Allen revealed that Steinfeld found the inspiration for their daughter’s name. He said the name Harper Haize had been in the back of their minds all along.
“It was an early thought that we had,” Allen said. “It was my wife’s idea.”
But Allen held back on sharing the meaning behind the name. When asked if it had any family significance, the Bills quarterback deferred to his wife.
“She can answer that question better than I can,” Allen said.
Steinfeld has yet to share details about how they landed on the name Harper, but did say she’s making the most out of every moment. In a livestream shortly after the baby girl’s birth, Steinfeld said she is aware of just how fast time moves when a child is growing up.
“So this is the only summer that she will be a baby baby,” Steinfeld said, via People magazine. “And this will be the only summer that I have her in my arms. By next summer, she’ll be running around.”
“The goal is to just be incredibly present and truly soak up every moment,” she added. “Because life happens and life moves fast anyway. And I now fully understand what every parent ever has said, like you blink and it all just goes by so fast. It is so very true and so this summer my goal is to be completely present.”
Josh Allen’s Changing Mindset After Becoming a Dad
The Bills quarterback did open up a bit more with People magazine, saying he’s loving this new phase of his life.
“I love being a dad,” Allen said.
Allen added that he has found new motivation since becoming a father, saying it’s changed something about his mindset to approaching the Bills and upcoming NFL season.
“I’ve said this in a few different interviews in Buffalo, of why my ‘why’ has changed and why I’m doing this, and it’s not a personal ‘why’ anymore,” Allen said.
“It’s to show this little daughter that me and my wife are trying to raise how hard you need to work to accomplish something so great, so, I don’t think that the approach changes, but the why behind it does.”
Allen will return to some significant changes. The Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after a bitter playoff loss to the Denver Broncos, elevating offensive coordinator Joe Brady to the top post. The team will also kick off its play in the new Highmark Stadium, with construction wrapping up earlier this year and the new stadium set to blunt some of the effects of the wind and cold in Buffalo.
Bills QB Josh Allen Reveals How He and Hailee Steinfeld Picked Their Baby’s Name