Alaina Getzenberg
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen rolled his eyes.
The question hadn’t even been finished, but the words that the Buffalo Bills quarterback had heard over and over again were brought up — to his displeasure: When you’re asked about getting over that hump and winning the Super Bowl, does that..?
“I think if I knew how to get over that hump, we would’ve gotten over that hump already,” Allen said. Allen has become all too familiar with the line of questioning as the Bills’ quest of reaching the Super Bowl has extended over the years.
His seven playoff wins are the most by any quarterback in NFL history without a Super Bowl appearance. Allen is now a winner of the league’s MVP award and widely considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
So, the question comes up often.
“… You have to continue to keep giving yourself chances, and I feel like, one thing that I’ve for sure learned this last offseason is trusting in God’s timing. It’s never wrong, and when it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen, and you just got to continue to keep putting yourselves in opportunities where it could happen.”
The losses over the years have been memorable in their own ways. In the first AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, Coach Sean McDermott said the team wasn’t ready to win the biggest of games. The loss the following year to the Chiefs in the Divisional Round is remembered by two words, “13 seconds.” Despite taking a three-point lead and leaving just 13 seconds on the clock for the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes was able to orchestrate a game-tying drive that ended with a Kansas City win in overtime before the rule change that both teams are guaranteed possession.
Allen walked up to a podium after the 2024 AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs again this past January and took a sigh, visibly crestfallen, before taking the questions of what went wrong again.
For years, Allen has maintained that his only goal is to win a Super Bowl. But after an offseason of significant highs, both personally and professionally, the 29-year-old shares a different perspective on football and its place in his life. The Bills have once again started strong with a 2-0 start in Allen’s eighth season, and now host the Miami Dolphins on “Thursday Night Football” (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Winning the Super Bowl is still the ultimate professional goal but now comes with the mentality that there’s also more to life.
“It’s never been a goal of mine to win MVP. If anything, it’s been to win the Super Bowl MVP,” Allen said. “I think that’s the better of the two awards and make no mistake, it’s a very cool honor. I really do appreciate it, but it doesn’t change my life. It doesn’t change who I am, and to that point, it probably … winning a Super Bowl doesn’t change who I am or change my life either. But it’s something that the city’s wanted for a very long time and to feel like I can help be a piece that brings it here, that’s more important to me than a singular trophy.”
YOU’VE UNDOUBTEDLY SEEN Allen’s face on TV and mobile screens in 2025, and if you live near a Wegmans supermarket, plastered on the outside of freezers. He’s promoting all sorts of brands from Therabody to Natrol, a sleep aid, to New Balance, and has expanded his relationship with New Era and Snickers, which made him available for this interview on a day when Allen helped to launch the candy’s new sauces available in three flavors.
Some of that larger public profile stems from how his offseason began, when Allen beat out Lamar Jackson in MVP voting.
While accepting his award, Allen gave a speech with a catchphrase that has found its way across Western New York.
“Be good, do good, God bless and go Bills.”
In March, Allen was rewarded for his seasons of work with a restructuring of his contract that included $250 million guaranteed and tied him to the team through the 2030 season.
On May 31, he got married in California to actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld, which Allen described as by far the most significant event. “They’ve all been big, none other than marrying my best friend,” Allen said. “And she makes everything easier, so I don’t really focus on the other stuff. That was the most important decision I’ll make in my life, and I made the right one.”
Allen has demonstrated a desire to be present in whatever part of life he is in, whether it includes work or family or spending time on the golf course.
“When football is on, he’s locked in and … there’s no quarterback out there that knows his offense better, is better at understanding the defense teams are playing,” friend and Detroit Lions quarterback Kyle Allen said. “…And then when it’s over, he loves to have a good time. So, I mean, all his teammates can attest to that. He loves to have a good time, and in the offseason, I don’t know if we talk about football ever.”
The Bills QB’s new perspective from the offseason stems from the time spent with loved ones this offseason and “knowing what’s truly important.
“Obviously, I love my job. I think it’s extremely important,” Allen said. “I do everything that I can to win games and help our team win, but the family aspect in being a good person and all that other stuff, I think that’s, if not just as important, if not more, than playing our game and what we do.
“It’s weird for me to say that because football is the only thing I’ve ever truly like, wanted to do. … It’s the only thing that like I care about in my life more than anything. And knowing that there’s more in life, it’s … I don’t know, I think as you get older you start to realize that, but don’t get it twisted, I still care, probably an obnoxious amount about this game and trying to bring a Lombardi here to Western New York, and it’s the only goal that I have in my work career.”
That career took Allen from a no-star recruit to the seventh overall pick in the draft to a top quarterback. He’s come to epitomize Western New York, an area on the opposite side of the country from his hometown of Firebaugh, CA where he has become beloved.
His commitment to wanting to win is visible, not missing a game since his rookie season despite a variety of injuries along the way, but also in his verbal commitment.
Teammates who have known him throughout the years bring up quickly how he’s stayed himself and not changed.
“He’s pretty much always the same. He’s a very consistent person on a daily basis. He gives a lot of himself,” Bills backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky said, “Especially, I would say, wherever he’s at, the main thing is going to be the main thing.”
Allen has always liked to keep many aspects of his private life just that — private. As far as what he’s putting into his offseason, there is an emphasis on the things outside of the game.
“He’s playing a little bit more golf nowadays,” Seattle Seahawks quarterback and friend Sam Darnold joked on Allen’s recent approach to his offseason. “No, he’s always trying to get better in the offseason. He’s working out, he’s doing his thing. He is playing a lot of golf, got married. So, his life is pretty hectic at times. And so, I think the most important thing for him is just to relax and be with his family and friends as much as he can be.”
ALLEN, AN AVID golf fan, took note of golfer Scottie Scheffler’s remarks during a press conference ahead of the Open Championship in July. Scheffler, currently the No. 1-ranked player in the world, gained attention for comments that asked, “Why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly?” The golfer made it abundantly clear the important role the sport plays in his life, but that his family is his top priority.
“That’s why I wrestle with why is this so important to me, because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer,” Scheffler said. “At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me,”
Allen noted those words, specifically picking up Scheffler’s letting go of expectations, and asking, “Why do I care so much?”
Allen found that within himself as well.
“If we don’t win, we’re going to next year and we have a chance to win it next year,” Allen said. “And I think every year that I’ve had in this league, it’s like, ‘It’s gotta be Super Bowl, it’s gotta be Super Bowl,’ and I think this year, I just want to be like, you know what? I just want to play football and whatever happens, happens, and focusing more on the process than the results and letting go of that expectation and going out there and just playing to the best of my abilities no matter what and just being where my feet are.”
Bills quarterback Shane Buechele noted that Allen sets goals and that there is a positive in him doing that, but there’s also something to take from just focusing on what is in front of you.
“Just going 1-0 every week, just trying to handle or control what you can control, and I think he’s taken that maybe to the next level of man, just worrying about what he can do today or this week to make himself and the team better,” Buechele said.
Allen and others have expressed over the years how hard he can be on himself. Something former Bills offensive coordinator and current New York Giants coach Brian Daboll would preach is that, “‘It’s never as good as you think. It’s never as bad as you think.'”
Does that change with his new mindset?
“Maybe. Maybe. I mean, I still want to be my own harshest critic but maybe giving myself a little more grace,” Allen said.
DOWN 40-25 to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, Allen’s demeanor did not reflect whether the team was up or down by two scores. Lingering on the past is not something his brain is wired to do, and there’s a focus on continuing to do whatever it takes to win even when it takes a toll on his body.
“[His demeanor not reflecting the scoreboard is] one of his great powers,” Bills quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry said. “I think the greats have that. … Everybody talks about the shots that he makes, and nobody talks about the shots that he doesn’t. I think he goes out there, he lays on the line, he cares and he understands this is not the end of the world. So, he can go out there and he can be free.”
Allen led the Bills on a historic comeback, scoring 16 points in the final four minutes of the game to win 41-40. Those on the sideline with him noted the calm he maintained.
“To say, I expect [performances like the game-winning drive], I mean, we do. That’s such a hard job to have that pressure, but I’ve seen him do everything,” Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White, who was drafted the year before Allen said “…I feel like his situational awareness … in the middle of the game, the heat of battle, I feel like that’s next to none. … I think that he’s the guy that through whatever, he remain calm, keep his pulse, keep his poise. Guy’s just a great f—ing quarterback, great football player.”
Allen will continue to lead the Bills on the quest to get over the hump this year, or whenever it may occur.
“I’m gonna do everything that I can to make it happen, but don’t worry about it. Let’s go out there and if I’m doing everything that I can and putting my best foot forward, sometimes the ball’s gonna bounce the other way, and that’s just the unfortunate part about what we play, but that’s why we play, because the outcome is unknown and just going out there and enjoying the game that I love.”
ESPN’s Brady Henderson contributed to this story.
