Allen carries the ball, the jokes and the Bills — SkimNews
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- Josh Allen enters his age-30 season as the 2024 MVP with four Pro Bowls and four 4,000-yard passing seasons, having not missed a game since 2018 despite playing through a partial UCL tear in 2022 and a broken nose last season.
- The Buffalo Bills open a new era under 36-year-old head coach Joe Brady and a $2.1 billion stadium, chasing their first Super Bowl after four straight losses in the 1990s.
- Allen's linemen — LT Dion Dawkins, G Alec Anderson, and C Connor McGovern — described sprinting to pick him up after hits while hoping he remains able to be picked up, saying his recklessness 'drives us guys up front' even as Dawkins called it 'scary as hell.'
- Allen broke down in tears after last season's AFC divisional round overtime loss to the Broncos, a moment that laid bare the psychic weight of being 'the king of western New York' — a status reinforced when more than 41,000 fans attended a free mid-August practice.
- Allen arrived in Buffalo unheralded out of Firebaugh, CA and Reedley College, where he emailed every FBS head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and position coach proclaiming himself 'a great fit in your offensive scheme!' — only Wyoming and Eastern Michigan offered, and Eastern Michigan later rescinded its offer.
- Allen married actress-singer Hailee Steinfeld, forming what the piece calls 'the NFL's second-most-famous, yet far less visible, A-list couple,' but has stayed in western New York rather than relocating to celebrity hubs.
Why it matters: At 30 in his MVP prime with new coach Joe Brady and a $2.1 billion stadium in place, Allen faces what may be his best remaining window to deliver Buffalo its first Lombardi Trophy — yet his self-described need to absorb hits to feel engaged creates a tension threading through every snap, with teammates privately admitting they love to see his fearless runs while fearing the cost.
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