CASPER, Wyo. — Josh Allen may be having the best month of his life: Just a few weeks ago, he announced that he and actress Hailee Steinfeld were engaged to be married; now, classic sports publication Sports Illustrated has named him the NFL Player of the Year.
This is a yearly tradition for SI, in which they name the top performers in each sport.
Bearing in mind the season that Allen has had, this distinction shouldn’t surprise those who have been following football for any amount of time.
“As 2024 comes to a close, SI is recognizing the top performer in each sport — athletes who have excelled on the field through record-breaking or championship performances, or those who have distinguished themselves through significant off-field achievements as well,” the publication stated.
Allen, the magazine says, has done plenty of both.
“The Bills’ quarterback is Sports Illustrated’s NFL Player of the Year, not just for his MVP-worthy output, but for his tangible contributions to the Buffalo community,” said SI writer Conor Orr.
The article itself began with a story detailing a meeting that took place between Allen and one of his biggest fans. Jake Dionne, the magazine states, is a cancer patient that Allen personally met in August 2023. Allen took time out of his schedule to hang out with Dionne. The following year, Dionne played a game of golf with the Bills player as part of a 117-hole marathon charity event benefitting the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.
“After eight holes together, Allen had to be taken off the course to speak and receive an award and Dionne had assumed his brush with Allen had ended,” Orr wrote. “Then, Allen and his brother saw him as they went to head back onto the course and called for Dionne to grab his clubs. They played another 20 holes together, with one of Allen’s friends offering to donate an additional $1,000 for every birdie the group hit. Dionne — now in his freshman year at Ole Miss and a member of the school’s club golf team — birdied the next two holes.”
That’s the kind of player and the kind of human being that Allen is. And while he may not have grown up in Wyoming, his time as a UW Cowboy certainly instilled some of those Wyoming values that the state is known for.
It’s not just his character that distinguishes Allen from his peers, though; it’s how he plays the game as well.
SI notes that Allen’s fourth-and-two game-winning touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs from 26 yards out was one of the season’s most impressive plays. Allen is no stranger to impressive plays, either; he’s built a career out of them.
“But what pushed Allen over the edge for NFL Player of the Year is his relationship with the community of Buffalo and, in particular, the Children’s Hospital, where Allen is a regular visitor, fundraiser and cheerleader,” the article states. “He is in the hospital at least a few times per season.”
Orr’s article delves into Allen’s career, and life even further, but what remains evident is just how good of a human being the former UW quarterback really is. Good things happen to good people, as the old saying goes, and Allen, even just this past month, has proven that.
To read more about Josh Allen being Sports Illustrated’s Player of the Year, read the article in full here.
