Up next in 10
This is one of the most revealing Bills conversations you'll hear all year.
On a special episode of Bill Matic, D.A. sits down with Tyler Dunne of Go Long, one of the most successful independent football publications in America.
Fresh off an exclusive sit-down with Josh Allen, Dunne shares incredible insight into the quarterback, the franchise, and where the Bills are headed next.
It all starts with a stunning quote from Allen:
"The Bills winning a Super Bowl is the last great American sports story."
The franchise quarterback actually said it.
Why is Josh so optimistic?
D.A. and Dunne dive into:
🏈 The exclusive Josh Allen interview
🏈 Why the Bills ultimately had to move on from Sean McDermott
🏈 How Joe Brady can unlock the best version of Allen
🏈 Why the infamous "13 Seconds" collapse scarred the organization more than fans realize
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
And there are so many interesting
0:01
comments that Josh made when we sat
0:02
down. I asked him, "Okay, we all saw
0:05
that turnover at the end of the first
0:07
half against Denver. It was ugly, but
0:10
it's not like you can tell
0:12
Pablo Picasso to color between the lines
0:14
or Dave Chappelle not to curse in his
0:16
stand-up routines. You've got to let
0:18
Josh Allen be Josh Allen." He made it
0:19
very clear that he is not going to
0:22
change the way he plays. The last great
0:26
American sports story is the Buffalo
0:28
Bills winning a Super Bowl.
0:31
Who says so? Josh Allen of all people.
0:35
My next guest is my friends, Ty Dunne,
0:38
who sat down with an amazing deep dive
0:41
with Josh.
0:42
>> [music]
0:47
>> DA, always good to to hear your voice as
0:50
I do every morning that I possibly can
0:53
when I'm on the road.
0:54
Excellent job as always and to see you
0:57
here on the podcast. Uh it's it's an
0:59
honor to be talking some Bills with you.
1:01
>> It's always good to dig in and this
1:03
quote is a powerful one.
1:05
The Buffalo Bills winning a Vince
1:07
Lombardi Trophy is the last great
1:09
American sports story. Did Josh come up
1:11
with that on his own or did somebody
1:13
peddle that to him to make him feel
1:15
better and then suddenly he's all bought
1:17
in?
1:17
>> [laughter]
1:18
>> That's all Josh Allen, DA. That's all
1:21
Josh. It it And really it's significant
1:25
when you think back to the last time all
1:27
of America saw Josh Allen. Mile High,
1:31
33-30, overtime loss, brutal brutal
1:35
defeat. However you want to define it
1:37
from the the five turnovers that Buffalo
1:39
had to the controversial was it a catch,
1:43
was it an interception to the head coach
1:45
then getting fired, whatever it was, 24
1:48
to 48 hours later. We all saw Josh
1:50
Allen. He was
1:52
emo- emotional doesn't really do it
1:54
justice. I've I've seen the quarterback
1:56
in a state quite like that. And it's
1:58
interesting, D A, cuz I think a lot of
2:01
quarterbacks do that postgame press
2:02
conference
2:04
after their their shower, they're
2:06
dressed, they can take 30 minutes to
2:08
decompress and gather their thoughts.
2:11
Josh Allen always does it right after
2:13
the game. And usually he he's on
2:15
autopilot. It's 5-6 minutes. You're
2:18
you're getting some information on a
2:19
touchdown here, a big play there.
2:21
This is an end-of-season loss, and you
2:23
could just see how raw those emotions
2:26
still were, that he felt he he he was to
2:29
blame. He put it all on himself. And I
2:31
think that I I set out to sit down with
2:34
Josh Allen because I wanted to know how
2:35
how do you harness that energy and those
2:38
emotions
2:39
for good. We're talking a decade worth
2:42
of playoff losses, crushing playoff
2:44
losses. Nobody has won more playoff
2:46
games without a Super Bowl appearance
2:48
than Josh Allen. Now his head coach is
2:50
fired, in comes Joe Brady, they're going
2:52
to play in a new stadium. I As we all
2:55
know, he's he's married, he just
2:57
welcomed a baby girl into the world. So,
2:59
I wanted to try to get inside of his
3:00
brain, and Josh Allen was unbelievably
3:03
candid throughout the half hour that we
3:06
chatted.
3:06
>> Hey, a reminder to subscribe to the
3:08
channel. Make sure you're clicking on
3:09
this button below me. Tons of Bills
3:11
offseason content. Make sure you're
3:13
subscribed because you could be watching
3:15
this video and then not get another if
3:16
you are not subscribed. Make sure it's
3:18
in your feed. That's where this story,
3:21
why that quote, is really important. I
3:25
did a deep dive
3:27
based on a lot of your reporting as well
3:29
about the emotions inside the locker
3:30
room on why I thought that loss was
3:32
different. Why after all of these
3:35
cataclysmic playoff losses that Josh and
3:37
Dion Dawkins and the rest of those guys
3:39
have suffered that have been there for a
3:40
while, why this one seemed to rattle
3:42
them more than the others. I mean,
3:43
again,
3:44
as you documented, there were real tears
3:47
being, you know, cried. And you can't do
3:49
that after every single playoff loss.
3:51
It's got to be a special one. It's got
3:52
to be a unique one. Special is the wrong
3:54
word.
3:55
So, that's why I'm interested in him
3:58
saying this is the last great American
4:00
sports story. What's your pop
4:02
psychologist on why that one was so bad
4:05
in terms of their response and why he
4:07
has so much optimism still today?
4:10
>> I think he took this one hard on a
4:13
personal level because
4:15
Josh Allen made some massive mistakes in
4:18
a playoff game and that hasn't been the
4:20
case.
4:21
Statistically, he's been one of the best
4:23
playoff quarterbacks we've ever seen. If
4:25
you really look at his numbers, I mean,
4:27
go back to 2021, the perfect game in the
4:30
wild card against New England. It's
4:32
still a crime that the 2021 Bills didn't
4:34
get to Super Bowl, let alone win it. To
4:36
lose the way they lost at Arrowhead, 13
4:39
seconds. I've documented all the detail
4:41
on that at at go long td.com for those
4:44
who want to check it out. I mean, they
4:45
from the touchback to the defensive
4:48
alignment, all of that. I mean, Josh
4:49
Allen wasn't saying that game. And aside
4:51
from that Cincinnati playoff loss, that
4:53
was a weird year. I mean, my God, Damar
4:55
Hamlin basically died on a football
4:57
field and came back to life. It's a
4:58
miracle that they were even able to play
5:00
football after that.
5:02
Josh Allen's been spectacular in the
5:03
playoffs. And he was really damn good in
5:05
that Denver game. Don't get me wrong. He
5:07
put them in a position to win the game,
5:09
27-23.
5:11
Uh you've got a defensive-minded coach
5:13
who leaves Dane Jackson one-on-one. Of
5:15
course, Bo Nix and Sean Payton are going
5:17
to take advantage of that. Earlier that
5:19
drive, it's third and long. You don't
5:20
bring pressure. You We can play the
5:22
blame game all all all day long. I think
5:25
Josh knew that his mistakes at the end
5:27
of the first half, that fumble, and then
5:29
the the throw to Dawson Knox that he
5:31
missed with whatever it was, 10-15
5:32
seconds left in regulation. Those were
5:34
the two plays he pointed to in our
5:36
conversation that that really do stick
5:38
with him. So, yeah, to answer your
5:39
question, I think that's where it came
5:41
from. He felt responsible. And then when
5:43
that quote was relayed to Dion Dawkins
5:45
inside the locker room, I mean, he was
5:47
so he just couldn't even contain himself
5:49
at all. He had to walk away. He turned
5:51
and broke down in tears.
5:53
So, I think that those guys in that
5:55
locker room, we can get into it. I mean,
5:56
they they would run through a wall for
5:57
Josh Allen. I've never 16 years covering
5:59
the NFL, I've never heard players talk
6:01
about a quarterback the way they do Josh
6:03
Allen. And I feel like that that is why
6:06
you saw a lot of the raw emotions
6:08
team-wise as well.
6:09
>> So, that's a lot more X's and O's than
6:11
where I'm probing into and you you had a
6:14
quote or you had a line in this piece
6:17
that you have, you know, you have
6:18
chronicled the 13 seconds more than I
6:20
think any other journalist in in Western
6:22
civilization. But, it is it is
6:24
reasonable to do so because it is like
6:27
the the the moment that should have
6:30
should have ended the story and you said
6:32
in this piece, 13 seconds haunted them
6:35
more than anyone knows. We would assume
6:39
it has haunted them. We would assume
6:40
Josh is haunted by this. But, why do you
6:42
say it's more than anybody knows?
6:46
>> There's everything that we saw on the
6:47
field, which was bad enough. Um
6:50
you know, there there were 10 players on
6:52
that kickoff that thought it would be a
6:53
squib. They heard squib. Tyler Bass was
6:56
told to boot it out of the end zone.
6:57
That's what Sean McDermott wanted.
6:59
There's all the nitty-gritty X's and O's
7:00
stuff. You've got the quote-unquote
7:02
Kodak timeouts before each of those
7:04
Chiefs throws that get them into
7:05
Harrison Butker field goal range. All
7:07
all of that. It's awful. You shouldn't
7:09
lose that game.
7:10
I think what was worse is how it was
7:12
handled after the game where the head
7:15
coach
7:16
didn't take accountability publicly. It
7:19
was the quote-unquote execution word,
7:21
which is code for the players screwed
7:22
up, not the coaches. And I had coaches
7:24
tell me that he basically pointed the
7:26
finger at them and said, "You guys need
7:27
to figure this out. Put it on them and
7:30
see in the spring." In so many words.
7:32
There wasn't really accountability and
7:35
you see this in sports all the time. I
7:36
mean, you're covering all major
7:38
professional sports leagues where an
7:40
awful playoff loss happens, a traumatic
7:43
loss, if it's not dealt with
7:45
appropriately, it will linger.
7:48
The Legion of Boom Seahawks and that
7:50
interception at the one-yard line is is
7:53
very similar, the fallout from that to
7:54
the fallout that you saw from 13
7:56
seconds. Right, I mean this isn't me
7:58
telling you this, D.A. I mean when the
8:00
the coach was fired, I had sources
8:02
really high up in the organization tell
8:04
me that that game, 13 seconds, just
8:06
hovered over the franchise like a dark
8:08
cloud. Now, the roster turned over a
8:10
bunch since then, to your point earlier,
8:13
but but now you've got like a second
8:15
iteration of the Bills that have kind of
8:17
handle
8:18
had their own scars. And this Broncos
8:20
game provided plenty of scars. So, I
8:21
just think enough was enough. Sean
8:24
McDermott did a hell of a lot of good
8:25
for the Buffalo Bills. Where they were
8:27
with Rex Ryan was a bad, bad place. He
8:30
cleaned it up. He'll be a head coach
8:32
again. It was time. And what also people
8:36
don't really know is the relationship
8:37
between the quarterback and the head
8:38
coach wasn't that great.
8:41
And I think it has a potential to be
8:43
great with Joe Brady. That matters a lot
8:46
and that's why Josh Allen was sitting on
8:47
those nine head coach interviews.
8:49
>> You're 100% correct in that Seahawks
8:51
Legion of Boom thing. I do a Sunday NFL
8:53
preview show with Robert Turbin, who was
8:55
Marshawn Lynch's backup on on those
8:58
Seahawks Super Bowl teams. And we do
9:00
Sunday mornings on NFL radio on
9:02
SiriusXM. And he told me the same exact
9:04
thing.
9:05
And you know, he's recounted some
9:06
amazing stories where
9:08
the scene after the after the game in
9:10
the locker room was this kind of um
9:13
rebellion against the coaching staff.
9:16
The a Pete Carroll specifically, that it
9:18
was it was open revolt in that off
9:20
season. It continued this to kind of
9:22
disrespect of Pete because Pete never
9:25
really addressed it properly. They did
9:27
not process and and handle that. And
9:29
then ultimately, they never got close to
9:31
a Super Bowl again. So, you're 1,000%
9:33
right on that. Um you mentioned how
9:36
Josh's unbelievably enthused right now.
9:40
He is reborn. And I kept thinking about
9:43
this relationship between coach and
9:45
quarterback as I read your piece and
9:46
read this. How much do you think of Josh
9:49
Allen's incredible enthusiasm is
9:51
because, maybe no offense to Sean
9:53
McDermott, but there is a head coaching
9:56
change and it is specifically Joe Brady.
9:59
>> And also my mind went back to the what I
10:01
heard inside that visitor's locker room
10:04
in Kansas City very similar to what I
10:06
was told in terms of rebellion and
10:09
players very unhappy with the way that
10:11
game ended. I think that those left some
10:13
scars there as well. It's crazy how
10:14
similar those two games, those two
10:16
inflection points really are for those
10:18
two franchises. It's huge. I mean, look,
10:20
it's Josh Allen isn't the type of
10:23
quarterback, leader, captain that is
10:25
going to go into Terry Pegula's office
10:28
and demand things, demand changes. And
10:32
there are quarterbacks who do that and
10:34
there are owners who listen to those
10:35
quarterbacks above anybody else. That's
10:37
just That's just not who he is and I
10:40
think that's one of his great redeeming
10:41
qualities as a leader. Watch Josh Allen
10:44
in any game. You'll never ever see him
10:47
ream out a teammate. There'll be a a
10:49
dropped pass, just a brutal error that
10:51
somebody else makes. He doesn't show him
10:53
up at all publicly. And he he wants to
10:56
absorb all the blame and all the
10:58
accountability and that's that's another
10:59
reason guys love him so much. But I just
11:01
think the Bills basically had to say,
11:03
"Okay, Josh. This organization runs
11:06
through you." That was something that
11:08
Sean McDermott took a
11:09
very long time to figure out right up to
11:11
the very end. It It's got to run through
11:14
the quarterback. At some point that
11:15
calculus changes. You've got a special
11:18
talent, a Hall of Fame talent. What is
11:20
best for Josh Allen? How do we take
11:22
advantage of this Super Bowl window
11:24
through that prism? And I feel that
11:26
Terry Pegula, Brandon Beane, all the
11:28
powers that be at One Bills Drive said,
11:30
"Okay, we're going to give you a seat at
11:31
the table. We want your input." Look, if
11:33
they wanted to get {quote} and {unquote}
11:35
Josh's guy, I guess it would have been
11:36
Brian Daboll. That was like a father
11:38
figure for him in Western New York. So,
11:40
it wasn't like they just said, "Josh, do
11:42
whatever the hell you want." But, they
11:44
absolutely wanted him to be a part of
11:46
that interview process.
11:48
And the Joe Brady relationship grew
11:50
organically. I I've sat down with Joe
11:52
Brady for a two-part series at Go Long
11:53
as well this offseason. It was
11:55
fascinating to hear his life story and
11:58
how much it parallels and mirrors Josh
12:01
Allen's where yeah, we know Josh Allen,
12:03
zero-star recruit, and sending a
12:06
thousand plus emails when he's at a JuCo
12:08
and nobody wants him. I mean, Joe Joe
12:10
Brady was like the sixth-string wide
12:12
receiver at his high school team and
12:14
just ran onto the field when a guy got
12:15
hurt. It wasn't even his turn, his his
12:17
play, his formation. He just went
12:20
against all of his coaches, ran onto the
12:21
field, caught a pass, caught another
12:23
pass, somehow fights and claws his way
12:25
to William and Mary to get on their
12:27
roster via Air Force, and long story
12:30
short, he's sleeping on the floor at a
12:32
coaching clinic. I mean, it's it's kind
12:35
of spooky how similar Josh Allen's rise
12:37
and Joe Brady's rise really are. So, I
12:40
think they're kindred spirits in a way.
12:41
So, when in a roundabout way, when he he
12:43
gets fired by Carolina, he was very
12:45
transparent about his mistakes there. He
12:46
gets to Buffalo as a quarterbacks coach.
12:50
And he was nervous, he was uptight, very
12:52
rigid in his first meeting. And Josh
12:54
Allen just cracked a joke. Joe Joe said,
12:56
"I can't tell you exactly what he said,
12:59
but it involved a number."
13:01
And I was talking about pass protection,
13:03
so you can kind of put two and two
13:05
together. And Josh Allen cracked this
13:07
joke and just changed the whole
13:09
temperature of the room. They're off and
13:11
running. Joe Brady loosened up. And I
13:13
think from '22 to '23 to '24, QB's
13:16
coach, the OC, they've really developed
13:19
this relationship where they're they're
13:21
very vulnerable with each other. They
13:22
can be honest with one another.
13:24
I I don't think this is a case where the
13:26
quarterback's going to be able to
13:27
railroad the coach and do whatever the
13:28
hell he wants. I think Joe Brady will
13:30
hold him accountable.
13:32
Like any relationship in life, if the if
13:34
if somebody knows you love them and it's
13:36
really there, they'll accept harsh
13:37
criticism. That's how Allen and Daboll
13:40
kind of got something special when he
13:42
was the offensive coordinator in
13:43
Buffalo.
13:44
I You don't know how he's going to react
13:46
though, DA. I could sit here and say
13:47
they're going to win three, four Super
13:49
Bowls. It's Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes.
13:51
The second stance of Josh Allen's career
13:54
will be unbelievable. You don't know how
13:56
Joe Brady will respond until there is
13:59
some public criticism or until in the
14:01
game he's got to make those decisions
14:03
like that. Those decisions that Sean
14:05
McDermott struggled with so much. But I
14:07
think that this was the right hire. The
14:09
more you really look at it, you can see
14:12
why Joe Brady was the choice.
14:15
>> It's almost like the process was the
14:17
problem, but the end result was not.
14:19
There's so many Bills fans
14:21
understandably bothered, annoyed that it
14:23
was Brandon Beane who survived and not
14:25
McDermott. Beane seemed like the aloof,
14:28
slick, suit-wearing guy who got in good
14:31
with the owner. Where McDermott was the
14:33
roll up your sleeves and do the hard
14:35
work and he was a little difficult
14:37
maybe, but still he wore his heart on
14:39
his sleeve and people didn't like the
14:40
fact that Beane survived and McDermott
14:42
didn't. But to circle back to one of
14:44
your earlier point points,
14:47
Josh is not the type of guy that's going
14:48
to walk into a boardroom maybe and say
14:50
this has to be done, but he did not
14:52
offer any public support for McDermott
14:55
or public criticism when McDermott was
14:57
fired.
14:58
And the enthusiasm that he has now for
15:01
Joe Brady and being involved in nine
15:03
interview processes
15:06
suggests
15:07
that
15:09
Josh Allen was ready for a change,
15:10
right?
15:12
>> 100%.
15:14
Yes.
15:15
Again, Josh Allen is a son of a rancher,
15:19
right out of
15:21
California. Son of a farmer, grow
15:23
growing up in the middle of nowhere. His
15:25
dad's working with irrigate irrigation
15:27
pipes and 100-degree temperatures. He
15:30
He's going to do what he's told. He's
15:32
respects authority. He's going to
15:33
respect his coach. He's going to respect
15:35
his boss. He doesn't want to ruffle
15:37
feathers. He I mean this is what so many
15:39
teammates and people close to me or
15:42
close to Josh Allen told me is like he
15:44
isn't the type that is going to
15:47
go to the authorities, go to his boss
15:49
and say something needs to change. He's
15:51
going to want to want it to work. Sean
15:53
McDermott is just a very different
15:55
personality. They're wired very
15:57
different. Doesn't mean that one's right
15:58
and one's wrong, but this is in 2023
16:02
when I did that three-part series, this
16:04
player who actually from what I recall,
16:07
he liked Sean a lot. He was going on and
16:10
on about all of the good that Sean
16:11
McDermott did for this team because he
16:13
lived the Rex Ryan era a little bit.
16:15
He said it's it's a ticking time bomb.
16:18
Those were his words and and and that's
16:19
what it was. Eventually,
16:22
they just had to get a different voice
16:24
in there. And even if they did get along
16:26
great, like they've been together a long
16:28
time. We're talking about nearly a
16:29
decade of banging on that championship
16:31
door and not busting it down. Something
16:34
had to change and I get that wanting to
16:36
completely detonate the whole thing and
16:39
get a completely different voice in
16:41
there because you do have a good thing
16:43
going on.
16:44
I mean, they're in the playoffs every
16:46
year. They're a Super Bowl contender
16:47
every year. Josh Allen, you don't want
16:49
to completely hit reset on the most
16:51
important relationship in sports, head
16:53
coach and quarterback. I think it was
16:56
advantageous to have somebody in house
16:59
who knows Josh Allen's strengths, his
17:02
weaknesses, which buttons to push and
17:04
when, yet also knows, "Okay, if I'm the
17:07
head coach, here's [snorts] what I would
17:08
do differently."
17:10
Talk about game planning.
17:12
Joe Brady's calling the plays, no doubt
17:14
about it. Those wide receiver screens
17:15
drive people nuts in Western New York,
17:18
as I'm sure you know.
17:20
I do believe that when they crafted game
17:22
plans, Sean McDermott's fingerprints
17:25
were all over those game plans. And if
17:26
they played a Patrick Mahomes or a Joe
17:28
Joe Burrow or one of these elite
17:30
quarterbacks, it was very
17:32
conservative, let's play keep away,
17:34
let's let's
17:35
stay out of harm's way. And maybe that
17:38
was right, maybe it was wrong. Look,
17:40
they get to the playoffs, the defense is
17:42
getting lit up in these games, and the
17:44
offense can't be perfect. I feel like if
17:47
you've got a coach that wants to Josh
17:48
Allen in full,
17:50
those game plans probably change a
17:51
little bit. And there were so many
17:53
interesting comments that Josh made when
17:54
we sat down.
17:56
And in in that vein, I asked him, okay,
18:00
we all saw that turnover at the end of
18:02
the first half against Denver. It was
18:04
ugly.
18:06
Basically, the Bills gifted Denver three
18:07
points. Um but it's not like you can
18:10
tell
18:14
or Dave Chappelle not to curse in his
18:16
stand-up routines. You've got to let
18:17
Josh Allen be Josh Allen. That's how he
18:19
was able to blowtorch all the doubters
18:21
is he did it his way. He's always going
18:23
to do it his way. He made it very clear
18:25
that he is not going to change the way
18:28
he plays. He will play the way he knows
18:30
how to play quarterback until he can't
18:32
anymore, which he hopes is a long time
18:33
in the future.
18:35
>> And you got a great quote in there where
18:36
at the sign in Joe Brady's office that
18:38
says, "Be you with us." Which is like,
18:41
"Hey, we want what you are, Josh,
18:44
to be part of the success. So, don't
18:47
don't worry about {quote} fitting in. We
18:50
want you to be who you are, and that
18:51
will lead to team success." That's a
18:53
very empowering thing, and it's a very
18:55
appetizing thing for people for
18:57
competitors that do want to have some
18:58
personality. And if you were just coming
19:00
out of the McDermott era, that's that's
19:02
certainly uh a very attractive quality
19:04
to have. You know, you had Dawson Knox
19:06
quoted in this piece as well.
19:08
And he says, you know, we're are to win
19:11
a championship, and it's going to be
19:12
multiple. And I just thought
19:14
but this there is something that is so
19:17
interesting about the Buffalo Bills,
19:19
okay? Which is why I have decided to go
19:21
all in on chronicling this
19:24
because
19:25
unlike the Chicago Cubs in 2015 or 2014,
19:29
unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers before
19:32
LeBron came back, unlike the Boston Red
19:35
Sox in '02 or '03, there is this like
19:38
relentless optimism. No, it's going to
19:40
happen. It's going to I mean, Josh feels
19:42
it, and the rest of these guys feel it.
19:43
They're talking about it openly. How
19:45
much of that is just this belief like,
19:47
hey, we got maybe the best player in
19:48
football, so it and it's the most
19:50
important position, so it's going to
19:51
happen. And or B, this real earnest
19:55
authentic love affair with a city that
19:58
loves them so much that they just feel
20:00
it is their duty to do it.
20:04
>> Josh Allen would say, "Hey,
20:06
the new stadium is across Abbott Road
20:08
now, so maybe it isn't on Indian burial
20:11
ground." I don't know. I mean, that's
20:12
many, many years ago. To me, I feel like
20:15
there still might be some over there,
20:16
but he he's hopeful. [laughter]
20:18
There was a Seneca Nation observer on
20:20
site building the new stadium, so maybe
20:23
it's not Maybe the team's not cursed
20:24
anymore.
20:25
I tried to get to the bottom of that
20:26
one.
20:28
You're right though, and there is this
20:30
relentless optimism.
20:32
And you could hear it in Josh Allen's
20:35
voice. And you could see it in what he
20:36
said all in that story where
20:39
I mean, this is Think about these
20:40
playoff losses. We mentioned 13 You got
20:42
a couple AFC Championship losses in
20:44
there. You got the the the Bengals at
20:46
home in the snow. That That's a dream
20:48
for Bills fans. You lose that one. And
20:51
they've lost in just gut-wrenching
20:52
fashion. I mean, in addition to the
20:54
defense just getting run over,
20:57
offensively, Stefon Diggs drops a 60-70
21:00
yd bomb against the Chiefs, and Trent
21:02
Sherfield has dropped that game. And
21:04
Dalton Kincaid, fourth and five the next
21:06
year in the AFC Championship game where
21:08
Allen makes this incredible escape on a
21:10
Spags blitz and he's running all over
21:12
the place chucks a that gets dropped and
21:14
now you've got the controversial Brandon
21:16
Cooks play. It it could take a mental
21:19
toll but I feel like they this is a
21:21
genuinely rejuvenated team because they
21:25
had a genuinely rejuvenated quarterback
21:28
in Josh Allen. We we we took we covered
21:30
the new coach, the new stadium. It
21:32
really does start at home though. Look,
21:34
we're both fathers. You you know what
21:36
it's like those first few months when
21:37
you become a dad, your life completely
21:40
changes and and Josh Allen and his wife
21:42
um Hayley Steinfeld, they haven't just
21:44
outsourced all the parenting to other
21:45
people. I mean, he is up from 2 to 3
21:47
a.m. in the middle of the night trying
21:49
to put his baby girl back to sleep. He
21:51
is changing every single diaper, calls
21:53
himself the diaper king and I think
21:56
this is awesome. This this tells me
21:57
everything I need to know about Josh
21:59
Allen.
21:59
Cocomelon is banned forever in their
22:02
home.
22:02
>> Hey, now that's a strong parenting move.
22:06
Well done. Very strong. I knew I liked
22:08
this guy.
22:09
>> Just absolute crack that show and Baby
22:12
Shark. So he said, "No, absolutely not.
22:15
Our baby girl will never ever be exposed
22:18
to this filth and I think that's great."
22:20
You know, [laughter] I think early on
22:21
with LR first it was like, "Oh, she
22:23
really likes this show. It's great."
22:25
Then
22:26
a few weeks pass and I was like,
22:27
"Absolutely not. It's banned forever in
22:29
our [laughter] house as I hope it is
22:30
yours as well."
22:31
>> Absolutely. It never even got a chance
22:33
to
22:34
like
22:34
>> kids didn't even get a chance to like it
22:36
or not like it. It was never allowed in
22:37
the house.
22:39
>> You're you've got sports on, of course,
22:40
right? Like
22:42
>> Yeah. [laughter] I had a geo fencing
22:44
around it. You it was like get trying to
22:45
get a ticket from Ticketmaster for an
22:47
opposing team. You're not allowed to get
22:48
it inside this house.
22:50
>> I love [snorts] it. I love it and and
22:52
look, it's it
22:53
he says I have a new why. He he repeated
22:55
that over and over and over again. His
22:58
his why has changed. He feels kind of
23:00
reborn in a way, to have
23:04
a life that he created with his his wife
23:07
and a new life and the new stadium, the
23:09
new coach, hell, a new wide receiver in
23:11
DJ Moore.
23:12
I think everything kind of happened at
23:14
the right time here for this team
23:18
and this entire team is deriving their
23:20
energy from the quarterback.
23:22
He's in a good place, so I really do get
23:24
the sense the entire Bills team is in a
23:26
good place, but maybe you should ask me
23:28
that in January.
23:29
>> [laughter]
23:32
>> I GOT to throw in the little caveat,
23:33
right? Everything's roses and puppies
23:35
and rainbows, I get it. We could talk
23:37
about like any team right now.
23:39
Uh Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins and
23:41
and find reasons for optimism.
23:43
Uh but you you can definitely sense it
23:46
and it was good to sit down with Josh
23:47
Allen and kind of hear how he has
23:49
processed these losses cuz
23:51
I mean, this answers your question, too.
23:53
He's taking it back to when he was 18
23:55
years old. You wonder how can somebody
23:57
possibly lift themselves off the canvas
23:59
again and again and again?
24:01
He's sending a thousand emails out. He
24:03
ain't hearing back from any coaches. He
24:05
went to every registry he could and this
24:07
is when he had that great season at
24:09
Reedley College in Juco. I mean, his
24:11
favorite team growing up were the the
24:13
Fresno State Bulldogs. They didn't even
24:15
want him as a walk-on. Nobody's getting
24:17
back to him. I mean, think about asking
24:19
a thousand girls out and they all say no
24:22
and then you ask again and again and
24:25
again and finally Wyoming shows a little
24:28
interest in you and then his life
24:30
changes.
24:31
I think it is very similar to where Josh
24:34
Allen is right now with the Bills where
24:35
they've had all these playoff losses.
24:37
How do you keep getting back? You just
24:38
do it cuz it's who you are. You know, he
24:41
he said, "I didn't have a plan B back at
24:42
18 years old. It was I'm making football
24:44
work or I I don't know. I didn't even
24:46
even let his mind go there." So, that's
24:48
that's where he is right now. "We're
24:49
going to win the Super Bowl.
24:51
There's no other option as far as he's
24:52
concerned."
24:54
>> Yeah, there is a um
24:57
He has a great quote in your piece about
24:59
how plan B can be a distraction from
25:01
plan A. So, there is no fallback. There
25:05
is no or. There is just we win a Super
25:07
Bowl. And that's infectious and I think
25:10
it's more evidence that they had to make
25:11
a coaching change cuz I I just don't
25:12
know if you could have had this type of
25:14
enthusiasm, whether you had a baby or
25:16
not, if you were running it back with
25:18
the same crew.
25:19
Um the one thing I want to end on is his
25:23
quote that really reminded me of Dan
25:24
Marino. I was on Super Bowl radio row
25:26
one year interviewing Dan. Dan is a hero
25:29
of mine. I got a poster behind me about
25:31
classic Dan Marino, one of my favorite
25:33
players of all time. And he does not
25:36
like being called the greatest player
25:38
never to win a Super Bowl. It really
25:41
bothers him. He does not look at that as
25:43
a
25:43
as a
25:44
an accolade. And you asked Josh about
25:46
this and he said, "That's not a
25:48
compliment. I do not want to be that. I
25:50
do not want to be that." And that's
25:52
you know, I think the fear that he would
25:54
be Dan Marino 2.0 with all these
25:56
wonderful highlights and records and
25:57
opportunities, but never actually crack
25:59
through. That tells you a lot about this
26:01
kind of single-mindedness of breaking
26:02
through even at 30 years old that you're
26:04
kind of scraping into with this piece.
26:07
>> 100%.
26:09
He does not want to go down as the
26:11
greatest player who never won a
26:13
championship, never got a ring. And I'm
26:16
trying to remember the question I asked
26:18
that got that because I feel like he
26:20
almost brought it up himself. Like he he
26:22
he made a point to say, "We're not going
26:24
down that road. I'm not going down that
26:26
road. It ain't going to happen. We've
26:28
got to win a ring. We've got to win a
26:30
championship. To me, that's not that
26:32
great of an of an accomplishment to go
26:34
down as
26:35
the greatest who who didn't do it. And I
26:38
think he he's he wants to win a Super
26:40
Bowl for the right reasons. I mean, this
26:42
is
26:43
a quarterback who sincerely loves his
26:46
teammates. His door is always open.
26:48
Everybody's always welcome. I think even
26:50
now with a baby, it's probably the case.
26:52
Got Guys are at his house all the time.
26:54
It doesn't matter if you're a practice
26:56
squad long snapper or the receiver he'll
26:58
throw to 12 times a game. He He I mean
27:02
this goes back to his junior college
27:04
days. There was a lineman on the team
27:06
who got kicked out of his dorm, needed a
27:08
place to live for a couple nights. Josh
27:11
took him in. Couple nights turned into
27:13
over a month. I mean it's just really
27:15
who he is to his core. I think he he
27:17
plays the position
27:19
in a way we all would love to play
27:21
quarterback if we had the opportunity.
27:22
Like on on your backyard, running
27:25
around, leaping over people, chucking it
27:27
deep. He wears his emotions on his
27:29
sleeve very similar to Brett Favre for
27:30
for for many reasons in the '90s. And
27:34
teammates loved Brett Favre and and
27:35
teammates love Josh Allen because they
27:37
also see, look,
27:38
he played the last month of this past
27:40
season with a broken fifth metatarsal in
27:42
his foot. He couldn't walk during the
27:44
week. He could barely walk. He broke his
27:46
hand in the past. He's had all sorts of
27:49
injuries and
27:50
nobody at the quarterback position has
27:52
started more games in a row than Josh
27:54
Allen right now, the longest current
27:55
streak. Still a ways to go from Favre,
27:58
but he that ingratiates himself to
28:00
teammates. So I really think that drive
28:02
to want to win it all, it's for the
28:04
city, for the people, the same fans who
28:07
were booing the hell out of them when
28:09
the Bills drafted him because they
28:10
wanted Josh Rosen. It's for the It's for
28:11
the city and it's for those teammates.
28:14
And now, more than anybody, it's for his
28:16
daughter.
28:18
Mhm. And And that's a good point, too.
28:19
You know, he's Now that I think about
28:21
it, D.A., he said, "I want my daughter
28:23
and my kids to be able to see me play."
28:26
He wants to serve it as an example for
28:28
them. So he's got a million whys out
28:31
there for sure.
28:32
>> It's a great piece and you know, you
28:34
kind of think you know it all about Josh
28:36
and then you read a piece like this and
28:38
you go, "Wow, now I even know more about
28:40
what makes him tick." All those whys
28:42
that you're talking about, it all It
28:43
kind of It glues together this kind of
28:45
off season of of turmoil for the Buffalo
28:48
Bills in a really great way as you tend
28:50
to do with your writing. I highly
28:52
encourage all Bills fans out there, NFL
28:54
fans in general, to check this out.
28:55
GoLongTD.com
28:57
is the website and Ty is on Substack and
29:01
if you're there, go check him out there.
29:03
The piece is
29:04
just a wonderful insight into the Bills
29:07
and to Josh and as you normally do, kind
29:10
of cracked the code into how everything
29:12
is kind of working behind the scenes.
29:14
So, bravo once again, my friend.
29:16
Excellent, excellent work. GoLongTD.com
29:20
is the site.
29:21
>> Way too kind, DA. Thank you so much for
29:24
having me on and being one of the
29:26
absolute best in the biz. It's always an
29:28
honor.
29:29
>> Next time we talk, it'll be closer to
29:31
the season and we'll just have more
29:33
optimism to sift through. I don't know.
29:34
It's you know, right now it's June.
29:37
Everybody's going 17-0, right?
29:39
>> [laughter]
29:41
>> That's right. It's a glorious time of
29:43
year for [laughter] everyone. And then
29:45
the games will be played and Mike Tyson
29:47
punches in the jaw and we see what
29:48
really happens. [laughter]
29:50
>> Thanks, buddy. Tyler Dunne joining us
29:52
here on the show. Once again, a reminder
29:54
to subscribe to the channel. Make sure
29:56
you're clicking on this button below me
29:57
to be subscribed because then you get my
29:59
post-game reactions after every single
30:02
Bills game and plenty of off-season
30:04
content coming your way. Make sure you
30:06
are subscribed. We also got Sabres and
30:08
Six Around Here and the Orange Fizz, all
30:11
pieces of sports content for the Western
30:14
and Upstate New York sports fan. All
30:16
right, so be right here. We appreciate
30:18
you being with us. I'm DA, Damon
30:20
Amendolara. Catch me weekday mornings on
30:22
Mad Dog Sports Radio channel 82. We'll
30:24
see you then. Appreciate you watching,
30:26
everybody.
#Sports