How Josh Allen became eternal hope for the Buffalo Bills as playoffs begin

Billy Heyen

•
How Josh Allen became eternal hope for the Buffalo Bills as playoffs begin image

Josh Allen is the kind of football player who makes you believe. Shoot, Josh Allen is the kind of human being  who makes you believe.

And maybe that's because the Buffalo Bills' superstar quarterback, the reigning MVP of the National Football League, has spent a whole lifetime making people believe.

It's a crucial trait for any QB, especially one about to try and lead the Bills on a road-centric journey toward the Super Bowl.

But because of who Allen is, and where he's come from, and what he's done, there isn't a single member of Bills Mafia who doubts for a second what number 17 is capable of.

MORE: Steelers' DK Metcalf, back from suspension, is a monster in the playoffs

This is a guy who had no Division I scholarship offers out of Firebaugh High School in California.

So he headed to Reedley Community College, to make believers.

It wasn't easy work. Allen had to send hundreds of emails to Division I colleges to get interest beyond the JuCo level.

Wyoming gave him a shot, only after their preferred recruit, Eric Dungey, flipped to Syracuse.

So there Allen went to Laramie, to make more believers.

Even there, with some of the most impressive highlights you'll ever see, it wasn't easy work.

Doubters pointed to Allen's interceptions and his completion percentage as bad signs.

By the time the NFL Draft rolled around, many were convinced that the other quarterback named Josh, UCLA's Josh Rosen, was the better pick.

Allen ended up being the third quarterback off the board, behind Baker Mayfield (1) and Sam Darnold (3) but ahead of Rosen (10) and Lamar Jackson (32).

And so then it was off to Western New York, to make believers one more time.

The thing about the Allen experience, of course, is that at each stop, you can be darn sure he has made those believers.

The people in the room with Allen? They buy in. They know who he is, and what he can do. In Firebaugh, believers. At Reedley CC, believers. At Wyoming, believers.

It's the outsiders that can take some convincing.

Once in Buffalo, though, he again evangelized. One hurdle, one pinpoint pass, one smile at a time, Allen showed Bills Mafia who he is, and once you see who Allen is, it's impossible not to believe in him.

He's got almost all the wins to show for it, too. And he probably deserved one or two of those playoff victories over the Chiefs, too, for his incredible heroics that somehow weren't enough.

But now, if you needed even one more reason to believe: The Chiefs aren't in the dance this time. Neither are the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, or the Bengals and Joe Burrow.

MORE: A missed field goal changed everything for Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh

Sure, the Bills had a choppy regular season that resulted in the 6-seed in the AFC and the end of their AFC East Division title streak.

But there isn't another team in the bracket that has Josh Allen.

After the Bills' crazy come-from-behind win to start this season, 41-40 over the Ravens after trailing by 15 late in the fourth quarter, Allen implored those listening, "Have a little faith."

Don't worry, Josh.

There's a whole region of believers, ready to follow him to the top of the mountaintop.

More NFL news:

News Correspondent