LOS ANGELES – Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips’ teammates are quick to point out how smart he is. He knows how to crunch numbers. The Stanford grad has a backup career idea for himself, one that could be quite lucrative and one that he shared Friday at a Super Bowl event held by DraftKings. If it pans out, it would mean a busy schedule for Phillips and his highly in-demand client.
“I decided," Phillips said, "I'm going to try to be a part of Josh's marketing team.”
Quarterback Josh Allen has had a packed week. While Allen would have preferred to be in Los Angeles under different circumstances, the Bills' quarterback further cemented his role as Buffalo’s greatest ambassador. Already beloved by his own fan base, Allen has ascended to another level of NFL celebrity. His spot in that upper echelon has been on display leading up to the Super Bowl.
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Some of the intrigue comes with how close Allen and the Bills came to extending their Super Bowl aspirations. The overtime loss in Kansas City still hung over every appearance Allen made. He mentioned it was painful to drive into LA and see banners of the competing teams and not his own team.
He did the rounds on Radio Row this week, popping by different interviews to tackle all sorts of questions, remaining gracious, even if internally groaning, when asked about the playoff defeat and asked by one interviewer to join in a moment of silence for 13 seconds.
On Thursday night, he attended the NFL Honors award show. Allen joked Friday that there, he had to watch Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, strip-sack him in Week 1 again and again and again. He had jokes during the ceremony, too. Host Keegan-Michael Key sat next to Allen briefly, setting him up for an overtime joke.
“This is so much fun. A show like this, you just want it to go on and on and on and on and on,” Key said, turning to his right. “Am I right, Josh Allen?”
“Or?” Allen said, holding his hand up to pause Key and looking directly at the camera, “You just end in a way that makes sense, is fair and gives everyone an equal opportunity to win.”
He nailed the delivery and gave an exaggerated, meme-worthy shrug, and laughed it off.
HE SAID WHAT HE SAID‼️📺: #NFLHonors 9PM on ABC + NFL Network pic.twitter.com/UC1IR9h7ox
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) February 11, 2022
So, a day later, when Allen and Phillips were asked at "DraftKings House" what one rule they would change if they could take over the NFL for one day, there seemed to be an obvious answer. The audience – mixed with fans of all teams, quite a few in Bills Zubaz and one in a Tops Friendly Markets t-shirt – listened intently.Â
Allen gave a long, thoughtful pause, during which multiple people in the pack of fans who crowded the stage at Tom's Watch Bar at LA Live shouted “coin toss.” For a moment, it seemed inevitable Allen would join the chorus, demanding a revised overtime.
Then, the Bills’ nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award raised his microphone and delivered his proposal:
“Let us fight like hockey.”
hi from the DraftKings House! Josh Allen and Harrison Phillips are here, but you can see them better on the tv than you can see from where I’m standing! they are talking about some Josh Hurdles™️ pic.twitter.com/77gRchSl5g
— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) February 11, 2022
In more formal settings, Allen says the rules are still the rules. Surely, he would have preferred to get the ball back once more in Kansas City, but Allen’s not one to have overly provocative answers about league rules.
Still, his captivating performance in the grueling loss and ability to be self-deprecating about it even just a few weeks later has endeared him to some fans outside of Buffalo. They might pull for him – both his play and his personality – when the Bills try again next year to capture that elusive title.
“I think it would mean everything in terms of why we play this game," Allen said on The Jim Rome Show. "To be the best at something, obviously, it takes a whole lot of preparation, a lot of skill, a lot of guys coming together to accomplish one single goal. But given the Bills Mafia’s history and the history of the Buffalo Bills, the things that city has had to endure, the 17-year drought, you know about the stuff before that I won’t even mention.
“But to give them that Super Bowl, I mean I have vivid dreams of the parade and what it would be like."
There is no better match than @JoshAllenQB and the city of Buffalo. ❤️ #BillsMafia🎥: @JimRome pic.twitter.com/q7QEE4v9qC
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) February 10, 2022
Allen’s mounting stardom also coincides with a shift around the league. He was asked repeatedly about being among the new era of quarterbacks in light of Tom Brady's retirement.
“I think it’s something I’ve always wanted as a kid,” Allen said Thursday on the Associated Press' podcast. “This is the only thing I ever wanted to do, was play quarterback in the NFL. So, it’s rewarding, I guess, in a sense, to be talked about like that. All I care about is winning football games, no matter how I do it.”
Still, he also added that he's not sure Brady is really retired. "I'll believe it when he's not playing next season," Allen said, smiling, a sentiment he repeated often in the week.
He chirped back and forth with the DraftKings audience Friday, particularly if they disagreed with his answer. They also cheered for his answers and broke into singing "Shout!" at the end. Before that, Allen was asked which actual mascot would win between a Ram and a Bengal, and gave his vote to the carnivorous option. A Rams fan took offense.
“Just mascots,” Allen said, turning to face the heckler. “Easy, easy.”
His growing reach has continued to spread beyond the NFL.
Just last weekend, Allen competed in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The PGA Tour tweeted out videos and pictures of Allen throughout the event. At Friday’s DraftKings event inside Tom’s Watch Bar, Allen paused a few times to watch golf on the TVs around the bar, as Phillips noted that would be Allen’s sport of choice had the NFL not worked out.
He’s getting invites for other sports, too. On Friday, NBC posted a video where Olympic gold medalists in aerial skiing all got to dare other athletes to try their sport. Gymnastic Simone Biles and surfer Kelly Slater both got nods. Then, Chris Lillis, a Rochester native, challenged Allen, the lone non-Olympian of the group.
“I’m still trying to be best friends with him,” Lillis added.
A friendship invitation from an Olympic gold medalist is an exciting offer. Phillips will have to check Allen’s schedule.
