Josh Allen has experienced some significant life events on and off the field this past year.
He finished the 2024 NFL season with a return to the AFC Championship game and, later, received the league MVP award. He then also married actress Hailee Steinfeld, a moment of even greater importance for the 29-year-old from Firebaugh, California.
Along with the high points, he also once more experienced a loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs that left him and the Buffalo Bills one win shy of reaching the Super Bowl.
And while a championship is what drives Allen to compete, it’s life off the field that keeps things in perspective.
A big golf enthusiast, Allen explained how Scottie Scheffler’s recent comments about chasing accomplishments versus finding fulfillment ahead of The US Open (which he won), “spoke a lot to me.”
“It’s maddening,” Allen said to CBS Sports about the feeling that you’re doing things right but not yet seeing the desired results. “But at the same time, it helps put things in perspective about what matters in your life, and you figure out what that is fairly quickly. Scottie Scheffler had that really good interview before The Open that spoke a lot to me, and I really appreciate him sharing those words.”
He also noted some similarity in terms of turning the page in competition to focus on what’s next.
“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy where you’re coming out here and doing everything you can for a quick enjoyment of it, and then you’re on to the next. It’s like the MVP award. I don’t look back and think about that night. It happened, and it was over with, and I’ll never think about it again, to be honest. I’m so moved on to trying to help this team win football games this year.”
Allen’s comments offer a view into his mindset and the impact Scheffler’s comments had on him, in that true perspective lies in finding more to life that exists off the field, and how that allows one to be their best as an athlete.
Washburn asked if that mindset helps alleviate some of the angst before playing in those big games, and Allen agreed, noting how the message in the Bills locker room has been less about the outcome and more about the importance of doing the right things and living with the results.
When asked whether that also helps prepare him mentally ahead of big games, the QB also provided a view of the Bills’ overall mentality as a team as well.
“For sure, and going out there and playing free — and the main thing we always preach here is playing for each other and putting your best stuff out there,” Allen said. “And as long as you’re doing everything right [that’s enough]. You can hope and pray for the best, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. But we really do hope it does happen.”
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen on Scottie Scheffler comments