Josh Allen once received heavy backlash after his old racist tweets resurfaced just hours before the 2018 NFL Draft
Josh Allen was drafted by the Bills as the 7th overall player in the 2018 NFL Draft.
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Josh Allen (Image via SI)
Before Josh Allen became the Buffalo Bills’ franchise savior the talented quarterback once faced massive scrutiny during the 2018 NFL Draft after his old racist tweets started to resurface.
During the 2018 Draft day, the Cleveland Browns were divided between Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen but last-second scrutiny led the Browns to select Mayfield. Just hours before the Draft, Allen’s old racially insensitive tweets where he used the N-word repeatedly started to resurface and plummeted his draft stock. All of the racist tweets were posted by Allen when he was just a kid and at least two years before he enrolled at Wyoming University.
Amid massive backlash, the Bills drafted Josh Allen with their 7th overall pick, and as the saying goes the rest is history. Reportedly Allen told ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith that he was “Young and dumb” when he made those remarks.
Nevertheless, Allen has since apologized for his comments and hasn’t gotten into any other controversy till now. And on the field, he has proven that he was worthy of a first-round pick and earned a second contract with the Bills.
Josh Allen signed a 6-year $258 million contract with $150 million in guaranteed money. Meanwhile, Mayfield just signed a one-year contract worth up to $8.5 million deal with the Buccaneers, his 4th team in the league. So it seems like the Bills made a good decision by drafting the 6’5″ QB during the 2018 NFL Draft.
Josh Allen once said that ‘there is no room for racism’
Two years after Josh Allen faced scrutiny for racist tweets during the 2018 NFL Draft, the Bills’ 2020 rookie quarterback Jake Fromm also faced a similar kind of issue since his old racist tweets were also made public during his rookie year.
After Fromm found himself in rough waters, Allen addressed the issue and took the opportunity to speak against racism. “He was extremely sorry and regretful and super hurt by it and he didn’t mean to cause anybody any pain and I think the guys responded very well to him,” said Allen about Fromm.
“I think this country is going to come out of this as a better country and we’re going to continue to learn and grow,” said Allen. “As far as racial injustice, there’s no room for racism. At the end of the day, everybody kind of has their own opinion, but as people, we have our opinion and our rights to let them know that they’re wrong.”
Anyhow, in 2023, the 2-time Pro Bowler Josh Allen will be entering his sixth season as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He will look to lead his franchise to the Super Bowl for the first time in his career.
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Aravind Raj
(2075 Articles Published)