Often times when watching professional athletes it is easy for us to lose sight of the fact that they are actual people, with feelings just like the rest of us. there are certain occasions that cause us to take a step back and remember.
Following the Bills’ 44-34 win in Week 9 over the Seattle Seahawks (6-2) Sean McDermott shared that quarterback, Josh Allen’s grandmother, Patricia, had passed away last night, unexpectedly, at the age of 80.
“I called Josh [last night] and asked where he was on it,” McDermott said to reporters after the game via Zoom. “He said he wanted to play and we just felt like he was going to have to compartmentalize for the better part of 24 hours and that’s what he did. Not an easy thing to play through.”
McDermott added, as one would expect, that Allen was rather emotional after the game and was, “mentally tough” for putting together the performance he did, despite all that was going on in his personal life. There have been many well documented moments in sports history where athletes use a loss, such as this, to motivate themselves to play and play well in a game to honor someone.
It appears Allen did just that.
The Bills QB finished the day 31-for-38 passing for 415 yds & three touchdowns in the air, while adding another rushing TD to his stat line.
“We took care of business today,” Allen said after the game. “We played complementary football. It was a complete, total win today.”
While winning a football game doesn’t equate to the pain one feels when losing a loved one, hopefully Allen can take comfort in knowing that he gave it his all today.
One would think his grandmother is looking down proud of what her grandson was able to accomplish, even while mourning her loss.
[lawrence-related id=72793,72789,72722,72719]