ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen has a long list of doubters dating to his humble beginnings at central California’s Reedley community college.
It’s not often that the Buffalo Bills quarterback gets an opportunity to amusingly confront one of them during a celebrity golf tournament, like he did with Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Broncos executive John Elway some 18 months ago.
“Whether it was two holes or two shots in on the driving range, I brought it up pretty quickly,” Allen said Wednesday, recalling questioning Elway on why the then-Denver GM passed on selecting him at No. 5 in the 2018 draft — two picks before Buffalo traded up to choose the raw but athletic prospect out of Wyoming.
Allen declined to go into more detail, instead calling Elway an “awesome man,” and adding, “I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Elway still remembers the encounter with Allen, and what happened on draft day by referring to it as “probably my biggest mistake of my GM days,” during an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast in July.
Though Elway has since acknowledged his remorse having dissipated with the arrival of rookie Bo Nix this season, his selection of defensive end Bradley Chubb over Allen remains timely.
On Sunday, Allen and the AFC East champion Bills (13-4) enter the wild-card playoff round hosting the seventh-seeded Broncos (10-7), who are in the postseason for the first time since winning the Super Bowl in 2015.
Since 2018, the Broncos had nine quarterbacks — from Case Keenum to Russell Wilson — start at least one game before Nix finally solidified the position.
Allen, 28, has Buffalo in the playoffs for a sixth straight year. He has progressively answered pre-draft questions regarding his accuracy and mechanics by setting most every franchise single-season passing and scoring record.
It has been quite a year for Allen, who is among the front-runners for the NFL MVP award. He has overcome the loss of Buffalo's top wide receivers in Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. He was also twice referred to as overrated, once by an anonymous NFL executive cited by ESPN in July, and again in August, when he was voted the NFL’s most overrated quarterback in an ESPN poll of 103 anonymous players.
Allen, at the time, referred to the poll results as a term of endearment, while saying his only frustration is never being asked to vote.
“There’s two things I can control. It's my attitude and my effort,” Allen said Wednesday about his detractors. “And what everybody else says, that’s their own prerogative.”
Allen’s 76 career wins, 262 total touchdowns and 30,595 total yards are the most by an NFL player in his first seven seasons. Though he failed to top 4,000 yards passing for the first time since 2019, Allen combined to top 40 total touchdowns (28 passing, 12 rushing and one receiving) for a fifth straight season.
He oversaw an offense that was the league’s first to score 30 TDs passing and rushing, while throwing just six interceptions, the fourth-fewest by an NFL starter, down from a career-worst 18 last year.
“He’s as special as they come,” offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “The only thing he cares about is finding ways to win football games. I think our team kind of embodies that as well because of him.”
Allen has three times rallied Buffalo from 10-point deficits, including a season-opening 34-28 win over Arizona, in which the Bills scored 24 points on five of six drives spanning halftime. And he nearly did it a fourth time with three touchdowns passing and rushing in a 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
His most memorable play of the season was a rugged 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down to seal a 30-21 win over the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of people with those regrets,” coach Sean McDermott said, when asked about Elway’s remorse.
“We’re fortunate that we have Josh Allen and he’s been a great person not just on the field, but he’s out in the community making an impact,” he added, referring to Allen’s charitable work. “That’s just as important as the level of play to which he’s played, in particular this year. I think most of us, Josh included, accept those challenges and use them in the right way.”
Allen was the third of five quarterbacks chosen in the first round of the 2018 draft, and joins Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson as the only two who have not changed teams yet. And it's difficult to fault the Broncos, who had just signed Keenum in free agency to take over the starting job in 2018. Chubb is a two-time Pro Bowl selection who was traded to Miami in 2022.
Allen was philosophical in reflecting back on what might have been.
“I mean hindsight is 20-20,” Allen said. “Who knows how it would have worked out. I’m just glad I’m where I’m at.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) stands on the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) waves to fans as he walks off of the field following an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to pass against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen smiles while sitting on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Gaza's Health Ministry said Thursday that more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, with no end in sight to the 15-month conflict.
The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for their deaths because it says the militants operate in residential areas.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are now packed into sprawling tent camps along the coast with limited access to food and other essentials. Israel has also repeatedly struck what it claims are militants hiding in shelters and hospitals, often killing women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.
In Lebanon, the parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.
The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.
Here's the latest:
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.
The session was the legislature’s 13th attempt to elect a successor to former President Michel Aoun — no relation to the army commander — whose term ended in October 2022.
The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.
Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need to ensure that Israel withdraws its forces from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the agreement and to fund the post-war rebuilding.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday. The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded.
It has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities, but did not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in residential areas. Israel has also repeatedly struck what it claims are militants hiding in shelters and hospitals, often killing women and children.
On Thursday, dozens of people took part in funeral prayers outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for people killed in Israeli strikes the day before.
In the hospital morgue, a man could be seen kneeling and bidding farewell to a relative before slamming a refrigerator door in an outburst of grief.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in Gaza on Wednesday, including three infants — among them a 1-week-old baby — and two women.
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s interior affairs minister says a total of 52,622 refugees have returned to Syria from Turkey in the first month following Bashar Assad’s removal from power on Dec. 8.
Speaking at the Cilvegozu border crossing between Turkey and Syria on Thursday, Ali Yerlikaya said that more than 40,000 Syrians had returned with family members while some 11,000 individuals crossed into Syria alone.
“The voluntary, safe, honorable and regular returns have started to increase,” Yerlikaya said.
Turkey has hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 — more than 3.8 million at its peak in 2022.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has further tightened restrictions on media coverage of the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip amid mounting concerns that soldiers could face legal action abroad.
The restrictions announced late Wednesday mainly apply to media interviews, and include a requirement that soldiers holding the rank of colonel or below only be filmed from behind and identified by their first initial. Those ranked brigadier general or above can be identified, but must receive prior guidelines.
Any filming in combat zones also must be approved by the military’s legal department.
Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza outside of embeds organized by the military.
The military recently warned soldiers against posting on social media after legal action over alleged war crimes was initiated against a soldier who was visiting Brazil.
Israel says it is operating in accordance with international law in Gaza and makes every effort to avoid harming civilians. But soldiers have posted dozens of photos and videos that appear to show them rummaging through homes and burning or blowing up residential buildings.
The military says it investigates and punishes any violations of military conduct. It says Hamas has built extensive military infrastructure in civilian areas, necessitating the demolition of buildings.
The army says it is working on additional guidelines for soldiers on what they can post to social media.
NEW YORK — Family members of Americans being held hostage in Gaza are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
Representatives for the family members said they plan to meet with officials in the incoming Trump administration and members of Congress to urge them to prioritize the safe return of the hostages.
Seven Americans are among the dozens of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Trump has sent his incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to Qatar this week for additional talks to work on their release. The Republican president-elect has threatened Hamas by warning that “All hell will break out” if the hostages aren't released.
Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of 1st Sgt. Matityahu Ya'akov Perel, who was killed in a battle in the Gaza Strip, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Palestinian women look at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel's Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship, attend the funeral of Yosef Al Zaydani in Rahat, southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 after the Israeli military said his body of was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Kareem Al-Dabaji mourns his brother Anas Al-Dabaji, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment in Deir Al-Balah, at Al-Aqsa Hospital morgue in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Lebanese lawmakers count the votes after casting their ballots to elect a new president, at the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, right, casts his vote to elect a new president, at the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Lebanese Parliament media office via AP)
Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel's Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship, attend the funeral of Yosef Al Zaydani in Rahat, southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 after the Israeli military said his body of was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel's Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship, attend the funeral of Yosef Al Zaydani in Rahat, southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 after the Israeli military said his body of was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
