When Josh Allen won NFL MVP, he took the podium, making sure to point to the fact that any individual success is a byproduct of team success. He thanked his offensive line, he thanked the coaches, he thanked his parents, his fiance, Brandon Beane for selecting him… and he thanked “Slick Rick” in the mail room.
Roderick Morrow, aka “Slick Rick,” is a Western New York native that has worked in the Buffalo Bills mail room for about 15 years. He was apparently completely blindsided hearing that Josh Allen, his franchise quarterback, gave him a shout-out on national television during the NFL Honors ceremony.
“When I left work Thursday, I said, ‘if Josh doesn’t get MVP, I’m going to cry.’ I said, I’ll cry because he deserves it. I mean, he’s that important to our team. So basically, when I was watching the awards, when he went on stage, you know, I was happy that he had won, and it went from joyful to crying, because when he mentioned my name, I just… I just broke down,” Morrow said. “I broke down because I’m just, I’m just an average person. But when he mentioned my name, I was like, ‘Oh my God, he just mentioned my name on national television,’ you know. So it was like I was just crying. I was crying. Then I started getting phone calls from friends, and I was crying on the phone to them. I’m still, still like… it’s still like a dream. Even though I work here, but I don’t like this publicity. I’m just down to earth.”
Morrow was clearly overwhelmed by the recognition, speaking through tears when asked about the experience. As Allen and the Bills have shown, though, the organization is a family from the top to the bottom. It takes everyone to build a strong culture. While Morrow was surprised, it’s unsurprising that Allen would take the opportunity to acknowledge that the team that he represents has given him the framework to become the player that he is. Allen represents everyone in Buffalo, and “Slick Rick” is exactly the type of lifelong Bills fan that Allen stands for as an icon of the city and the franchise.
