Josh Allen was long overlooked en route to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Coming out of high school, Allen did not receive any Division I offers to play football. After going to junior college, he received just one scholarship offer. Even when Allen was picked No. 7 overall by the Buffalo Bills, many criticized the selection. At multiple points of his NFL career, Allen was viewed as too reckless of a player or too turnover prone.

Allen has proven much of the criticism wrong, particularly over the last five years, but he really cemented his place in the NFL by winning the MVP award for the first time this season. Heading into 2024, the Bills were overlooked after parting ways with key veteran talent including wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. Yet Allen not only brought Buffalo back to the postseason, but easily took control of their division early on in the season.

Despite finally winning MVP, Bills general manager Brandon Beane says Allen still has a “chip” on his shoulder.

“He had a non-traditional journey,” Beane said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Junior college, emailing all these coaches to get a scholarship, gets one offer at Wyoming. We know all the people that were questioning ‘could he play quarterback at the NFL?’ He gets drafted where he was drafted. He was criticized, we were criticized for doing it. He never wavered, he took the criticism. He’s always had that chip. Doing our research, this young man, he had a chip long before people were giving him reasons to have a chip. He’s got a chip now, as excited as he was and honored to win the MVP. He knows and we know the ultimate goal is to win a championship. That didn’t remove any chip winning the MVP.”

“Josh Allen has always had that chip on his shoulder..

He knows and we know that the ultimate goal is to bring a Super Bowl to Buffalo”

Brandon Beane #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/3QpgVWWzEQ

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 28, 2025

Allen has finally been accepted as a great quarterback across the NFL, but even so, it’s not overly surprising to see him still keeping a chip on his shoulder. Many MVP quarterbacks have long held chips on their shoulders, including Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Given Allen has yet to win a Super Bowl or defeat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason, there is still plenty for him to remain motivated and keep that chip there.