21-year-old Josh Allen once set his sights on emulating Aaron Rodgers' 'gritty' style before entering NFL

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen entered the NFL draft in 2018 as one of the brightest prospects. The 6-foot-2 21-year-old from Wyoming became popular for his strong arm after his 50-yard throw on one knee video went viral.

Between 2020 and 2022, Allen led the NFL with the most completions (102) and TD passes (20).

In an interview with the NFL Network during his Combine performance in 2018, he spoke about the player he'd like to emulate:

“If there was one person that I could, it'd be Aaron Rodgers. Just the things that he can do off-platform, he makes some crazy throws. He's a special guy, arm talent-wise, plays with a lot of grit. That's what I try to go out there and do: compete and put our team in the best situation to win games.” [02:15]

Allen was excited about the opportunity of playing in the NFL, as he would face his childhood heroes like Aaron Rodgers.

“As a kid looking up to [certain NFL quarterbacks] and now playing against them, it's very surreal,” Josh Allen continued. “They’ve been playing this game for a long time, and they're still playing at a high level, and I'm referencing Aaron, again, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterback to ever play the game.”

Aaron Rodgers defeats Josh Allen before their first NFL encounter

Despite Josh Allen’s arrival in 2018, his first face-off against Aaron Rodgers happened on a golf course during a charity event in 2022 in a 2 vs. 2 match-up. Allen teamed up with another QB, Patrick Mahomes, to take on NFL veterans Rodgers and Tom Brady.

Allen took the opportunity to throw some trash talk before the match to up the ante for their highly-anticipated clash. However, the veteran Rodgers showed his supremacy in the trash-talk game as well, saying:

"So, when you talk about Kermit the Frog (Mahomes, per memes) and Josh (Allen) trying to s--- talk me and Tom, a couple old-school, grizzled vets. Come on.”

Rodgers later put a 15-foot birdie to add salt to Allen’s wounds and win the 12-hole golf match at Wynn Golf Club, Las Vegas.