BFFALO BILLS
Pals Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen are showing the value of teamwork—and friendship.
BACK IN MAY 2020, a few months after Stefon Diggs was traded from the Minnesota Vikings to the
Buffalo Bills, the wide receiver was talking to Josh Allen, his new quarterback. They were in Florida working out together, and the conversation quickly turned to the good memories they’d shared.
Which was funny, because before that day they had never met.
“I think we’ve known each other longer than what we’ve actually known each other for,” says Allen. “From Day One, we felt like we had been friends for a very long time. It was a cool feeling. It just clicked, and it’s never not going to click.”
Says Diggs, “After about 10 minutes we were talking about old times.”
Despite the fact that their relationship is relatively new, Allen and Diggs are one of the tightest sets of friends in the NFL. They have a natural bond, and it shows when they’re off the field. Their cover shoot for this issue ran long because they were having too much fun goofing off taking Polaroid pictures. And when they’re together they often finish each other’s sentences and are constantly joking around.
That bond is also apparent on the field. Allen was erratic as a rookie in 2018 and them improved in ’19 as the Bills went 10–6. Last year, though, armed with a legitimate downfield threat for the first time, Allen blossomed into one of the league’s best quarterbacks. He completed 69.2% of his passes, tossed 37 TDs against just 10 interceptions, and threw for 4,544 yards— more than one-third of which went to Diggs.
In his five years in Minnesota, Diggs averaged 73 catches per year and was responsible for one of the greatest moments in franchise history. In the divisional playoffs in 2018, he caught a desperation pass in the dying seconds and took it home for a 61-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 29–24 win over the New Orleans Saints. The play was dubbed the Minneapolis Miracle, and it gave Diggs a permanent spot in the franchise’s lore.
But in 2019 things started to change. Minnesota focused more on the run, and Diggs felt it wasn’t the best fit for him. He pushed through it and had a 1,000-yard season, but he just wasn’t happy. So the trade came after the ’19 season, and Diggs was relieved and excited at the prospect of getting a fresh start. The Bills clearly valued him: They gave up four draft picks, including a first-rounder, to get him.
Diggs was excited to get to know his new teammates. There was one problem, though: The COVID-19 pandemic was starting, which meant that opportunities to meet face-to-face were going to be hard to come by. He would have to find another way.
Virtual Pals
Diggs had never been much of a gamer. But when he found out that Allen was, he went out and bought a headset and started playing with his QB, who was in California while Diggs was in Maryland. “That’s the new-age thing. I feel like if it was 20 years ago, we probably wouldn’t have been as close as we are,” jokes Diggs. “Being on a video game that you requires you play as a cohesive unit. That helps.”
There was one problem. “He was terrible,” says Allen. “He’s still bad. But any time he went down, it didn’t matter what I was doing, who I was shooting at, or how much health I had, I was like, I’m going to revive him no matter what. Just to let him know, I’m here for you. If you need me, I got you.”
The gesture was appreciated. “It really worked because in the video game, you don’t have to get somebody up,” says Diggs. “You could just keep going, keep playing. But he was always getting me up, and I kind of felt like, Bro, that’s my quarterback.”
Allen saved Diggs so often that Diggs’s brother, Trevon, a cornerback for the Cowboys, told ESPN he stopped playing with them because, while touching, Allen’s constant desire to rescue Stefon wasn’t an ideal strategy for the rest of the players on the mission. “It was getting ridiculous,” Trevon said.
The two finally met face-to-face in May 2020 in Florida, at an impromptu workout arranged for the offense. Diggs played a prank on Allen, joking that the QB was throwing the ball too hard and was going to hurt his fingers. Allen made a point to always throw to Diggs during drills, even if it meant cutting in line.
When the season started, it was clear that the two had a special chemistry, one that was rooted in their budding friendship. “When I roll out, I know exactly what he’s going to do before he does it, because of that connection we have,” says Allen.
In Buffalo’s season-opening win over the
New York Jets, Allen targeted Diggs nine times and Diggs had eight receptions. He had only one game all year in which he caught fewer than six passes. Allen finished the year fourth in the NFL with a passer rating of 107.2. When his intended target was Diggs, his rating rose to 115.4—especially impressive given that Allen threw to him more than 10 times per game and Diggs was usually covered by the opposing team’s best pass defender. Buffalo finished the season 13–3, tying the franchise record for regular-season wins and finishing a game away from the Super Bowl.
As the year went on, the two became closer, developing an intricate handshake along the way. But because of COVID-19, it was hard for them to spend a lot of non-virtual time together away from
the field. “We kicked it a couple of times,” says Diggs, “but this year I’ve already been to his house, eating up all his food and drinking up his beverages.”
Ask Diggs what he likes about Allen, and he’ll tell you, “He has a kind heart. He still has that childish way of keeping things fresh. He’s dependable and he’s reliable.”
Ask Allen about Diggs and he says, “Sense of humor. I think we line up pretty well.” (It should be noted Diggs was making faces the entire time Allen was saying nice things about him, trying to make him laugh.)
Allen and Diggs admit they are something of an odd couple. They come from very different backgrounds: Allen grew up on a cotton farm in California, while Diggs spent part of his childhood in the Washington, D.C. area. But their fast friendship has transcended differences in race, upbringing, and geography. “Growing up, you’d go play with anybody,” says Diggs. “It doesn’t matter what color they were. If they were outside, playing basketball or playing football, we’d play with them. It doesn’t matter at all to me. When I first met Josh, I called him my brother.”
Allen agrees. “That’s what’s so great about the game that we play: There are so many different backgrounds, ethnicities, walks of life, religions all mushed up in our locker room. It’s so cool to be able to talk to different people. If the world kind of was treated like an NFL locker room”—and here Diggs interjects, “I wish it was”—“it would be a better place for sure.”