Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers relationship, explained: What Bills QB said about ‘childhood idol,’ now with Jets

At 40 years old, Aaron Rodgers is the oldest player in the NFL this season. The Jets QB made his NFL debut nearly two decades ago, debuting with the Packers in 2005 after being drafted in the first round by Cal.

While Rodgers began his professional football career, most of the league’s current players were still in diapers and years away from realizing their dreams of reaching the NFL. One of those future stars was Bills QB Josh Allen.

When the Jets’ current QB sat behind Brett Favre in Green Bay early in his NFL tenure, Allen was just nine years old and playing youth football in his home state of California. Allen was more than a decade away from breaking into the league in 2018 when he was selected No. 7 overall by the Bills.

As he grew older, Allen began watching Rodgers, a fellow Californian, just like many other youngsters across the state and country. Rodgers was dominant in his time with the Packers, earning four MVPs and winning a Super Bowl, while Allen developed into a starting QB at Wyoming and eventually a top NFL prospect.

Now both quarterbacks play in the same division and both have their eyes on the same prize – an AFC East title on the way to the Super Bowl.

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But what is the connection between the two beyond that? The Sporting News explains the relationship between Allen and Rodgers.

Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers Relationship Explained

When Rodgers was traded to the Jets in the summer of 2023, there were two games between the Bills and Jets, giving fans a double dose of Allen Rodgers action. At the time of the trade, Allen expressed his joy at playing against Rodgers, whom he idolized as a child.

“I’ve been a big fan of his since I was a kid,” Allen said at the time. “I have his jerseys and try to emulate what he does on the football field. He is such a special player. I think he’s the most gifted pitcher in football of all time. Competing against him twice a year is going to be a fight.”

Allen and Rodgers have developed a relationship off the field. The Buffalo star said the two have grown closer over the years and considers him a friend.

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“I’ve gotten to know Aaron a little over the years and would consider us very familiar,” Allen said (via The alarm clock). “I wouldn’t say we text regularly. I don’t actually call him, I call him via FaceTime. He usually answers, which is a big plus. I know he doesn’t reply to many people.”

Of course, we all know how the first fight between the two went. Rodgers’ first game in a New York jersey didn’t go as expected as the newly minted starting quarterback was ill with gangrene. Rogers only lasted a few plays before suffering a torn Achilles tendon, hitting off and on for not just the rest of the contest but the entire 2023 season.

Now Allen and Rodgers will face off again in the first of two games between the AFC East rivals this season, with a matchup on “Monday Night Football” in Week 6.