Ryan Kang/Associated PressAs he prepares for the biggest night of his life, Josh Allen has spent the past 24 hours leading up to the 2018 NFL draft trying to clear his name from controversy after old tweets with racial slurs surfaced on Wednesday night.
The former Wyoming Cowboys quarterback was quick to apologize for the tweets when they first came to light, and when he arrived at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday night, he had an opportunity to address the matter on camera.
In a red-carpet interview with ESPN's Suzy Kolber, Allen let it be known that he hoped his future teammates do not hold his past against him:
"Well, I mean, hopefully they're not paying attention to social media as much and hopefully they can get to know me as a person before they judge me. Obviously, it sucks the preconceived notions of, you know, the new quarterback coming in and he has all of this stuff on his Twitter. I just hope that they're open to me and once they get to know me they're going to like me because I'm going to be doing everything I can to help the team win."
The 21-year-old quarterback made it clear that he has grown up in the years since those tweets, via NFL Network's James Palmer:
James Palmer @JamesPalmerTVHere are the quotes from Josh Allen on red carpet. "I was a kid. I’m not the same person I was. Obviously we were young and dumb and me and my friends, and that’s what we did. We made mistakes; I own up to it." https://t.co/WIX1dJmmzS
On Thursday morning, Stephen A. Smith revealed on ESPN's First Take that he had talked to Allen overnight. It was then that the potential first-round pick said that a number of the controversial posts were pop culture references. ESPN posted video of Smith's report:
Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl also used the red carpet to defend his player, via USA Today Sports:
USA TODAY Sports @usatodaysportsWyoming football coach Craig Bohl defends Josh Allen: "He knows who he is, and as he continues to move forward, he's not going to forget those roots." https://t.co/rRCpD9BBHG
As Allen took responsibility for the tweets, many wondered how his draft stock would be affected. ESPN's Adam Schefter noted on Thursday that one theory that has been thrown out there is that a team put the tweets in the spotlight in hopes of scaring others from selecting him, increasing the odds he would fall to it.
The former Wyoming star has been rumored to go as high as No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Browns and is viewed as a lock for the first round. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller has Allen as the second-ranked quarterback and the No. 7 overall prospect in his final big board.
Teams will have to decide if Allen can help their organization win football games. He may wind up having to wait longer than expected to hear his name called as a result of this situation, though. And regardless of what he says to the cameras, he will have a locker room full of teammates to explain himself to.
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