Privacy for Josh Allen and Bills' players

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I agree with this, but sometimes space is overrated.

 

I was at this father-daughter dance a few years ago with a very popular NFL QB. Everyone gave him so much space that I sort of felt sorry for him. the rest of the dads were all Hanging out and joking around, and he was basically all alone, standing there with his little daughter the whole time. 

[Beast]

Just now, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I agree with this, but sometimes space is overrated.

 

I was at this father-daughter dance a few years ago with a very popular NFL QB. Everyone gave him so much space that I sort of felt sorry for him. the rest of the dads were all Hanging out and joking around, and he was basically all alone, standing there with his little daughter the whole time. 

 

Who was it?

[TheFunPolice]

3 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I agree with this, but sometimes space is overrated.

 

I was at this father-daughter dance a few years ago with a very popular NFL QB. Everyone gave him so much space that I sort of felt sorry for him. the rest of the dads were all Hanging out and joking around, and he was basically all alone, standing there with his little daughter the whole time. 

 

I think that's the perfect illustration of the paradox of fame.

 

Sometimes, you just want to be a "normal person" and be part of the group but then people come up to you all the time, because they only have a 5 minute conversation with you, so it seems like no big deal. However, you have 50 5 minute conversations about the same thing with each person and it gets tiring.

 

So people decide to respect your space and you stand there all alone. It has to be a bit weird. 

 

If I ever got to talk with Allen I would try to talk about farming. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by TheFunPolice

[strive_for_five_guy]

22 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

I am 99.9% sure I saw McDermott in the Wegmans by the stadium one evening. I was wearing my Zubaz mask (this was during the height of COVID when you had to wear masks in all stores).  I could tell he noticed it and might have smirked (not 100% sure due to masks) but I didn't want to bother him. Plus, if it wasn't him that would have been embarrassing. The guy had an intense vibe just shopping for a few groceries! LOL

 

You do see players there all the time due to it being right around the corner from the stadium. I can totally see how it would be obnoxious not to be able to run to the store without people bothering you, even though it does to some degree come with the job. There's a lot of guys who can more easily blend in, but imagine for a guy like Allen or one of the OL who is 6'7 300+ lbs it's a bit tougher. 

 

 

If he frequently clapped at others’ purchases, it was definitely him!

[hondo in seattle]

I decided a long time ago, if I see a celebrity I'm going to leave them alone.  Unless it's a situation like the one Miyagi describes.

 

I was once at a sports bar in the San Francisco area watching a Bills game.  I accidentally stepped on the foot of a guy standing behind me as I got up to cheer a Bills touchdown.   When I turned around to apologize, I saw a mountain of a man in a long black leather coat.  I remembered the bartender had said they'd have some 49ers in the house since the team was on a bye.  I guessed this was one of them, even though he was standing there by himself.  So, after offering my apology, I chatted with him for awhile about some of the games going on.  He never mentioned he was a player though I later learned he was, in fact, San Francisco's 2nd team TE (forgot his name).  

 

Who knows - maybe he wanted me to be awed and ask for his autograph.  But I'll guess he appreciated being treated like a normal human being.

 

 

[nedboy7]

Never understood wanting to say "hi" to a famous person or athlete. 

And.... when you sign that multi million dollar deal..... that's part of the deal. 

I did challenge Derek Wolfe to arm wrestling on a plane once.  He accepted. 

I guess I contradicted myself there. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

27 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

I decided a long time ago, if I see a celebrity I'm going to leave them alone.  Unless it's a situation like the one Miyagi describes.

 

I was once at a sports bar in the San Francisco area watching a Bills game.  I accidentally stepped on the foot of a guy standing behind me as I got up to cheer a Bills touchdown.   When I turned around to apologize, I saw a mountain of a man in a long black leather coat.  I remembered the bartender had said they'd have some 49ers in the house since the team was on a bye.  I guessed this was one of them, even though he was standing there by himself.  So, after offering my apology, I chatted with him for awhile about some of the games going on.  He never mentioned he was a player though I later learned he was, in fact, San Francisco's 2nd team TE (forgot his name).  

 

Who knows - maybe he wanted me to be awed and ask for his autograph.  But I'll guess he appreciated being treated like a normal human being.

 

 

 

on a related note, my 17-year nephew was telling me about his buddy who bumped into Myles Garrett the other day somewhere. This kid is not a football fan and he just shot the bull with Myles for like 10 minutes. At the end, this kid asked what Myles did, and he told him he played for the Browns, and the kid was like, “oh cool… sorry; I didn’t know.” Myles was very cool About the whole thing. 

[msw2112]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

I am 99.9% sure I saw McDermott in the Wegmans by the stadium one evening. I was wearing my Zubaz mask (this was during the height of COVID when you had to wear masks in all stores).  I could tell he noticed it and might have smirked (not 100% sure due to masks) but I didn't want to bother him. Plus, if it wasn't him that would have been embarrassing. The guy had an intense vibe just shopping for a few groceries! LOL

 

You do see players there all the time due to it being right around the corner from the stadium. I can totally see how it would be obnoxious not to be able to run to the store without people bothering you, even though it does to some degree come with the job. There's a lot of guys who can more easily blend in, but imagine for a guy like Allen or one of the OL who is 6'7 300+ lbs it's a bit tougher. 

 

 

 

I've mentioned on this board before that I lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago as Marv Levy and saw him in the grocery store once.  He wasn't in Buffalo and had long-since been retired, so most people didn't recognize him.  I did a double-take and then said a friendly hello, mentioned I was from Buffalo and told him I was at the greatest comeback game vs. Houston.  He replied "I was there too..."  Classic response from a great guy.  I met him again at a sports bar (up the block from the grocery store) where he was signing copies of his then-new book.  His wife and step daughter also used to periodically watch the Bills games at one of the main Bills bars in town (Marv did not join them).  Very nice people.

 

Generally speaking, I agree with the OP and I leave celebrities (including athletes) alone when I bump into them.  There are occasions where a brief conversation or more are appropriate (golf tournament, charity event, etc.), but as another poster said, you need to "read the room."

Edited October 22, 2021 by msw2112

[SectionC3]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

I am 99.9% sure I saw McDermott in the Wegmans by the stadium one evening. I was wearing my Zubaz mask (this was during the height of COVID when you had to wear masks in all stores).  I could tell he noticed it and might have smirked (not 100% sure due to masks) but I didn't want to bother him. Plus, if it wasn't him that would have been embarrassing. The guy had an intense vibe just shopping for a few groceries! LOL

 

You do see players there all the time due to it being right around the corner from the stadium. I can totally see how it would be obnoxious not to be able to run to the store without people bothering you, even though it does to some degree come with the job. There's a lot of guys who can more easily blend in, but imagine for a guy like Allen or one of the OL who is 6'7 300+ lbs it's a bit tougher. 

 

 

I haven’t been there in awhile, but they used to have photos up in the sub shop of guys who had stopped in. 

 

For the most part, as far as I can tell, these guys are left alone in Orchard Park.  They’re normal, at least for the most part, like everyone else. 

[SectionC3]

6 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

 

I've mentioned on this board before that I lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago as Marv Levy and saw him in the grocery store once.  He wasn't in Buffalo and had long-since been retired, so most people didn't recognize him.  I did a double-take and then said a friendly hello, mentioned I was from Buffalo and told him I was at the greatest comeback game vs. Houston.  He replied "I was there too..."  Classic response from a great guy.  I met him again at a sports bar (up the block from the grocery store) where he was signing copies of his then-new book.  His wife and step daughter also used to periodically watch the Bills games at one of the main Bills bars in town (Marv did not join them).  Very nice people.

 

Generally speaking, I agree with the OP and I leave celebrities (including athletes) alone when I bump into them.  There are occasions where a brief conversation or more are appropriate (golf tournament, charity event, etc.), but as another poster said, you need to "read the room."

 

I saw this old guy walking around the village of Orchard Park from a distance the Saturday before a Bills NE game during the Rex years.  We had our then-newborn in a stroller, and this old man then ducked into a port-o-potty at a construction site.  Such places, of course, are disgusting, and we wondered why he couldn’t make it home and instead had to step into that Petri dish of germs and filth. 

 

So my wife and I resolved that, should we see this man during our wanderings, he wasn’t going to come anywhere near our daughter.  We ended up bumping into him at the four corners.  It was Marv.  Very nice guy, and we wished him well.  And no port-o-potty hands touched our daughter. 

[RiotAct]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

Just use your brain.

 

If they're eating ......stay away.

 

so… just like a wild animal?!?

[Buffalo Boy]

2 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

I get what your saying, but he didn't "gain fame and not want it."  You don't enter the NFL and not want fame.  If he didn't want the fame, he can give back 2/3rd of his pay because that's all coming from fame.  Also, I heard the interview that the OP mentioned, and Josh is not hating the fame, he was more saying it took some time to get  used to because he's a reserved guy.  

    What does a young twenty something know about anything?

    He had a gift and a competitive spirit. He leveraged that into where he is now. He wanted to play football in the NFL. 
     And you are flat out wrong about entering the NFL and not wanting fame. Plenty of players are looking to make a buck and don’t give a darn about fame. Others, like Josh, accept it as a price you pay for the gig. Ricky Williams didn’t want fame, Cam Newton did. Neither is wrong for feeling the way they feel.

     And acting like we are entitled to every minute of an athlete’s life because he makes big money is another example of how money effs most things up.

[Big Turk]

Always respect their privacy but the price they pay for the paycheck is interaction with fans.  As long as you do it in a respectful manner that doesn't interfere with their plans(ie, go over in the middle of dinner to ask for an autograph), most of the time they will be appreciative and glad to oblige.

[LABILLBACKER]

I'm kinda in the middle. Once you become a multimillionaire superstar your capacity for privacy diminishes. But they're still humans who want some occassionally anonymity. So as others say, "read the room" and don't be that guy.

[Buffalo716]

3 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I've seen two interviews now where Josh has stated that the thing he laments the most is the loss of his privacy when he goes out around town.  I know we are a celebrity driven culture, and compounding the issue for Josh is that he seems so down to earth that I think people feel comfortable just walking up to him to say hello and asking for a picture.

 

It would be nice if we as a fan base could make and effort to give Josh and other Bills players some space and privacy if you do happen to see some of them out in town eating dinner or shopping or at a movie.  I think in the Kelly era, Bills players were able to move around and do things and still have their privacy and that is something that they always appreciated and cited as one of the reasons playing in Buffalo was so enjoyable for them.  It would be nice if we could get back to that place again.

 

If you do see someone like Josh or Knox or Diggs out, try to give them some space.  Let's try to repay their dedication to our city with some personal space.  When you talk to other Bills fans bring this up and maybe we can make a small difference for the guys who play hard for us every week.  This board reaches all across Bill's Mafia, maybe we can start something here that will contribute to our players enjoying their time in Buffalo more and give them another reason to want to stay here.

 

 

Kelly and the 90s bills got mobbed every single place they went

 

Bars, restaurants, every place they went there was a mob of billss fans trying to get their autographs and talk to them 

 

I witnessed it..  being a bills player in Buffalo is being the biggest celebrity.. nothing new

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Josh. The bright side 

 

 

they are not mocking you. 

[Ya Digg?]

I would hope that as grown adults we can all read a room, but as a dad I may also try to find an opportunity for my son or daughter to get a picture with them at an appropriate time.  I think going up to the table while they are eating is odd, but perhaps as they are leaving I might try to stop them to get a quick picture with my kids.  

 

 

[Jerome007]

3 hours ago, No Place To Hyde said:

Can see it now. Josh and his gal out to a nice dinner aat one of the finer Buffalo restaurants. Josh drops down on one knee and goes into his coat pocket and Ol' @BTB pushes between em hands her his cell and says "Congrats guys, hey could you snap a quick photo of Josh and I?"

Well, he'd just save Josh 50% of his earnings. Awesome!

[cwater10]

On a related note, this thread brings to mind my first brush with a celebrity.  In the early days of Rich Stadium, the opposing teams would often stay at The Sheraton East on Walden by where the Galleria is now.  We were staying there on the weekend that the Jets were in town in '74, (worst weather game I ever attended...  In freaking September!).  Anyway, I was hanging out at a table in the lounge with my parents on late Saturday afternoon and my dad and I spotted Joe Namath having drinks at a nearby table with a few teammates.  My dad and I decided that my mother would be the one to go for the autograph.  

 

Fully appreciate the scene where Joe, perhaps the most recognizable face in sports at that time, was sitting at a table with 4 lineman, all African American and appropriate size for an NFL lineman.  My mother, thinking she is being cool, approaches and says "excuse me, which one of you guys is Joe Namath?"  Joe winks and says "If you give me a dollar, I'll tell you".  They all laughed and I went home with the Namath signed napkin and a great story to remember.  For you mom... You were the greatest of all!

[The Wiz]

Just walk on by and give him the 'ol "hat grab and thumbs up" like he does when he enters the stadium to go to work.