Bills quarterback Josh Allen might be leading the way-too-early MVP race, but he wasn't always projected to be an NFL star.
The 28-year-old QB was once an unknown, no-star high school recruit hoping to get an opportunity to play college football.
After receiving zero offers out of high school, Allen made a pitstop at a junior college in California to try and build his resume. Even after he thrived in that stage of his career, he still only received two Division-I scholarship offers.
Fast forward several years later and Allen is undeniably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Gatorade shed some light on his unorthodox journey to this point with a new commercial that dives deeper into his story.
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Josh Allen Gatorade commercial
Allen is featured in one of Gatorade's newest commercials, revisiting his lack of recruitment coming out of high school.
"The man who once had to send out a thousand emails," the commercial begins before Allen starts narrating some of the emails he would send to college coaches to get noticed on the recruiting trail.
"Hello coach, my name is Josh Allen. I'm a quarterback at Reedley Junior College out of California. Please have a look at my highlights and get back to me at any convenience," Allen reads as his highlights play over coaches deleting his email.
You can watch the full 30-second advertisement below.
Josh Allen high school
Allen is from Firebaugh, Calif., and went to Firebaugh High School.
He grew up working on his family's farm, earning National FFA Organization certification and multiple awards for his agricultural work as a student at Firebaugh High.
Attending a small, unknown high school worked against Allen's recruiting process, though.
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Josh Allen recruiting rating
Coming out of high school, Allen was not even rated as a recruit. His 247Sports prospect page lists his ranking as "N/A" because he was such an unknown.
As mentioned in the commercial, Allen reached out to several college coaches in the California area to give him a shot but did not garner attention from any of them.
Allen didn't receive a single Division-I scholarship offer.
Where did Josh Allen go to college?
After going unrecruited out of high school, Allen attended Reedley Junior College in Reedley, Calif.
He began the season in a backup quarterback role but took over the starting position after three games. He threw for 2,055 yards and tallied 36 total touchdowns to just four interceptions, but somehow still did not receive much attention from FBS schools.
Allen received a three-star recruiting ranking out of junior college, only receiving offers from Wyoming and Eastern Michigan.
Allen chose Wyoming, where he would go on to build out a career that earned him the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Bills.
In three seasons at Wyoming, Allen threw for 5,066 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions while adding 767 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Josh Allen Gatorade billboard
Gatorade put up a massive billboard of Allen in downtown Buffalo with its tagline, "Is it in you?"
Finishing touches being put on the 11-story Josh Allen advertisement in Niagara Square @WKBW #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/JLCfqhDdEq
— Derek Heid (@DerekHeid) September 15, 2024
Allen spoke about what the billboard meant to him and how he hopes his story will inspire the next generation.
“The 6-7-year-old kid is going crazy right now. ... Small town farm kid, no offer out of high school and can end up there. Maybe it can inspire someone else," Allen told the media.
