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Josh Allen’s love for Bills Mafia, and a cause near and dear to his heart | Ekeler’s Edge

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Analyst Matt Harmon are joined by the Bills superstar quarterback. Allen explains his adoration for the Bills incredible fanbase, as well as the foundation which is named after his grandmother, which will receive all the proceeds raised from auctioning off Josh’s My Cause My Cleats that he will wear Thursday night against the Patriots. Allen appeared on Yahoo Sports thanks to Gillette. Gillette will match the winning bid for Josh’s My Cause My Cleats. To bid on the My Cause My Cleats go to nflauction.nfl.com. Catch fresh episodes of Ekeler’s Edge every Wednesday on Yahoo Sports and your favorite social media platforms. Listen to this entire episode of Ekeler’s Edge on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast wherever you get podcasts.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

JOSH ALLEN: To be able to play for a fanbase that again they literally will give you the shirt off their back. They're digging our cars out. They're plowing our driveway so that we can get to a game. They are faithful. And they are energetic. And they are themselves. And I fricking love it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MATT HARMON: All right. Super incredibly excited to welcome to "Ekeler's Edge," Josh Allen. Ever heard of him? Buffalo Bills quarterback. Josh, buddy, welcome to the show. Thanks for doing this, man.

JOSH ALLEN: Thanks for having me on. I'm excited. I've been seeing you guys' podcast [? have ?] kind of blown up here recently. So glad to get on.

AUSTIN EKELER: You're here with My Cause My Cleats, correct? And Gillette?

JOSH ALLEN: Yes, sir.

AUSTIN EKELER: I want to jump into what we got going on, if you could give us a lay down of the collaboration.

JOSH ALLEN: My Cause My Cleats, kind of a newer initiative in the last few years that the NFL's expanded on. Letting guys wear something on their feet that they care about, a cause, a foundation, organization that means something to them. This year, got to partner with Gillette. And they found an artist for me. His name is Joshua [? Vitas ?] design my cleats. When these cleats are able to be auctioned off at [? nflauction.nfl.com ?] and [INAUDIBLE] [? match ?] that off, that auction price. So hopefully, people go and auction or bid on these cleats.

AUSTIN EKELER: Are you going to wear them the game or just--

JOSH ALLEN: Oh, yeah. I'm wearing them for the game. Absolutely.

AUSTIN EKELER: That's the stuff. And is the foundation selected yet?

JOSH ALLEN: Yes, so it's the Oishei Children's Hospital, which is a children's hospital in the Western New York area. And my grandmother passed away a few years ago. And Bills fans started donating $17 to this hospital. And fast forward a few years later, a few million dollars raised. We now have the Patricia Allen fund, the Patricia Allen wing at Oishei Children's Hospital.

So again, these cleats go straight-- everything that's raised, all the proceeds benefit the Patricia Allen fund, and these kids, and families, and the staff there that are in dire need of support. So it's something that's near and dear to my heart, something that's going to lead me to Buffalo and Oishei Children's Hospital forever. And it's fun to find new ways to raise money and incorporate that in my life. So I can't thank Gillette enough for helping me incorporate this and finding a brand that cares about community that I'm involved in as well.

MATT HARMON: That fan base, I think we know them on social media for jumping through tables and some of the crazy stuff. Right? But I think what's so cool about Bills Mafia and your guys' fan base there is that, like, I mean, a couple of weeks ago, you guys are stuck in a snowstorm. And they're digging guys-- like, literally going to guys' houses and digging them out of the snow.

[? JOSH ALLEN: ?] The city of good neighbors [INAUDIBLE]. Wow. Let's go.

MATT HARMON: What is it like to have that group of folks behind you, man?

JOSH ALLEN: It's unbelievable, man. They care about football almost as much as I do. So to be able to play for a fanbase that again they literally will give you the shirt off their back. They're digging our cars out. They're plowing our driveway so that we can get to a game. It's unbelievable. Every year, no matter how good or bad we were the previous year, this year is our year. And the hope, the faith that they have in this team, and they've been through so much.

You're going back to the early '90s with the Super Bowls. You talk about the 17-year playoff drought. There's a lot of different things that you can talk about. But they are faithful. And they are energetic. And they are themselves. And I freaking love it. You see all these videos of them doing crazy stuff at the tailgate. And it's 100% true. It's 100% authentic. They just like having a good time. They love football.