ARLINGTON, Texas — Revelations about racist Tweets Josh Allen sent years ago didn’t stop the Bills from trading up to draft the Wyoming quarterback Thursday night.
Late Wednesday, Tweets surfaced from 2012 and 2013, when Allen was a high schooler. They contained racial slurs against African-Americans — he used the N-word multiple times — though Allen said some Tweets were pop culture references.
After the Bills traded Picks 12, 53 and 56 to the Buccaneers — who also sent back a seventh-rounder — to draft Allen seventh, the quarterback apologized, saying he was “young and dumb.”
“It was very stressful — I was so emotional about it, because that’s not who I am as a person,” he said. “I don’t want my teammates, my coaching staff thinking that’s who I am.”
Asked why the Tweets emerged on the eve of the draft — and who might have leaked them — Allen was cryptic.
“Somebody knew what they were doing,” he said. “It’s out there. It was my fault. I can’t blame anybody for my own mistakes. Success is the best revenge.”
Allen, who once seemed at least a possibility for the Browns to take first overall, didn’t experience a precipitous slide the way Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil did two years ago. Minutes before the draft, videos were leaked of Tunsil smoking marijuana through a gas mask. A candidate to be taken first, Tunsil wasn’t selected until the 13th pick, by the Dolphins.
In Buffalo, Bills general manager Brandon Beane said that the team — including its owner — did its due diligence Thursday about the Tweets. Head coach Sean McDermott said he had a long talk with Allen about what he wrote, and he hoped he would learn from it.
He’ll have a chance to start. A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman are the only other quarterbacks on the Bills’ roster.
