The 2024 NFL season was Josh Allen's best yet. The Buffalo Bills star quarterback threw for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns with only six interceptions. The dual-threat signal-caller tacked on 531 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground as he led his team to a 13-4 record. While Allen and the Bills fell just short of the Super Bowl, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game, the season showed just how great the 29-year-old can be on the football field. Allen's efforts were rewarded as he was named NFL MVP for the season, his first such award.
As he prepares for his eighth NFL season, Allen announced a new partnership with Natrol and the company's Sleep & Restore product line. The quarterback, who recently released a commercial with Natrol, said the partnership is about "unlocking the potential that follows restorative sleep."
Allen spoke with Sports Illustrated about Natrol, how the partnership came to be, the filming of the commercial, and what the campaign's tagline of helping everybody become Pro Sleepers means to him. Allen also touched on how he's approaching the 2025 season coming off an MVP campaign, his thoughts on the Tush Push ban, what Stefon Diggs can do for a young quarterback like Drake Maye, and more.
SI: You're coming off your first MVP season. How are you staying motivated to continue to improve and get better?
JA: I don't play too much into it. You know, it is such a great honor, and I do appreciate being honored for my work. But at the same time, I still didn't win a Super Bowl. Didn't win a ring, and that is the only goal. It's the only focus that I've ever had going into this league. The one positive, I will say, about winning an MVP means that your team is in a good position. You're making the playoffs, you're playing well and you're doing whatever you can to help your team win football games. But at the end of the day, you got to make the playoffs and then you got to win three, maybe four games. And that's what we need to do. And we're going to continue to work as hard as we can and myself included. What can we do to find a way over that hump? So that's the only goal going forward.
SI: What were your thoughts on the Tush Push ban that made up one of the biggest storylines of the offseason?
JA: I'm a big believer in if you can't stop it, keep running it, right? I think that there's a few teams that do it better than others, but then you look at a few teams that try to do it, and it doesn't have the same success. Because, one, they maybe don't practice it enough or, two, they don't have the guys to do it. And just because a couple teams do it better than others, I don't feel like it should be banned. I understand the merit of what it brings and so I don't really sway one way or the other. I try to play the game based on the interpretation of the rules. And if that was the rule that was passed, you know, we'll find a different way. But I feel like if you can use it to your benefit, use it to your benefit. If you don't like it, my advice is to stop it, you know?
SI: Keon Coleman said over the weekend he thought his rookie season was “trash.” What advice would you give him as he enters his second season and what do you expect out of his sophomore campaign?
JA: I wouldn't say I expect anything out of him, but all I can say is he is 100% taking this seriously. He's bigger right now. He's faster. He's stronger. He understands the playbook better. I think we're talking more, we're still conversing about how we can be better, where certain balls will be thrown. But again, he's a stud, and I've said this for a long time. That's why I wanted him. His body control is up there with anybody that I’ve ever played with. He's a very hungry kid, and I think that going out there and playing the way I do, I think it'll be a very good year for him. The more that we can make sure that we're on the same page and talking is going to help our relationship on and off the field grow.
SI: Stefon Diggs is back in the division. What does he bring to the table for a young QB like Drake Maye?
JA: I think he brings a lot of security for Drake. Obviously, having the knowledge of playing in the league for so long, he has that veteran mentorship that he can give to Drake. I think Drake is super talented, he’s one of my favorite young quarterbacks in the league. I've spent some time around him and he's got his head on his shoulders the right way. He just does things the right way. I think that he exemplifies football. He'll take it and run, he'll throw it and to have someone like Stefon is going to help him out a lot.
SI: Golf is a passion for you off the football field. What did you think of J.J. Spaun winning the U.S. Open on a walk-off putt last weekend?
JA: I was so happy for J.J. Spaun, man. For one thing, his story is pretty unbelievable. You know, a bunch of missed cuts in the majors, I think he's only made a couple and then he goes out there, bogeys five of his first six holes. He's got one where he stuffs it to, you know, it would be three or four feet but it hits the flag hole and rolls back way off the green. It's just like, the adversity that he had to face in that final round alone would have made guys fold. But he continued to fight and find ways and made some putts. That last one to finish it, I know everyone's thinking he should just lag it up there to three or four feet and make par. But to make it and to go out that way, it had to be that way.
It's a very cool story. I'm very happy for him. I don't know him at all, but it exemplifies the mental fortitude to fight through things, adversity throughout a tournament and throughout, really, a career. Very happy for him.
Sports Illustrated; How did you first get involved with Natrol?
Josh Allen: The first thing is, I feel like in the last few years I've figured out what's been working for me workout-wise, diet-wise, just lifestyle-wise. And I still hadn't really found the sleep part of it. It doesn't matter what you do, if you're not sleeping right and not feeling good waking up you're not being able to perform at your optimal level. I actually got the product when I was in Europe and I was traveling back and I tried Natrol Sleep & Restore with melatonin. I've tried a lot of sleep in melatonin products in the past and they just don't work for me. But I was like, “You know what? This is a 13-hour flight. I need to try something” I took it right before we were about to take off and by the time we were in the air, I was out. I woke up and there was only three hours left in the flight. I can't sleep on the flights. So I was like, this is the greatest thing that I've ever had in my life, right? I woke up feeling so good, energized. I couldn't believe it.
I was so pumped and I was like, maybe I should look more into this. They have one without melatonin that I've been starting to use daily and just allowing myself to, again, get the sleep that I need and wake up feeling restored and energized and ready to go for the day. I'm very excited to see how this plays out during the season, especially on away trips and the flights and seeing how my body reacts and wakes up, ready to go and I do feel like that's going to help me play football.
SI: So in short, you just saw it at the airport, decided to give it a try, and liked it so much you wanted to get involved?
JA: Yeah! Basically, yes. I feel like with brands and partnerships that I tend to gravitate towards, I've said no to a lot of things that I personally don't use or don't do or wouldn't do, right? This is something that I tried and was like, holy cow, like this can help me. And I feel like it can help a lot of other people that have trouble sleeping because I was one of those people. Making sure that throughout the week that I'm getting to bed early and feeling like I can fall asleep when I lay down instead of my mind racing. It’s been very helpful for me.
SI: The commercial you just launched with them is pretty grabbing and fun. What was that like to film?
JA: Well, it was honestly kind of crazy. It was at a local high school inside of a, I wouldn't say it was a very nice gym. Then you walk in and you see these two whole sets, really, that they put up and then they took down as we were (filming). It was honestly pretty incredible. I felt like an actual actor, you know, it was a legit Hollywood type of setup. They put a lot of thought into it, and it was really cool to be a part of. I feel like I've done a lot of shoots now that are just kind of the same thing, you know— look here, picture there, look here, picture there. I love when I feel like I'm challenged in these things and it makes it feel like a competition to me. This was one of those ones where it's like, “I can do better. Let's do that again.” Then you throw that in with the Pro Sleeper sweepstakes that we're running until July 3rd, where you can win Natrol Sleep & Restore. You can win sleep consultations, you can win merch and a couple videos. But again, it's just something I'm very, very happy to be a part of because I do think that a lot of people don't take their sleep seriously enough. This is one thing that can really change your life.
SI: As a professional athlete how critical is it to be able to stay on a consistent sleep schedule and how does this product help you do that?
JA: It truly does change who you are with the amount of sleep that you get. I mean, you can wake up feeling groggy, I’m not a morning person, and you walk into work and people can feel that type of energy from you, right? If you can go to sleep and feel like, whether you get seven, eight, nine, six hours, but if you take Sleep & Restore, that's really good sleep that you're getting. You're waking up, you're feeling energized. You're going into work, people feel that energy from you. It’s infectious, especially with the job that I do. People are looking at me and my body language, on and off the field. The better that I feel coming into work, I feel like it kind of sets the tone for the day. So it's a very important piece of my job that I didn't realize and I didn't take seriously enough until I started figuring out how to get really good sleep.
SI: What was that process like as far as realizing how important sleep is for your routine?
JA: Even this last year there were times where I'm laying down and it takes two, three hours to get to sleep. My mind's racing and I'm waking up, and I got, you know, five and a half hours and going into work, you're dragging. Since I've been using these products, I feel like, one, I wake up, I'm more energized, I'm ready to go, I feel like the restoration of sleep that I got is at a high level. And truly, I feel like I practice better. I haven't done it in a game setting yet but I'm very excited to see what it's going to do for my performance on the field.
SI: What does the endorsement campaign’s message of helping everyone become Pro Sleepers mean to you?
JA: I think it's such an important piece of your life. Like I said, it is life changing because if you're not a person that gets good sleep and all of a sudden you take the supplement and and you get really good sleep, you wake up a different person. You really do. The tagline that we talked about was, every great performance starts with a great night's sleep and every great night's sleep starts with Natrol. I said that a lot of times during that commercial, but it is very true, though. It speaks volumes.
SI: What about filming the commercial inspired that competitive spirit and challenged you?
JA: There was the jump, the hurdle, making sure I was hurdling in the right spot and on stage, and there were so many different ways that I had to say what I said, right? There was the last scene where I was a doctor and I get pushed back and stuff's flying off my head, my body into the bed. It was really cool and it was really fun to be a part of. It was something different that I hadn't been a part of in a shoot. And I really do appreciate that.
SI: What was your reaction to seeing the final version of the commercial? That can be hard to envision when you’re in the middle of filming it.
JA: It's definitely hard to picture. It's like, you film one thing at the beginning, but it's actually the end and you're trying to piece things together in your head. It's just like, I don't get how this makes sense. And then all of a sudden you see the final product and it was pretty cool. I feel like my acting chops can be a little bit better, especially since I've got a good teacher with me and I need to maybe start asking some more questions.
SI: Have you successfully converted any of your teammates to Natrol yet?
JA: You know what? I've converted my dad. He was not a good sleeper as well. And I think that might be hereditary, but that's the main guy that I feel like he's starting to take it now and seeing some benefits.
SI: How does it stack up compared to other products in the market in your eyes?
JA: I kid you not, I've tried a lot of different things and the sleep that I get when I take this… It’s not just the sleep. It's how I feel when I wake up, too. I just feel like I'm restored and ready to go and energized and ready to really attack the day, you know, and I feel like if I can attack my sleep the way I attack the days, it's just going to start snowballing and good things are going to happen.
