Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is adjusting to life as a dad, and he’s come to realize that fatherhood has helped him focus on what really matters.
“With what I do, and the hits that accumulate over time, and the little things of being able to play with your kids on the playground one day, throw the ball back to them, and understanding that you got to be right in all facets of your life to get to that point,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in an interview to promote his extended partnership with drug-free sleep aid brand Natrol. “So, making sure that I am getting the good sleep that I can get to recover the way I need to recover, to be the dad that I want to be.”
Allen, 30, married his wife, actress Hailee Steinfeld, in May 2025, two years after they began dating. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Harper, in April.
He also admitted that fatherhood has helped him redefine what he sees as success. Allen is a former NFL MVP and a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback who has led the Bills to the playoffs every season since 2019, though a Super Bowl ring has eluded him.
“Success looks like getting my daughter down, back to sleep at night,” he said. “It makes everything much less relevant. The outside stuff, it just makes you feel like it doesn’t matter.”
Stressful as it might sound, Allen seems to be enjoying every bit of being a dad.
“Honestly, everything about it’s been the best part,” he said “I tell this to all my teammates, and anybody who asks, how fatherhood is. It’s the coolest, most rewarding thing. It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done.”
He added that fatherhood has allowed him to “fall in love with my wife all over again.”
“Seeing her as a mother, it’s just, it’s awesome,” he said, lauding Steinfeld, 29, as “the absolute best” mom.
Harper isn’t the only one who needs to get to sleep. Allen’s partnership with Natrol is, in part, about making sure he can enjoy fatherhood well after his playing days are over.
Part of how Allen does that is to incorporate Natrol Ultra Sleep and Ultra Energy into his daily routine. It allows him to fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and have more energy during the day.
“It’s been life changing because I understand what it’s like to have good sleep, and now what it’s like to not have such great sleep,” he said. “So, to have a supplement that really assists you in falling asleep and keeping you asleep, so you can wake up feeling refreshed, and then on top of that, you have the energy that fills your body with what it needs and really good nutrients to keep you feeling great throughout the day.”
