‘I Love You Guys’: Josh Allen Gets Huge Ovation As His No. 17 Retired By UW

LARAMIE — “I love you guys.”

Well, Josh Allen, I think it’s pretty obvious that the feeling is mutual: Wyoming loves you right back.

During his highly anticipated return to War Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Allen delivered some brief remarks to the sold-out crowd ahead of the official retirement of his No. 17 Cowboys jersey. 

One reason why the football phenom has become so beloved in this state, as many fans remarked leading up to this ceremony, is that no matter how high his career trajectory has climbed, Allen hasn’t forgotten his roots.

“This is such an amazing honor, a huge blessing,” Allen said of being the first-ever Cowboys football player to have his jersey retired.

Flanked by his parents LaVonne and Joel Allen, the quarterback thanked former teammates, his former UW head coach Craig Bohl, coach Brent Vigen (his former offensive coordinator), and the people who believed in him before he was yet a glint in the NFL’s eye.

His most heartfelt thanks was for the fans and Wyomingites who have supported him, and continue to be huge Josh Allen and now Buffalo Bills fans.

“I’m so honored and blessed to represent this university and this beautiful state,” said Allen, decked out in a brown leather letterman’s jacket and other Cowboys gear. “I love you guys. Thank you, God bless, go Pokes!

“And it will always suck to be a CSU Ram!”

And with that, the crowd exploded again into loud cheers to bear witness to their hero who had finally come to the Wyoming home that’s adopted him as a native son.

‘It’s Josh Motherf***ing Allen!’

Sure, there was a football game happening Saturday, but the undeniable highlight of this weekend has been Allen’s celebrated return to Laramie for the first time since he was drafted as the seventh pick by the Buffalo Bills.

And the football phenom proved to be less elusive than some rumors had suggested he might.

On Friday, he spent time with the current Cowboys football team, reportedly declining the pressure to leave by a certain time for his next commitment, instead saying: “I want to make sure every guy who wants a photo gets a photo.”

At kickoff just after noon, the crowd at either end zone was at standing-room only, but the massive group of people was especially slow-moving in the area surrounding the WyoSports Ranch Club. 

It soon becomes obvious why.

One fan loudly exclaimed what many others were probably thinking: “It’s Josh mother***ing Allen!”

Indeed, there was Allen, sitting at a table, looking relaxed, like a king with his loyal and beloved subjects looking up to him.

And rumors be damned, his wife Hailee Steinfeld was sitting to his left wearing a bright gold Cowboys hat.

Back On The Field

Leading up to halftime, Allen was periodically pulled away for photos or handshakes as the action on the field unfolded, but he’s also a normal football fan in other ways.

When Tanner Gentry, a former teammate on both the Cowboys and Bills, is recognized on the field in the first half, Allen points down from the balcony and cheers along with the crowd.

As the clock was ticking down to halftime and Allen had come down to the field in a procession, it’s tough to imagine that many people within the sightline chose to watch the game instead.

And tougher yet to imagine that anyone might make the grave mistake of leaving their seats for a bathroom or beer break during halftime. 

Standing near the Nevada Wolf Pack end zone, the game play briefly nears where Allen is standing, and it’s as though he’s back in his Cowboys gear: He cheers on the defensive.

During those precious minutes when Allen was once again the center of attention at War Memorial Stadium, he periodically waved to the crowd, did the raise the roof hand signal, and seemed incapable of breaking out of a broad grin.

Once halftime began, the crowd was almost rigid like the calm in the eye of a hurricane, rife with anticipation for when they’ll be moved by the moment to explode into cheers.

On the giant video screen, a brief highlights video played of some of the greatest moments of Allen’s college career.

After his speech, after the retirement ceremony, after greeting a young fan with cancer, after smiling and posing, and posing and smiling, it’s finally time for Josh to depart the field.

And the university’s Western Thunder Marching Band, which had been standing on-field in the formation of a No. 17, started up a jazzy rendition of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” as they transformed first into a buffalo and then into “Allen.”

‘One Of Our Own’

Even if it’s been seven years, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any fans in Wyoming who are itching to move on from a beloved superstar who has become synonymous with the Cowboy State.

Saturday’s celebration was almost surreal.

“What a special day for Josh and his family,” Jack Tennant, executive director of the UW Alumni Association, shared by text while in the thick of it in a sold-out stadium full of students, alumni, and fans.

“Looking around and seeing people smiling with their faces full of pride for all that Josh has accomplished — he is Wyoming, Wyoming is him,” he adds.

Saturday was one of those days that people will excitedly recount how they were there when it happened, when the hero came home, but that sense of pride likely rippled throughout the Cowboy State. 

Dallas Lopez got to know Allen during those college years when the quarterback would stop by Weitzel’s Wings — aka Double Dub’s — for what became his signature order: Spicy Bleu chicken wings.

Even watching Allen’s retirement jersey ceremony from home in Rock Springs, where Lopez runs the Double Dub’s local operation, Allen’s presence was still powerful. 

“His impact is felt even in the smallest towns in Wyoming and gives us all such an enormous amount of pride,” Lopez said. “He is a class act and one of a kind, we are incredibly lucky as fans to have him as our own.”

Anna-Louise Jackson can be reached at: jackson.anna@gmail.com