Key Points
- CNBC Sport spoke with Josh Allen, who announced a partnership with sleep aide Natrol.
- Allen said doing a post-NFL broadcasting job would be “cool” if he can “keep it from a strictly broadcasting angle.”
- There have been many TV opportunities for former NFL quarterbacks in recent years.
Buffalo Bills star quarterback is only 30 years old, but he’s already allowed himself to think about his post-retirement life. Allen told CNBC Sport he would “entertain” a post-NFL career in broadcasting, just as a slew of other quarterbacks have done before him, including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo and Troy Aikman. Still, Allen wouldn’t totally commit, citing an uneasiness with having to be overly critical if it’s not warranted. “I do think it would be cool if you can keep it from a strictly broadcasting angle,” Allen said in an interview. “When players go from players to journalists and say certain things that they hated people saying about them, I think that’s where it gets a little murky for me. But, I do think that it would be something I would entertain. I can’t say for sure, ‘yes’ or for sure ‘no’ right now, because I do go back and forth on it. But yeah, I’d have to put some more thought into it.” Allen’s concerns are somewhat similar to those of another former star quarterback, Joe Montana, who told CNBC Sport earlier this year he never got comfortable with broadcasting because lacking the information players and coaches on the field have can lead to broadcasters making unfair judgments. “Coming from the other side, as a player, you see so many times people were making judgments on a player or on what happened on the field, and they have no idea,” Montana said in a February interview. “It would be hard to judge our receivers and our quarterbacks that played under Bill [Walsh] because our receivers had so many adjustments … It just depended on the defense. As someone sitting up in a box, you have no idea what all those are, and who misread who. I didn’t like making those kind of judgments on players.” Allen could also join a studio show, which is more removed from the play-to-play action but sometimes forces retired players to have “hot takes” to gain attention. Past quarterbacks including Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Terry Bradshaw and Robert Griffin III have taken studio roles to add insight before and after games and during halftime. There have also been other opportunities in recent years for former NFL quarterbacks to enter the NFL broadcasting field with independent projects. Peyton and Eli Manning have done an alternative broadcast for ESPN for “Monday Night Football.” Cam Newton has taken on an expanded role at ESPN beyond just covering the NFL. Dan Orlovsky is a co-host of ESPN’s daily in-season NFL show, “NFL Live.” Broadcasting can be a lucrative post-playing career for star quarterbacks. Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox, according to a 2022 New York Post report . Allen is also taking advantage of business opportunities while he’s still playing. He announced a business partnership with Natrol, a drug-free sleep aid brand, this week . WATCH: Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Super Bowl pressure, business and post-playing plans.
