When Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen won his first NFL MVP on Feb. 6, he used his time on stage to thank some of the unsung heroes in the Bills organization, including a mailroom employee known as "Slick Rick."
"We've got such a great locker room in Buffalo … and it takes everybody from the equipment staff, to the training room, to the strength staff, to Slick Rick in the mailroom, to the cafeteria upstairs," Allen said. "It truly takes everybody to have team success, and I'm so fortunate to be a part of a great organization."
The man behind the moniker is Bills employee Roderick Morrow, who was caught completely off guard by the shoutout from Allen. The lifelong Bills fan told Spectrum News that he could not contain his emotions when he heard the 28-year-old utter his name.
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"When he started talking, he was talking about, like, the, you know, the trainers, the equipment room and everything like that. When he said my name, it was like, I couldn't believe it," an emotional Morrow recalled.
"I hate to cry. … I still don't believe what he said, my name. … I started crying, like my son was in his room watching it, and I started screaming. I was like, ‘he said my name.’ [I] kept saying, ‘he said my name,’" Morrow said through tears.
While the inclusion of "Slick Rick" and the rest of the supporting staff in his speech was not expected, it shouldn't come as a surprise to fans of Allen that he would be a team player off the field. In addition to MVP, the star QB also received the 2024 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, which is given to the NFL player who best demonstrates sportsmanship on the field.
Allen, who beat out two-time winner Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens for the 2024 MVP honor, had a standout season with the Bills. He led his team to a 13-4 record and another AFC East title, before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Allen recorded 3,731 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, 531 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs, and he locked down the MVP award after receiving 27 first-place votes and finishing with 383 points — which is exactly what Morrow was hoping for.
[Related: Josh Allen edges out Lamar Jackson for MVP at entertaining NFL Honors]
"Thursday, when I went home to watch the NFL awards, I was saying I was going to cry if Josh didn't win the award. So when Josh won the award, I was happy and jumping around, overjoyed," Morrow said in a video posted to the Bills social media pages.
While Morrow was delighted to see Allen get the win, the Buffalo native still couldn't get over the MVP's acceptance speech.
"I still can't believe it to this day," Morrow said. "I'm a die-hard Bills fan. I've been a die-hard Bills fan all my life, and I was blessed to be living the dream working here for the Bills and Bills mafia. We are number one, and we will win that Super Bowl one day."
It's safe to say that as committed to the Bills as Morrow was before the NFL Honors, he has now become a Josh Allen fan for life too.
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