As football fans, our game day ritual can feel like the most important part of any given Sunday (or Monday, Thursday, Saturday, or any other day the NFL decides it wants to play football). Some days, it can feel up to us if our team wins—so, don’t forget to wash that lucky jersey (or don’t) for the upcoming season.
Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who stick to a strict schedule for game days. Call it superstition or call it routine, but whatever you call it, our favorite NFL players follow it, too.
Reigning NFL MVP and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen recently joined the list of players who claim to eat the same meal before every football game—and it’s pretty on par with Travis Kelce’s French toast and Lamar Jackson’s shrimp Alfredo. Well, at least it is on days when the Bills play in prime time.
Josh Allen’s Go-To Pregame Meal
“When fueling up before a game, I don’t eat anything,” Allen told our sister brand People. “When it’s a day game, I typically don’t eat before.”
If you know Allen’s other game day ritual, then it’s probably no surprise that the quarterback doesn’t eat before a game.
However, during those primetime games, which the Bills have five of this season, Allen has nearly the entire day to prepare. So, he opts for a simple, two-ingredient dish to get him through the day.
“If it’s a late game, I’ll throw in a little buttered pasta,” he said.
Who doesn’t love buttered noodles? They’re incredibly quick and easy to make, and while they can certainly fill you up, they’re not as heavy as some other pasta dishes. Plus, much like Kelce says of his French toast, Allen’s buttered pasta is an easy way to carb load before a game of running—and we know Allen does a lot of running.
And, it doesn’t hurt that buttered noodles are pretty bland—they’re what many of us ate on a sick day growing up—making them an easy choice before Allen’s second pre-game tradition.
Whatever the reasoning behind Allen’s buttered pasta, the two-ingredient dish remains a classic—and, if Allen brings Buffalo the Lombardi Trophy this year, you can add “good luck charm” to the list of why we love it.
