Bills quarterback Josh Allen and his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Williams, went through a rollercoaster of emotions together long before they began dating in 2017.
The couple’s love story — which began when they were 8-year-old family friends growing up in Fresno, Calif. — includes an early introduction courtesy of eventual Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum and Allen ghosting Williams.
During an appearance on Kelly Stafford’s “The Morning After” podcast, Williams recalled the couple’s “big first moment” that they remember about each other.
“In Fresno, there’s this baseball team, the Fresno Grizzlies (Giants minor-league affiliate)… and so, we specifically remember as 8-year-olds, it was [Allen’s] brother’s birthday,” Williams said. “They rented out the pool area, there’s like a pool in the outfield, and we vividly remember it happening, a ball came over into the pool area. Josh likes to say it’s a home run. I think it was a foul ball or something.
“I think it was Tim Lincecum, I think he was still playing for that team, and he got the ball and it was this big ordeal, and he came and gave me the ball… And I just remember being so embarrassed like ‘oh my gosh, cooties’ … that was like our big, first moment we remember about each other.”
After their pool encounter, Williams said she didn’t see Allen until they were teenagers, around 16 or 17 years old, even though their moms still kept in touch though the years.
When they were seniors in high school, Williams asked Allen to be her date to her school’s Sadie Hawkins dance — and a series of events that night led to Allen ghosting her for an entire year. He would later regret that decision.
“I asked him to come to Sadie’s at my school, which is the big school to him and he was nervous,” Williams said. “And my friends were crazy, we were taking a party bus… [Allen] had never been on a party bus and was just so overwhelmed with everything. And the boys at my school were mean to him…
“After that, honest to God, I don’t think we talked for a year after that night… He was just so shy, and I wasn’t at the time. He ghosted me for like a year, but at the same time, I was like ‘OK, I get it, things are just not in our timing right now,’ I knew it wasn’t meant to be at the time but I always knew in the back of my head it’s not over.”
Williams and Allen eventually reunited when they were freshman in college. She lived at home while attending Fresno State, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Meanwhile, Allen attended Reedley College, about 29 miles from Fresno State.
“So, fast forward a year, we’re now freshmen in college… At this point, I had no contact with him. I was at Fresno State, so I stayed home for college. And I was dating another guy at the time. I specifically remember [Allen] reaching out to me a whole year later and just randomly texting me, saying, ‘I messed up.’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, you haven’t talked to me in a year.’ But at the same time, I liked it,” Williams said.
“It gets worse for this guy [her then-boyfriend]. So, [Allen] sends me that text and the next night, my brother’s having his graduation party and my parents invited the Allens and they came. I really didn’t know if Josh would come or not… He showed up to the party, and when he showed up he’s like, ‘I had been texting you for a month and you’ve not responded.’ … And I think I was blocked on his phone or something,” she said. “He shows up at the party and my poor boyfriend at the time is there, he didn’t stand a chance. The second Josh walked in, I was like, yeah, it’s over for this guy.”
Williams said she and Allen have “been able to grow” within their relationship after moving in together in 2018.
Williams will likely be present in Los Angeles on Thursday when Allen and the Bills visit the Rams to open the 2022 NFL season.
