Josh Allen Natrol Sleep Supplements Campaign: See Video, Shop Products

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Josh Allen is preparing for the upcoming NFL season with a new mindset and new routine, especially when it comes to rest and recovery.

The three-time Pro Bowler and last year’s league MVP has partnered with supplements brand Natrol to help promote its Sleep & Restore series of calming drink mixes, gummies and capsules, all designed to deliver a great night’s sleep.

As part of the campaign, Allen stars in a new commercial that finds the Buffalo Bills quarterback running through a series of strenuous situations — think hurdling defenders, walking a red carpet and delivering a baby — all without losing focus or breaking a (figurative) sweat. According to Natrol, the video spot offers an “example of how a restorative night’s sleep is key to performing as your best self during the day.”

Allen says he was first introduced to Natrol’s products during an Italian getaway earlier this year with then-fiancé and now-wife Hailee Steinfeld. Though he’s been skeptical about brand partnerships in the past, the 6′ 5″ QB said he gamely tried Natrol’s melatonin gummies on the flight, in an effort to help him relax and fall asleep.

“I’m a tall guy and have a tough time sleeping on planes, as they’re not very comfortable for me,” he recalls. “So I was like, ‘You know what? Let me try this.’ And before we took off, I was out, and I woke up, and there were two hours left on the flight. So I slept about 10 hours and I was just over the moon,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it. I called my agent and was like, ‘Hey, I believe in this product. Let’s do it.’”

Allen says since launching the Natrol partnership, he’s started to take sleep more seriously, adding that he believes “this is something that’s going to unlock the next thing in my game. Last year I was kind of on my diet journey,” he explains, “and this year, it’s that sleep journey of making sure I’m getting a great night’s sleep so I’m waking up feeling refreshed and restored and ready to go.”

Rolling Stone caught up with Allen to talk about his sleep must-haves, game-day music, and the “traumatizing” childhood fan moment that changed the way he interacts with his community.

As someone who probably gets offered endorsement deals all the time, what made you want to partner with Natrol?

There have been brands that have come to me and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I would never use this site, or I would never use this product. I’m sorry, you can offer me all the money in the world and I wouldn’t do it, I promise you.’ But I’m very, very excited to be partnering with this product and I’m also excited to see how it can make me a better quarterback and make me a better leader within the locker room.

How exactly does a sleep supplement translate to better on-field performance or locker room talk?

I arguably think sleep is the most important thing in terms of what it does for your mind. I just feel like after taking Natrol Sleep & Restore, I’m waking up feeling refreshed, ready to go and don’t have to take a whole bunch of caffeine in the morning to get myself going. I don’t have to lie about being excited to see teammates [laughs] and well, I’m happier, I do feel better, and I’m excited to see come practice time in training camp how I perform better. We practice in the morning, so I think if I can wake up how I’m feeling after taking these products and go out there and practice, I’m going to be at the top of my game.

Aside from taking these supplements, what are some must-haves for you when it comes to sleep?

I like the room as cold as it can get. In camp, we have the dorms, and the first thing I’ll do immediately — as we each have our own little air conditioning units in our room — is I turn that sucker all the way down to as low as it goes. I also need a softer pillow. And then typically, I’m a side sleeper, so I need a pillow to keep my shoulders from kind of collapsing. So I kind of hold on to a pillow there [makes hugging motion].

What was it like being in front of the camera for the Natrol commercial? Did it inspire any acting aspirations for you?

I’ve done a lot of commercials in the past, and the more that I go, I do feel like it is a challenge to me, and I do enjoy that part of it. I feel like it’s creative; it keeps me on my toes. I love when directors are asking me to try different things, and things that aren’t easy for me, because again, that’s just a challenge. So [acting] does get my mind and my juices flowing, and luckily I’ve got a pretty, pretty good person to learn from in that sense.

What about music? What does your playlist look like these days?

The last concert I went to was George Strait and Chris Stapleton in Buffalo, but my playlist is all over the place. If you were to press shuffle, there’s country, there’s EDM, there’s rock, there’s rap, there’s hip-hop, there’s like old-school R&B. But you also have the Frank Sinatra, the Elvis, the Eagles, AC/DC, and now I think kind of more modern artists, of like the chill EDM and alternative rock vibe, if you will.

How did you discover some of these older artists?

AC/DC is just a reminder of like, my childhood, of just being on the lake with my family. That was one of the CDs that we had, and we never changed that CD. So there were maybe 20 tracks on that one particular CD that just kind of went over and over every day. So it kind of reminds me of that.

And then Frank Sinatra, Elvis… I think I just kind of got into that during my football years. Before games, I feel like I used to be so amped up because I was listening to rap and hip hop, and I’d get out there and my hands were tight and my body’s tight because I’m so amped and so pumped up. And then I started listening to some old-school, slow-down music, and it kept me chill, and it kept my heart rate from getting too high. And I was able to go out there and play better immediately. Like, I’d have to get hit when I’d listen to that high-pump volume stuff, because I needed something to just calm me down. But ever since I started kind of being calm and allowing the music to take over and keep my heart rate down, I’m playing better earlier in the game. I think it’s helped a lot.

“I’d have to get hit when I’d listen to that high-pump volume stuff, because I needed something to just calm me down.”

The Bills have been so close to making it to the Super Bowl in the last few years — what is the new game plan or mindset for this season?

I think in terms of how I’m playing the game right now, it’s making sure that I’m not putting the ball in harm’s way. I threw my lowest amount of interceptions last year and was very selective where I was throwing the football. And then it’s continuing to learn more about our concepts and our offense with [Bills offensive coordinator] Joe Brady, trusting our 10 other guys on the football field with me and letting the game kind of come to me. I think that’s what I did a good job of last year; I wasn’t really pressing, which maybe in the previous couple of years I had been doing, but again, just trying to play smart football and put our team in the best situation to win football games.

What does it mean to you to be so beloved by fans and the city of Buffalo?

I want to be the quarterback that helps bring the Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo. But more than that, I think of how they think of me in the community, with helping with Oishei Children’s Hospital and you know, just being a good person.

I remember being a young kid looking up to athletes that are in my position now, and there was one player — I won’t mention names — but there was one that just turned his head, didn’t look at us, didn’t high-five me and my brother… there was nothing. He just kind of put his hat on and turned the other way and walked away. And I’ll never forget that moment. It was traumatizing for me. And my brother was like, ‘Man, he played so good today, I just wanted some sort of acknowledgement.’ And I know it’s hard to acknowledge every single kid that’s at training camp or a game or outside, but it doesn’t cost anything to high-five or wave or just like, give them a thumbs up. I remember being that young kid and just thinking like, ‘If I ever make it to where I think I can get to, I would never do that.’ And it’s as simple as a wave or an acknowledgement. It’s not that hard to be a good person.