Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and New Era are putting the spotlight on kid-designed hats for charity.
Allen, whose endorsement deal with New Era was expanded into an investment stake in the the Buffalo-based hat company, is collaborating with Buffalo’s Oishei Children’s Hospital (OCH) and the Patricia Allen Fund (named after Allen’s grandmother) to auction off special 9FORTY Bills hats that were designed by Allen made unique by OCH patients.
Before the season, selected OCH patients were gathered together for a “customization party” where each were given the Allen-designed 9FORTY Billustration hats and encouraged to add their own colorful designs to them.
Allen is wearing the individually designed caps before each of the nine home Bills games of the 2025 NFL season during the pre-game walks to the stadium and locker room. Those moments before each game always draw attention to the fashion choices of the players as they arrive and Allen will use his walk-ups to highlight a good cause.
For each home game, Josh Allen wears a custom cap designed by a Champion Patient from OCH. 👏 pic.twitter.com/mipOr9nz70
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 7, 2025
During week one of the NFL season, moments before leading the Bills to a wild come from behind 41-40 victory over AFC rivals the Baltimore Ravens, Allen was seen wearing a hat designed by a five-year-old OCH patient named Jaxson.
Jaxson “started his life in the NICU for 44 days at OCH. During that time, he was diagnosed with Myotonic Dystrophy,” a press release on the initiative shared. “He’s had 11 different surgeries, and you would never know it due to his resiliency. Jaxson and his family credit OCH for the diagnosis, especially because it’s such a rare disease.”
Each hat will be autographed by Allen and authenticated by the Bills before going to auction. In addition to his signature, Allen also added the scoreline and a circled “W” to the hat Jaxson designed. Proceeds will go to the Patricia Allen Fund, which benefits critical care teams at OCH.
The hat Allen wore during the first week of the NFL season went to auction after the kickoff of the Sunday night Bills/Ravens game and will be available to be bid on until Sept. 9 at 8 pm EST. This process will continue for each Bills home game this season. As of Tuesday morning, bidding for the Week 1 hat had surpassed $17,000.
The New Era 9FORTY Billustration Team Cap comes in white and blue with a retail price of $34.99, but the hats have sold out on New Era’s website as of this writing and are selling for as much as $100 on eBay.
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(Photos: New Era)