How Connor McDavid is to the Oilers what Josh Allen is to the Bills originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

To read Connor McDavid’s recent words in The Players’ Tribune was to see something familiar.

Advertisement

The way the Edmonton Oilers‘ superstar wrote about his task at hand was a lot like reading what Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen had to say before the 2025 NFL season got underway.

These are two guys on the same mission, knowing the weight of an entire city is on their shoulders.

This is part of what McDavid just wrote in a personal essay: “Of course I think about my legacy,. I want to be remembered as a winner. But not just anywhere. Here. To be in this city during a Cup run, to feel that buzz… It just wouldn’t be the same somewhere else.”

Advertisement

And this is what Allen told ESPN at the beginning of the most recent football season: “Winning a Super Bowl doesn’t change who I am or change my life either. But it’s something that the city’s wanted for a very long time and to feel like I can help be a piece that brings it here, that’s more important to me than a singular (MVP) trophy.”

MORE: Stefon Diggs reveals his true feelings on Josh Allen

To each of them, it’s about winning their adopted city something that it has longed for.

Advertisement

Edmonton has won Stanley Cups in the past, of course. The Bills have never won a Super Bowl.

So if anything, that makes the pressure on Allen’s shoulders even greater. And yeah, quarterback is the most important position in sports.

Still, these guys are both marvels. To watch McDavid skate is to see someone playing on fast forward while everyone else is at regular speed. To watch Allen fling a football off his backfoot or hurdle someone or throw a defender off of him is to see a man amongst boys.

Advertisement

These are two of the greatest players to ever play their positions in any era of their respective sports.

Both just want to win. McDavid made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals two seasons ago, then Game 6 last year. Allen has seen multiple iterations of playoff heartbreak.

Neither is from the biggest market, but both has one of the most committed fanbases in their sport.

McDavid wants to lift the Stanley Cup. Allen wants to hold the Lombardi Trophy.

And each of their leagues is better for these legendary players’ pursuits of the biggest prize in their sport.

MORE: Someone asked Mike Vrabel if the Super Bowl is a must-win game