ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. hockey Olympic gold medalist Hayley Scamurra grew up in Buffalo rooting for the Bills, never envisioning a time when anyone from the team — let alone Josh Allen — would one day seek out her attention.
And yet, there she was excitedly watching practice along the sideline on Tuesday, when Allen broke the final huddle and immediately headed toward Scamurra to say hello.
“It helps having this,” she said, pointing to the shiny
gold medal draped around her neck.
“It helped ground me a little bit to be like, `OK, I have something to share with you,’” Scamurra added, in how she kept her nerves in check. “To be able to share that with him was just really surreal and super cool.”
The feeling was mutual for the quarterback in appreciating Scamurra’s achievement as a member of the U.S. women’s team that capped an undefeated run at the Milan Cortina Games with a championship-clinching 2-1 overtime win over Canada in February.
“Trying on a gold medal felt like stolen valor. But you can feel the weight of that, not just literally. There’s a figurative weight that goes long with that,” Allen said of the 5-pound (2.27 kilogram) medal. “I’ve got so much respect for her and what they did in representing our country.”
Gold has it’s privileges. The 31-year-old Scamurra became the center of attention among Bills players and staff during a visit that included an exclusive tour of the team’s new stadium set to open this summer, and an exchange of jerseys with Allen.
The origin of the meeting was prompted in Milan. After scoring two goals in an Olympic tournament-opening 5-1 win over Czechia, Scamurra shrieked in delight at the mere thought Allen might be watching.
Word got back to Allen and the Bills, who reached out with an invitation to attend one of their spring practices.
Coach Joe Brady leaped at the opportunity of meeting Scamurra by saying it’s not often he and his players get a chance to rub shoulders with a gold medalist.
“It was pretty bad-ass, I’m not going to lie,” said Brady, who spent a five-minute portion of practice meeting with Scamurra.
“She clearly embodies Buffalo, right?” he said of the forward who played a so-called “Jill-of-all-trades” role as the U.S. team’s 13th forward. “It’s the work ethic, the approach, the hey, whatever I can do, that grit and that mindset. That’s probably why she has that gold medal. Not everybody’s built like that.”
The visit to the Bills continued what’s been a magnificent run for Scamurra, who grew up in Buffalo’s suburb of Getzville. Two weeks ago, she celebrated winning the PWHL Walter Cup championship following the Montreal Victoire’s Game 4-clinching win over Ottawa.
Having already won three world championships, the two-time Olympian is now a member of hockey’s exclusive Triple-Gold club.
“I feel like it sinks in at different moments,” said Scamurra, who also won silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.
“It’s like you almost forget about it a little bit. And then you come here and celebrate it again with everyone, and it kind of invigorates you,” she added. “You get to re-experience the Olympics again, and winning gold.”
Sharing the achievement with Allen and the Bills made it even more special.
“No, I never could have envisioned this,” Scamurra said, recalling how she braved the wintry elements attending Bills games with her father and three brothers. “And now, here we are on a warm sunny day in Buffalo, and I get to experience this firsthand.”
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
