The late-night habit Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld picked up since welcoming baby Harper is adorably nerdy | NFL News
Josh Allen is not sitting up at 3 a.m. watching game film right now. The Buffalo Bills quarterback is doing something far more unexpected during those groggy windows between baby feedings and Hailee Steinfeld is right there alongside him. In an August 28 interview with Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio, Allen revealed that he and his wife have quietly built a nightly routine that involves the New York Times puzzle suite. No TV. No doom-scrolling. Just Wordle, Connections, and the crossword.
What does Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld do during late-night baby feedings?
The couple welcomed their daughter, Harper Haize Allen, in April. At four months old, Harper is at the stage where she tracks the TV screen if it’s on, which apparently made the decision for Allen and Steinfeld pretty simple. Allen told Schein they are limiting screen time around the baby, so the television stays off during those middle-of-the-night stretches.That left them with options. They landed on the NYT games. Every night, the two of them work through the crossword, Connections, and Wordle together. For a couple navigating the fog of new parenthood, it is the kind of low-key ritual that keeps them present with each other without requiring much energy. It also, clearly, suits both of them.The detail that gives the whole story its texture, though, is the Wordle starter. Allen does not just open the app and pick a random word. He always opens with the same one: “harps.” The nod to his daughter’s first name — Harper, Harp, Harps — is subtle enough to feel like a private thing, which is probably exactly what it is. A small, daily ritual inside a larger one.Josh Allen has been open about how fatherhood has shifted his perspective heading into his ninth NFL season. Earlier this month on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, he described becoming a “little softer” since Harper arrived, saying fatherhood makes your heart grow bigger and puts things in the world in a different light. He also connected it to his approach on the field, suggesting that hearing people out and navigating different opinions will come more naturally to him now.Steinfeld, who recently appeared in the film Sinners, announced Harper’s arrival through her newsletter, Beau Society, back in April. She followed it up in June with a letter addressed to her daughter, written on the occasion of her first Mother’s Day. In it, she wrote: “I’m in awe of you. You’ve been here for only a short while now, and somehow it feels as though you’ve always been ours.” She also added, with a measure of humor, that Allen is now outnumbered on movie night.Allen and Steinfeld married in May 2025. The Bills open their 2026-2027 regular season on September 13 against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Harper, presumably, will be watching — screens or not.
