ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — U.S. Olympic gold medalist Hayley Scamurra visited the Buffalo Bills’ spring practice in Orchard Park, N.Y., on June 3, 2026, where she met quarterback Josh Allen and head coach Joe Brady. The 31-year-old native of Getzville, a Buffalo suburb, received an exclusive tour of the team’s new stadium and exchanged jerseys with Allen after practice.
Scamurra, who won gold with the U.S. women’s hockey team at the February 2026 Milan Cortina Games following a 2-1 overtime victory over Canada, was invited to practice after expressing hope during the Olympics that Allen might be watching her play. She had scored two goals in a 5-1 win over Czechia and mentioned her excitement about the possibility. The Bills extended the invitation upon learning of her comment.
After practice, Allen approached Scamurra to greet her. “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.” He added, “I’ve got so much respect for her and what they did in representing our country.”
Scamurra described the encounter as “To be able to share that with him was just really surreal and super cool.” She said, “It helps having this,” while pointing to her Olympic gold medal, “It helped ground me a little bit to be like, ‘OK, I have something to share with you.’” She also recalled attending Bills games in wintry weather with her father and three brothers.
Head coach Joe Brady met with Scamurra for five minutes during practice. “It was pretty bad-ass, I’m not going to lie.” He added, “She clearly embodies Buffalo, right? 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.”
Scamurra, who played the “Jill-of-all-trades” role as the team’s 13th forward in the Olympics, said the visit brought her achievements back into focus. “I feel like it sinks in at different moments,” she said. “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. You get to re-experience the Olympics again, and winning gold.” She added, “No, I never could have envisioned this.”