Jaguars DE Josh Allen changing name, will go by Josh Hines-Allen to honor his family

There won't be any confusion anymore about which Josh Allen everyone is talking about in NFL circles, though that wasn't the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end's goal.

Allen, an elite pass rusher who shared the same name as the Buffalo Bills star quarterback, is changing his name. He said he will go by Josh Hines-Allen, which honors his family. That will be the name on the back of his jersey going forward, as Hines-Allen displayed in a video discussing the name change.

Adding Hines is a nod to the maternal side of Hines-Allen's family. Hines-Allen comes from an athletic family that includes his sister, Myisha Hines-Allen, a forward for the WNBA's Washington Mystics. Two other sisters, Kyra and LaTorri, played college basketball under the Hines-Allen name. His uncle Gregory Hines was a star at Hampton University in the 1980s and was drafted by the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

"It was almost destined for me to follow in their footsteps," Hines-Allen said in his video.

Allen had the misfortune of sharing the same name as the Bills' star, but he made a reputation for himself as a great player. He was the seventh pick of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Jaguars, made a Pro Bowl as a rookie and then last season he had 17.5 sacks and made the Pro Bowl again. In the offseason he signed a five-year contract worth more than $141 million.

Allen has been a key player for the Jaguars for five seasons and there's the matter of Jacksonville fans owning a now outdated jersey. The Jaguars said Hines-Allen will host a jersey exchange in Jacksonville in September for those who own the old Allen jerseys.