It's going to be really cold in Buffalo on Saturday night when the Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots in an AFC wild-card matchup. Current forecasts call for temperatures near or below zero degrees with wind chill making it feel more like minus-7 degrees.
And that could be a big deal, especially for Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback has not played well in cold weather and apparently has circulation problems that cause his feet to go numb in cold temperatures.
Well, former NFL player Bart Scott has a solution: take Viagra.
"Josh Allen listening? Can people get this message to him? Vi-a-gra," Scott said during Thursday's "Get Up!" episode. "Take a Viagra before the game, baby. That'll get that circulation going right."
Scott added: "A lot of us take Viagra, right? Because Viagra opens up the blood vessels. ... A lot of NFL players, at least in my day, took Viagra to open up the blood vessels. ... Because Viagra was first a heart medicine because it builds up circulation, which makes sure that it gets circulation to the feet.
" ... I swear I'm not trying to be funny."
If we could add the Jim Carey "Alrighty then!" GIF, we would. That said, could Scott be on to something?
Viagra (generic name, Sildenafil) commonly is used to increase blood flow to male sexual genitalia with the intention of improving sexual performance. However, a study published by Harvard Medical School in 2006 found that Viagra also might help with treating cold hands and feet for people suffering from Raynaud's syndrome. A study conducted by German doctors the previous year found similar results.
Here's the conclusion of the latter study:
"Sildenafil is an effective and well-tolerated treatment in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon."
We have no idea whether Allen suffers from Raynaud's, or whether Viagra could be a safe form of treatment for more run-of-the-mill cold hands and feet. Allen probably should just stick to hand warmers and area heaters.
But wait, there's more to this rabbit hole.
When asked about this whole thing Thursday, Bills tight end Dawson Knox said that he heard taking Viagra can cause players to fail NFL tests for performance-enhancing drugs. And that was a topic of conversation during the early 2010s when multiple players revealed they were taking Viagra for performance-enhancing benefits -- on the football field.
You see, Knox is mistaken.
Viagra is not banned by the NFL. Rather, non-prescription medication ExtenZe, an alleged "natural" alternative to Viagra, is banned due to it containing the steroid Dehydroepiandrosterone. Leave it to Mike Florio to figure that one out.
Anyway, enjoy the football game this weekend.
