-
Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN
ORCHARD PARK, NY — Keon Coleman saw your social media comments.
“Everything,” the Buffalo Bills wide receiver explained. “I didn’t go out to see, but I saw everything. It’s funny … laughing because no one knows me except my family. So, it’s like I don’t care. the influence on me is mentally strong.”
There are some misconceptions about the youngest player in the Bills, or at least the people around the world saw him when he first became an NFL player. Coleman, who turns 21 in May, is the original, but the internet — as it can be — runs with things.
Maybe you’ve seen the clip. All examples, “It’s just Keon.” It’s a word that comes up often.
Examples include: Coleman talking about the yellow jackets after a reporter asked him about it during his opening press conference; Coleman walked down the field in the new home stadium and visualized a touchdown; Coleman clutches a cookie as he exits the Bills media room; Coleman describes himself as “Tiger Wish-He-Could,” a reference to his golf game.
Social media was killed by the players who came to One Bills Drive and only themselves.
The video went so far that Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed surprised Coleman on his birthday at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere event in the same yellow jacket and with cookies.
A straight-shooter, Coleman doesn’t know where he came to believe he likes cookies — he’s just hungry. He said he was not in his house; “People blow everything out of proportion,” he said.
It’s all original, but just scratches the surface.
“I’m a little more closed off than people think because of the interview,” Coleman told ESPN. “You’ve got to see some, but people don’t know, that’s how they know me.”
All eyes going on any wide receiver the Bills brought in after moving on from Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.
As this new chapter continues with a Week 2 divisional game against the visiting Miami Dolphins on Thursday night (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) the 33rd overall pick will be interesting to watch develop, with the potential for many highlight reels. horizon.
Coleman started blocking and receiving in Week 1 34-28 win over the Cardinals, leading Buffalo receivers in snaps (73%) and all receiving categories (four receptions on five targets for 51 yards). That included one eye-popping sideline catch on the winning drive. In the weeks leading up to his first NFL game, Coleman’s quiet confidence was evident, as was his authenticity.
“He’s going to spit out things that he really believes, whether it’s surprising or not, and that’s just him, and he’s a genuine person and also a loyal person,” Randy Livingston, Coleman’s AAU basketball coach, who is close to him. family, he said.
A fun, chatty and joking personality is an important part of Coleman. There is also the cerebral and focused Coleman, who wants to succeed for himself, the Bills and the community back in Opelousas, Louisiana. Coleman’s NFL journey has just begun.
Part of the journey involves preparing the history of the team they joined.
Coleman and his agent, Paul DeRousselle, watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “Four Falls of Buffalo,” before leaving for training camp.
DeRousselle noted how Coleman didn’t look at his phone at all while they watched the story of how the Bills went and lost four straight Super Bowls.
“He’s really locked in, and he wants to be one of those people who helps the city do something that hasn’t been done before,” DeRousselle said.
Coleman, when asked about the documentary, said he was tired of watching it.
“I was like, ‘I’m not a part of that,'” he said. “… I said, ‘I don’t want to keep watching s—.’ I killed, ‘Enough.’
“RAVEN IS NOT PLAYING with Keon.”
This is how DeRousselle began when describing the Coleman family.
Coleman’s mother, Raven Savoy, and his grandmother, Paula, raised Coleman and his four siblings. His oldest brother, Kaylen, has been a father figure in his life. Coleman has his mother’s and grandmother’s names tattooed on the side of his neck.
While Coleman showed athletic talent from jumping — such as hitting a baseball tee at age 3 or 4 — academics came first.
Savoy motivated her to achieve her goals by being involved in sports, prioritizing her children after she said she saw many with potential from communities that were underserved due to academics. Coleman wanted to take up karate, so Savoy said he would dedicate resources if it remained 4.0. Eventually, karate had to be abandoned for baseball. Coleman is the type of kid who always needs activities to channelize his energy. Savoy remembers people would say Coleman was a “bad boy,” but really, Coleman just needed to be controlled.
There is one thing that everyone agrees with about Coleman: When it is comfortable, he does not lack it to say.
As cornerback Apostle Douglas explained to ESPN often, “Too much care.”
“It’s not like nothing, it’s just random, ‘Yo, there’s a squirrel, it jumps into the …’ Like bro, what are you talking about?” Douglas explained. “…All day long, it’s like if you walk past Keon right now, he’ll have a story for you. I’m telling you.”
FROM A At a young age, Coleman had confidence in himself.
“He has a flair about him,” Livingston said. “He just had a moxie about him, and I think he always had a confidence about him that’s rare in kids…”
Family friend Jonathan Fisher, who lived with Coleman in high school after meeting her through the non-profit program Hope for Opelousas, said and Savoy does not think football will be long for Coleman. Until the eighth grade, when he started playing football, he was a skinny kid who didn’t like to be hit. A growth spurt between freshman and sophomore years contributed to his enjoyment of the game and his abilities.
When Coleman chose college, he insisted on playing basketball and football.
At Michigan State, Coleman played basketball for one season and appeared in six games. After his sophomore year of college football — where he excelled in every receiving category — he opted not to return to the basketball program in part to recover from a muscle tear near his hip flexor. He is successful with football and is happy; The risk of injury on the court was not worth it.
Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo recalled thinking it would be difficult for Coleman to pick up weekly shifts because he was spending so much time with the football program — which didn’t happen. “Hell, he’s better than me,” he said. “He knows everything.”
“If he’s dedicated to basketball, I think he can make it? Maybe,” he added. “I think the sport is football, but I’m not going to beat Keon. … He’s explosive and can defend, and there were some games that I put him in close games just to keep people. football player, then after the year second football, I said, ‘He should be a football player.'”
Coleman said the decision was made on his own. Playing soccer is more than just a sport that he is dedicated to, it is a sport that he loves in Opelousas and he believes that playing is a good example.
“I found a bigger purpose (in) playing football,” he said. “… I think football is like … it makes it more relatable for kids, like, ‘If he can do it, you know, at least I can have a shot at it or something.'”
Coleman transferred in the spring of 2023 to Florida State — he told the “DaChosenOnes” podcast that it was part of a “grand scheme” to play at Michigan State for two seasons before moving home. “I belong to the south,” he told the podcast.
In Coleman’s only season in Tallahassee, he was plagued by injuries and some inconsistencies, but scored 11 goals for the ACC champions. He also caught nine passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns in Florida State’s game against LSU – his home state team.
“I’m being me focused,” Coleman said. “A lot of people are going to see it like, oh, I should really lock it. I shouldn’t do that. I already have it. I can lock it and joke with you right now, it’s still locked.”
PROPHET COLEMAN BENDS dined at quarterback Josh Allen’s house earlier this summer, Allen’s chef made fish. Coleman said, “What’s this, I’m not eating this,” so he didn’t. Coleman said he doesn’t eat fish. Being true to himself has made an impression on the quarterback.
“He’s not normal. And I mean that in the best possible way,” Allen said. “He does it his way and he’s always been him. He’s so genuine … I love that guy.”
There’s a confidence in Coleman that allows him to be fearless in being himself, a fun and entertaining person, even on the biggest stage, while committed to NFL success for himself — and everyone back in Opelousas.
Before his first game with the Bills, Coleman was asked by Fisher if he was nervous.
“No, why?” Coleman replied. “I’m just going to go out and do what I do.”
