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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNSep 12, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Keon Coleman sees your social media comments.
“Everything,” the Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver clarifies. “I don’t go out my way to see it, but I see everything. It’s funny … it’s laughable cause nobody really knows me except my family. So, it’s like, I don’t really care. It don’t affect me. I’m mentally strong.”
There are some misconceptions about the youngest player on the Bills, or at least the side of him the world saw when he first became an NFL player. Coleman, who turned 21 in May, was being his authentic self,but the internet — as can be the case — ran with things.
Perhaps you’ve seen the clips. All samples of, “That’s just Keon.” It’s a phrase that comes up often.
Examples include: Coleman talking about his yellow jacket after a reporter asked about it during his introductory news conference; Coleman running down the field in his new home stadium and visualizing a touchdown; Coleman grabbing a cookie on his way out of the Bills media room; Coleman describing himself as “Tiger Wish-He-Could,” in reference to his golf game.
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Social media was lit ablaze by the player who arrived at One Bills Drive and was simply himself.
The videos were far-reaching enough that Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed surprised Coleman on his birthday at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere event in a similar yellow jacket and with cookies.
A straight-shooter, Coleman doesn’t understand where the belief that he loves cookies came from — he was just hungry. He said he doesn’t have any in his home; “people blow everything out of proportion,” he said.
It’s all authentic, yet only scratches the surface.
“I’m a little more closed off than people may think because of an interview,” Coleman told ESPN. “You got to see some of that, but people don’t really, really know me how they think they know me.”
ALL EYES WERE going to be 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 matchup visiting the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) the 33rd overall pick will be fascinating to watch develop, with the potential for plenty of highlight-reel catches on the horizon.
Coleman got off to a solid start as a blocker and receiver in Week 1’s 34-28 win over the Cardinals, leading Buffalo’s 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 apparent, as was his authenticity.
“He’s going to spit out stuff that he truly believes in, whether it’s outrageous or not, and that’s just him, and he’s an authentic guy and he’s a loyal guy, too,” Randy Livingston, Coleman’s AAU basketball coach, who is close with the family, said.
The fun, chatty and joking personality is a significant part of Coleman. There’s also cerebral and focused Coleman, who is intent on being successful for himself, the Bills and his community back in Opelousas, Louisiana. Coleman’s NFL journey is just beginning.
Keon Coleman got off to a solid start for Buffalo as a blocker and receiver in Week 1’s 34-28 win over the Cardinals, leading Bills receivers in snaps (73%) and all receiving categories (four receptions on five targets for 51 yards). AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Part of that journey includes preparing for the history of the team he’s joining.
Coleman and his agent, Paul DeRousselle, watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “Four Falls of Buffalo,” before he headed off for training camp.
DeRousselle noted how Coleman wasn’t looking at his phone at all while they watched the story of how the Bills went to and lost four straight Super Bowls.
“He was really locked in, and he wants to be one of those guys that helps the city do something that it hasn’t done before,” DeRousselle said.
Coleman, when asked about the documentary, said he got mad watching it.
“I was like, ‘I wasn’t even a part of it,'” he said. “… I said, ‘I don’t want to keep watching that s—.’ Turned it off. I said, ‘That’s enough.'”
“RAVEN WASN’T PLAYING with Keon.”
That’s how DeRousselle began when describing Coleman’s family.
Coleman’s mother, Raven Savoy, and his grandmother, Paula, raised Coleman and his four siblings. His eldest brother, Kaylen, has played a father figure role in his life. Coleman has his mother and grandmother’s names tattooed on opposite sides of his neck.
While Coleman showed athletic talent from the jump — such as hitting off a baseball tee at 3 or 4 years old — academics were prioritized.
(L) Keon Coleman in his uniform for Opelousas basketball team as a kid. (R) Keon Coleman with his AAU basketball team at a Nike EYBL session in Atlanta. Courtesy of Ravin Savoy; Courtesy Randy Livingston
Savoy motivated him to keep his grades up so he could participate in sports, prioritizing that for her kids after she said she saw so many with potential from their community fall short due to academics. Coleman wanted to take up karate, so Savoy said she would dedicate the resources if he kept a 4.0. Eventually, karate had to be dropped in favor of baseball. Coleman was the kind of kid that always needed an activity to channel his energy. Savoy recalls people would say Coleman was “a bad kid,” but really, Coleman just needed to be occupied.
There’s one thing that everyone agrees with about Coleman: When he’s comfortable, he has no shortage of things to say.
As cornerback Rasul Douglas described him to ESPN as often, “Too damn much.”
“It’s not even like something, it’s just randomly like, ‘Yo, there was a squirrel, it jumped on a …’ Like bro, what are you talking about right now?” Douglas described. “… It’s all day, like if you walk past Keon right now, he going to have a story to tell you. I’m telling you.”
EVEN FROM A young age, Coleman possessed a confidence in himself.
“He had a flair about him,” Livingston said. “He had just a moxie about him, and I think he always has this confidence about him that is rare in kids. … But also know he was gonna work very hard for whatever it is he want, and that’s a rare combination.”
Family friend Jonathan Fisher, with whom Coleman lived during high school after meeting him through the nonprofit program Hope for Opelousas, said he and Savoy didn’t think football would last long for Coleman. As late as eighth grade, when he started playing football, he was a lanky kid who didn’t like to get hit. A growth spurt between freshman and sophomore years contributed to his enjoyment of the game and abilities within it.
When Coleman was choosing a college, he insisted on playing both basketball and football.
At Michigan State, Coleman played basketball for one season and appeared in six games. After his second year playing college football — leading in all receiving categories — he elected not to return to the basketball program in part to recover from a partial muscle tear near his hip flexor. He was having success with football and enjoying it; the risks of getting injured on the court weren’t worth it.
Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo recalled thinking that it would be hard for Coleman to pick up the weekly changes because he was spending so much time with the football program — that didn’t turn out to be the case. “Hell, he was better at it than I was,” he said. “He knew everything.”
“If he dedicated himself to basketball, do I think he could make it? Maybe,” he added. “I think his sport is football, but I wouldn’t put it past Keon. … He’s explosive and he could defend, and there were a couple games I put him in close games just to guard people. Thought he’d be a football player, and then after his second year of football, I said, ‘He’s got to be a football player.'”
“If you walk past Keon right now, he going to have a story to tell you. I’m telling you,” said Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas. Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
Coleman said the decision made itself. Playing football is more than just which sport he’s dedicating himself to, it’s a beloved sport in Opelousas and he believes playing it sets a good example.
“I found a bigger purpose [in] playing football,” he said. “… I think football was like … it make it more relatable to kids, like, ‘If he can do it, you know, at least I could have a shot at it or something.'”
Coleman transferred in the spring of 2023 to Florida State — he told “DaChosenOnes” podcast it was part of a “grand scheme” to play at Michigan State for two seasons before transferring closer to home. “I belong down South,” he told the podcast.
In Coleman’s only season in Tallahassee, he dealt with injuries and some inconsistency, but scored 11 touchdowns for the ACC champs. He also caught nine passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns in Florida State’s game against LSU — his home state team.
“Me being me is focused,” Coleman said. “Most people will see it like, oh, I got to really lock in. I don’t have to do that. I have that already. I can lock in and to be joking with you right now, still be locked in.”
WHEN COLEMAN WENT to eat at quarterback Josh Allen‘s house earlier this summer, Allen’s chef made fish. Coleman said, “What the heck is 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 his quarterback.
“He’s just not normal. And I mean that in the best way,” Allen said. “He does things his way and he’s always him. He’s very authentic. … I love the guy.”
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There’s a confidence to Coleman that allows him to be unafraid of being himself, both the fun and engaging person, even on the biggest of stages, while being committed to having success in the NFL for himself — and everyone back in Opelousas.
Before his first game with the Bills, Fisher could tell Coleman was taking his usual approach, no nerves involved.
“No, why?” Coleman has responded when asked if nervous. “I’m just going to go out there and do what I do.”
