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Top NFL Draft imaginable KC Concepcion opened up astir increasing up pinch a stuttering rumor successful a missive to wide managers.
Concepcion, a erstwhile Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver, opened his missive acknowledging his stuttering issues. The 21-year-old talked astir being made nosy of astatine schoolhouse because of his stutter.
"The different kids astatine school, they’d announcement really I’d get stuck connected definite words. Or that it would return maine a 2nd to respond to nan teacher, aliases to show them my name," Concepcion wrote successful The Players Tribune.
"And look — kids are mean sometimes. Simple arsenic that. They’d constituent astatine me, aliases make faces, aliases raise their eyebrows, and past it’d beryllium like, ’What’s incorrect pinch you?!??!'"
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Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion runs for a touchdown against nan Missouri Tigers astatine Faurot Field successful Columbia, Mo., Nov. 8, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
"Or, ‘Why can’t you talk normal? Are you dumb aliases something????’ Dead successful my face. While cracking up laughing. Not with me, aliases even about me…. At me. Man … it was tough.
"But that’s really it went for maine arsenic a small kid. Every day. Monday done Friday astatine school. There were truthful galore afternoons wherever I’d travel location from schoolhouse conscionable wholly hit down. I’d beryllium crying my eyes retired to my mom, for real."
Concepcion wrote that his mom would do everything she could to boost his confidence. The Rochester, New York, autochthonal said he looked guardant to weekends because it meant he could beryllium himself and would get to play football.
However, arsenic nan backmost of nan team, he said he would person problem getting nan words retired erstwhile trying to telephone plays. Concepcion said that, during simple school, he was successful reside classes to effort to help, but thing seemed to work.
Concepcion said, 1 summertime aft nan schoolhouse twelvemonth ended, his stutter was gone, but erstwhile he returned to school, nan stutter returned and hasn’t gone distant since. He said location wasn’t anyone astatine nan schoolhouse who was looking retired for him erstwhile he was being made nosy of for his stutter.
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Texas A&M wideout KC Concepcion during nan NFL Scouting Combine astatine Lucas Oil Stadium Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
"I’d emotion to show you I had a bunch of teachers looking retired for me, aliases different grownups astatine schoolhouse who would thief maine woody pinch each nan teasing, but that wasn’t really nan case. There besides wasn’t anyone I knew aliases could look up to who was dealing pinch thing similar. So I fundamentally conscionable benignant of figured things retired connected my own," Concepcion said.
"And backmost then, really I would woody pinch my business is, a batch of times … I’d fundamentally conscionable not talk. Especially astir group I didn’t know. And erstwhile I did person to speak up, I learned really to clap back. I had those comebacks ready, man! Sometimes that worked, and sometimes it didn’t. But it was like…. At slightest I’m doing something!"
The disapproval Concepcion faced for his stutter continued astatine nan NFL Scouting Combine successful March, and he took to societal media to fire backmost astatine critics. More than 80 cardinal group astir nan world, including astir 3 cardinal Americans, woody pinch stuttering, according to The Stuttering Foundation.
Concepcion had a connection for kids dealing pinch stuttering issues.
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Texas A&M Aggies caput coach Mike Elko hugs Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) earlier a crippled against nan Miami Hurricanes during nan first information of nan CFP astatine Kyle Field connected Dec. 20, 2025. (Maria Lysaker/Imagn Images)
"So, to immoderate kid retired location who is carrying thing dense correct now — a stutter, thing that makes you consciousness different, thing that’s ever made personification look astatine you sideways … conscionable cognize this: My occurrence … it is your success, too," Concepcion wrote.
"I want you to travel on connected this travel pinch me. Because you and me? We’re not weird. There is thing incorrect pinch us. Whatever makes you different — that’s not nan point holding you back. That’s your thing. Own it. Be you, fully. Without apology."
With nan Aggies past season, Concepcion caught 61 passes for 919 yards and 9 touchdowns, starring nan SEC successful touchdowns. He was named to nan All-American squad for nan first clip successful his collegiate profession past season.
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Ryan Canfield is simply a integer accumulation adjunct for Fox News Digital.
