WR Keon Coleman replaces Stefon Diggs on downtown Buffalo mural

Keon Coleman has an unenviable task ahead of him.

He is not unique in this area; the vast majority of rookies entering the NFL immediately carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. They must learn a new playbook and scheme, bond with new coaches and teammates on and off the field, adapt to a new level of competition. and region of the country– an NFL rookie’s acclimation period is largely an embodiment of the phrase “life comes quickly.”

Coleman, however, faces an arguably more difficult task than that of the median beginner, which may, to the average person, seem insurmountable. The 6-foot-3 pass catcher not only emerges as one of the key contributors to (and perhaps the No. 1 option in) a revamped Buffalo Bills passing attack — he replaces, on paper, the ‘one of the NFL’s elite players in the role. .

The Bills traded four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans during the 2024 offseason, tying a haphazard bow atop a once-sweet tenure that quickly deteriorated. Diggs’ on-field contributions in Buffalo are well-documented; He is currently the team’s fourth-leading receiver all-time, his electric chemistry on the field with quarterback Josh Allen allowing him and his signal-caller to solidify themselves as two of the best players in the league at their respective positions.

And make their connection on Sunday it’s much more their apparent friendship was endearing to Bills fans; Diggs and Allen seemed genuinely close, even appearing with each other on the cover of an issue of SI Kids magazine called “The BFF Issue.” It seemed like a relationship built to last, with Diggs repeatedly stating that he wanted to retire a Buffalo Bill.

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Buffalo fans celebrated this relationship, with the commemoration taking various forms, such as merchandise featuring the two and presidential “Allen/Diggs” signs. The celebration even manifested itself in art, including a mural outside a bar on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo. The piece, originally by local artist Carl Cordes, featured Allen and Diggs side by side and served as a popular photo op in North Buffalo.

But nothing great in football lasts forever, and Diggs’ time in Buffalo ultimately fell victim to that sentiment. Reports of rifts in Allen and Diggs’ relationship have surfaced over the past few seasons, with the receiver’s consistent cryptic tweets and decision to miss a day of the mandatory 2023 minicamp suggesting he wanted to play elsewhere. Although he is not believed to have officially requested a trade, the Bills traded him to the Texans in April.

The trade left Buffalo with an All-Pro-sized double hole in its receiving corps and an outdated mural on its north end. Enter Coleman to solve both of these problems.

The Bills selected Coleman with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, positioning the former Florida State Seminole, who caught 115 passes for 1,506 yards and 19 touchdowns during his three-year college career, as the highest profile player by a Buffalo receiver. room now without Diggs and Gabriel Davis.

The 20-year-old immediately made an impression on the Western New York faithful, humorously referencing his affordable Macy’s jacket during his introductory press conference before grabbing Wegmans cookies on his way out of the venue medias. It’s been difficult to navigate Buffalo’s social media over the past few days without seeing memes featuring the puffy yellow coat, and it has now been immortalized atop the aforementioned Allen and Diggs mural.

Just as Buffalo hopes Coleman will replace Diggs in its receiving corps, Coleman replaced Diggs on the Hertel Avenue mural, his now-iconic Macy’s jacket replacing the late Bill’s No. 14 uniform.

Cordes took to his Instagram to share the update, writing that it’s the result of a collaboration with a Buffalo-based company.

“I tend to hide (and) create art alone, but this update is a testament to collaboration,” Cordes wrote. “This mural started when my umpteenth drawing of Allen (and) Diggs (and) Rory (from Zoom Buffalo) turned it into something. . . intelligent and ingenious.

Coleman’s impact on the Buffalo faithful is already significant; let’s hope he can make that impact on the field.