Texas A&M star KC Concepcion speaks with authority

As the closing seconds ticked off the clock after another impressive football performance 25 years ago in Rochester, N.Y., dread set in for Kevin Concepcion Sr. The father of Texas A&M star receiver KC Concepcion shied away from the spotlight because of a speech impediment that reduced him to tears as a little boy.

“I hated it because I just had a great game and now I got to talk to these people,” said the elder Concepcion, who returned punts and played defensive back at the University of Buffalo. “It’s not that the questions are uncomfortable. The uncomfortable part was me not being able to get out the words that I wanted to say. I definitely shied away from that. 

“My speech impediment or stuttering defined my personality. I was a very shy kid. I kept so many things bottled up.”

Knowing how much his speech disfluency weighed on him, Concepcion Sr. oozes with pride each time he sees his oldest son Kevin Concepcion Jr., who goes by KC, give an interview. KC also stutters.

One of 3 million

Oct. 22 is International Stutter Awareness Day, and Concepcion Sr. hopes his son serves as an inspiration for other children and adults who may deal with the speech impediment.

More than 3 million Americans stutter, according to the National Institute of Deafness and other Communications Disorders.  Moreover, NIH reports that “boys ages 3-17 are more likely than girls to have a voice, speech, or language disorder (9.1% compared to 5.2%).”

Worldwide, more than 80 million people are estimated to stutter. Fluency disorders can be hereditary, and KC Concepcion inherited his father’s exceptional athletic genes and his stutter.

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KC, however, is not shy. He’s never let his stuttering stop him from being a vocal leader on and off the field. 

“I think it’s a credit to him how he handles himself,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko says of KC Concepcion. “Obviously being a prime-focus player on a high-level program that’s competing for high-level things, he’s forced to be in the media a lot.”

Playing football, especially the quarterback position from youth football though middle school, may have helped KC fight through any complex about his stutter.

“It’s kind of tough when you’re the new kid on the block and you’re trying to fit in,” Kevin Sr. says. “He’ll tell you how much of a leader KC is. He comes in, wants to win, wants to compete, wants to gel. That’s how he’s been his whole life. 

“He’s going to hold himself accountable. He wants to win, and he wants to be great. As a quarterback in Little League football, you have to speak. You have to lead. You have to be boisterous. He was just such a great leader. That’s KC. He stutters. Everybody knew it. You give him a little bit of time.”

Early teasing

Nonetheless, children can be cruel. KC’s stutter was more pronounced when he was a kid, and he was picked on in elementary school because of it. The taunts pierced through the little boy who worked diligently with speech therapists even if he hated those sessions.

“I’ve never seen him break down and cry when it came to his speech impediment,” Kevin Concepcion says of his son. “That’s what made me feel like this kid is a warrior, this kid is a true warrior.

“When I was a kid, I would cry because of my speech impediment. KC would be around these kids just stuttering, but he embraced it. I never witnessed any of his teammates make fun of him.”

KC Concepcion is not the first Texas A&M football star to have a speech impediment. Legendary defensive back  Lester Hayes, an All-American safety for the Aggies 50 years ago, had a pronounced stutter. 

The two-time Super Bowl champion with the Raiders was one of the best defensive backs of his era in the NFL. He did most of his talking on the field shutting down receivers. It’s not rare for folks who deal with speech impediments to shy away from the public.

Major platform

Others, however, embrace the opportunity to inspire children who stutter. Former Astros star George Springer, the 2017 World Series MVP, is a spokesman for the Stuttering Association for the Young.

Springer, who hit a game-winning, three-run home run on Monday to send the Toronto Blue Jays to the World Series, has used his platform to raise stuttering awareness.

Elko and KC, 21, met this summer to discuss KC’s media availability. Elko wanted to know how comfortable KC was with doing media interviews.

“Coach, I’m good. I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to do it,” Elko remembers KC telling him.

Concepcion, who will help the No. 3 ranked Aggies against LSU on Saturday night, has lived up to his promise. He addressed reporters before the season, after a game and then after a practice this fall. Moreover, he has granted group interviews in press conferences and one-on-one interviews with national media outlets.

“I thought that was really mature of him,” Elko said. “And then just in terms of his leadership with the players, I think he really kind of jumped right into this thing.

“I think he was a kid who has been on a mission to kind of re-center his career. He had a great freshman year. He didn’t have the sophomore year that he wanted.”

Nearing 2,500 all-purpose career yards

After two seasons at NC State, the 2023 ACC Rookie and Offensive Rookie of the Year was one of the top players in the transfer portal when he picked Texas A&M this past spring.

He and fellow transfer Mario Craver pushed each other all spring and summer to make each other better while giving the Aggies their most dynamic receiving duo since Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was throwing to future Hall of Famer Mike Evans and Ryan Swope in 2012 and 2013.

Concepcion already has 500 receiving yards on 33 catches this season with a team-high six receiving touchdowns and seven touchdowns overall. Moreover, he needs only 76 yards to reach 2,500 all-purpose yards in his career. He’s 201 yards away from 2,000 career receiving yards.

Craver and Concepcion have combined for 166.8 receiving yards per game, which makes them the fourth most productive receiving tandem in FBS. 

Entering the season, some skeptics questioned Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed’s throwing ability. Now, some wonder why Reed isn’t being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy contender.

‘On a mission’

The work Concepcion put in building a rapport with Reed and Craver is paying off for the undefeated Aggies (6-0, 3-0 SEC).

“Since all the way back when (KC) showed up in January,” Elko said, “I think he’s been on a mission to build some chemistry with himself and the quarterbacks, build some chemistry with him and the other receivers and do the things he needed to do to show that he was here for Texas A&M, not just here for KC Concepcion.

“And I think that’s been really, really cool to see. And I think the kids gravitate to him for that reason.”

If you pay close attention during games, you can usually see KC as the first Aggie to check in on injured teammates. He also has signature dance moves that are replicated by teammates in the end zone after his touchdowns and during pregame stretching sessions.

After games at Kyle Field, he usually spends several minutes greeting fans and signing autographs. Concepcion has also helped the Aggies bond over his cooking at his place off campus. He doesn’t just love to cook for his teammates. He raves about his macaroni and cheese, yams, and so do his teammates.

Setting an example

And when asked to address the media, he steps right up to the podium. Concepcion prepares for media sessions by thinking of possible questions and then thinking of his answers and practicing them ahead of time. KC knows people are watching him, and he wants to inspire young fans and, above else, his younger siblings.

“Trying to set a good example for my little brothers,” he said. “I’m trying to teach them right from wrong.”

Along the way, he lives by the advice his mother Ariel gave him early about life and football.

“Honestly, the best advice that my mom has given me for football, I would say, is just go out there and be yourself,” he says. “I would say probably the most important thing she has told me is that just family always sticks together. 

“You’re only going to have your siblings. You feel me? You can’t go out and get another blood brother, another blood sister. And you only got two parents. Enjoy your family. Treat your family the way you want to be treated.”