Kevin Concepcion makes up for lost time, cherishes Father’s Day

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Lloyd Concepcion had no idea what was happening when he was pulled out of class on Sept. 5, 2024. The young basketball prodigy was in the seventh grade and only 13 years old. By then he had spent more than half of his life away from his father Kevin Concepcion Sr., who had been in prison. 

When Lloyd finally arrived at the school office, he saw his father waiting eagerly to reconnect and start making up for lost time. 

“It was a surprise,” said Lloyd, the younger brother of Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Kevin “KC” Concepcion Jr. “I was happy and excited, but I also let out a couple tears.”

It is an understatement to say that Lloyd and his siblings have shed tears of joy since Kevin Sr. returned from prison. Kevin Concepcion Sr. has been busy making up for lost time with his seven kids – KC, Keyon, Arrion, Lloyd, Kennedy, Loryn and King.

Counting blessings 

Born to two teenage parents, the elder Concepcion was raised by his maternal grandmother Loyda Gonzalez, the woman for whom Lloyd was named. On this Father’s Day, the Concepcions count their blessings and try to build the bonds that the elder Concepcion didn’t have with his dad growing up.

Kevin Sr.’s parents were both 16 and in high school when he was born in Rochester, N.Y. His father was close to turning 17 when he moved to California and then eventually joined the military.

More from Our Esquina

With family at his side, KC Concepcion picked by Browns

Texas A&M star KC Concepcion scores with Tejano Tailgaters

Texas A&M star KC Concepcion speaks with authority

Kevin Sr. didn’t meet his father until he was around 8 years old. After that brief visit, he didn’t see him again until he was 13 and then again when he was 19. Three years later, the then-22-year-old Kevin had his first child, a boy he named Kevin Jr., now known as KC.

“For a while I had many questions for my dad, like, ‘Hey, why weren’t you around? Why didn’t you do this?’” Kevin Sr. says. “It took for me to have a different level of understanding. Not that I gave him any type of excuse, but I gave him a lot of grace just to know they were kids when they had me, 16 years old back in those times, the ‘80s, trying to raise a kid. 

“I know it was difficult. My grandmother raised me. My mother was there throughout my whole life, but my grandmother was my mother figure. I lived with my grandmother from Day 1.”

Vowing to be present

Kevin and his father have what Kevin calls a “great relationship” now. The bond is more similar to one between friends or siblings than that of a father and son, Kevin says. They get on the phone and crack jokes.

Kevin vowed to be more present in his kids’ lives once he became a father to KC, which is why he laments the missteps that sent him to prison. He taught KC and his older boys how to play football, registering them for their first flag football teams in Rochester before the family moved to Charlotte. 

KC started playing flag football at 4 years old, when he says he fell in love with the sport. He was 7 when his father started coaching him until he was 13 years old, when Kevin was sent to prison.

“My father, he was in my life heavily when I was younger,” KC told Our Esquina in August. “Then sadly he went to prison for a few years. Now, he’s back home. So now we’re just rekindling that bond and just taking it step by step from there.”

KC stepped in and tried to serve as a father figure for his younger siblings. He learned to cook from his mother to help around the house. Those skills helped unite the 2025 Texas A&M football team, which often came over to his home off campus for meals as they marched toward the school’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Landing at Texas A&M

Kevin missed KC’s high school football career. And although he was released from prison during KC’s sophomore season at NC State, Kevin didn’t attend his son’s college football games until the Aggies’ first home game of last season. Although he played Division I football, Kevin Sr. was awed by Kyle Field and the roar of the 12th Man as his son ran a punt back for a touchdown against UT-San Antonio.

Because of what Kevin calls misinformation about the Aggies, KC initially canceled his official visit to Texas A&M after hitting the transfer portal in January 2025. KC visited Miami and Alabama before Kevin urged him to keep an open mind and visit A&M.

Once he stepped on the A&M campus and heard the Aggies’ plan for him, KC was sold. The rest is one of the best chapters in Texas A&M football history. KC Concepcion was a First Team All-SEC selection in three categories – wide receiver, specialist and returner. He also was an All-American and the Paul Hornung Award winner.

Kevin Concepcion’s seven children – from 22-year-old KC to baby King – gathered for their first group photo in Charlotte last April at KC’s NFL Draft party. It was a triumphant night for the Concepcions as KC was picked 24th overall by the Browns.

Similar ages, different reality

KC was 13 when his father went off to prison, the same age Lloyd was when his dad visited him at the middle school after being released from prison.

“Just being transparent if I can, I went through some things early on in my life and I had to pay my debt to society,” Kevin says. “I was gone for about seven years and four months from all of my kids’ lives, and I missed such an intricate part of their lives, but I really missed an intricate part in KC’s and my other older boys’ lives because they were about 12-13 years old when I left away. 

“Then I come home, and KC is 20 years old and he’s a phenomenal college football star. But just sitting down and having conversations with KC about the kids, and I just learned how much it impacted their lives to have their father go away to prison and just the physical void and the physical absence of times when they were looking to lean on their father to be there in the physical presence, but obviously I was away.”

Although he lives about an hour away in York, S.C., Kevin drives to Charlotte often to take Lloyd to basketball practices and AAU games. They also work out and lift weights when Lloyd visits his dad.

At 15, Lloyd proudly declares that he can already beat his dad in basketball.

“But he has a good shot. I’ll give him that,” Lloyd says with a chuckle.

Cherished phone calls 

Kevin is proud of the bond he has with his children. The bonds are all different, he says, but the love he has for them is the same. There’s clearly a sweet spot for Lloyd, though.

Kevin remembers how deeply he cherished the calls he made from prison to his children. It wasn’t easy to reach the kids at times because of schedules and activities. 

“But there was never a time that I would call Lloyd and he wouldn’t answer a call,” Kevin says. “Not to really dig into it, but it was like he had a softer spot for me in my heart because when I was going through such a tough time, such a dark time in my life, and I was relying on and leaning on family and my children for comfort and for love, there was never a time that he wasn’t there. 

“And all I was looking for was just somebody to answer my call, for my kids to answer my call to just tell me about life, how they’re doing. Just answer that call just to know he was there for me and he really respects and honors his dad.”

On this Father’s Day, Kevin Concepcion Sr. will cherish his freedom and his children. They will do the same.