Texas A&M wide receiver K.C. Concepcion opened up about his stutter after it came to light last week.
Concepcion was one of the 319 prospects invited to the NFL Combine last week. At his Feb. 27 news conference, Concepcion had an audible stutter and had to repeat himself multiple times. A clip of him speaking went viral, and he addressed the reaction to that clip on his Instagram over the weekend.
“If you have a speech impediment, there is nothing wrong with us,” he wrote in a March 1 post on Instagram. “I have had this stutter since I can remember talking. This is [a part] of me. This is who I am. I cannot control this. I [want to] be a role model for those who may be scared to speak up, who may be afraid and not confident in yourself. I stand with you.”
A clip of Concepcion’s press conference was posted by Buffalo-area sports reporter Dan Fetes. In the clip, Concepcion talks about the opportunity to play for the Buffalo Bills. He was born in Rochester, New York, and said the Bills are his father’s favorite team; he watched them as he grew up. He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, when he was 5 years old.
The clip went viral, accumulating more than 400,000 views on Fetes’s X account.
“This weekend has taught me a lot about myself and people out here in this world,” Concepcion said on Instagram. “I appreciate everyone who supports me and has reached out to me after these interviews. Don’t let an outside person’s thoughts, opinions get in the way of you being great and of you achieving something in life.”
Several high-profile NFL commentators and media personalities expressed their support for Concepcion and shared their own stories of people in their lives who have dealt with speech impediments.
“As someone who dealt with a speech impediment (stammering) for yrs, I’m proud of this young man,” former NFL guard and ESPN commentator Damien Woody wrote in a March 2 post on X. “This is not easy, to talk to a crowd like that.”
Former NFL offensive tackle and SiriusXM host Geoff Schwartz said in a post on X that he stuttered from the time he could talk “until about the middle of college.”
“I went to speech therapy every week for 10+ years,” Schwartz said. “This message will reach other children with speech impediments and give them hope.”
Concepcion began his college career at NC State. He became a starter as a true freshman and caught 71 passes for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns. He added 41 rushing attempts for 320 yards. He also completed 1 of 3 passing attempts for a 17-yard TD. He won the ACC offensive rookie of the year and was named a freshman All-American.
In his sophomore year, he caught 53 balls for 460 yards and 6 TDs. He added 19 carries for 36 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also took on punt return duties, with 5 attempts for 45 yards; he added another completion for 28 yards.
He transferred to Texas A&M in 2025 and exploded in all phases of the game. He had 61 catches for 919 yards and 9 scores; 10 carries for 75 yards and a score; and had 25 punt returns for 456 yards and 2 touchdowns. He won the Paul Hornung Award for the most versatile player in college football and was named First Team All-SEC and a consensus All-American.
