Bills receiver Keon Coleman thanks 10-year-old fan who made friendship bracelets for him
Buffalo Bills rookie receiver Keon Coleman meets with 10-year-old fan Logan Bittner following the team's NFL football training camp in Pittsford, N.Y., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Coleman received a thank you card and another set of friendship bracelets Bittner made for the receiver. Credit: AP/John Wawrow
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Logan Bittner never dreamed the two friendship bracelets the 10-year-old made and included in a letter welcoming receiver Keon Coleman to Buffalo in May would ever catch the Bills rookie’s attention.
Some three months later, Coleman is still wearing one of the bracelets — his agent has the second one — during practice. And the receiver finally got the chance to thank his young fan at training camp on Tuesday.
“Was looking forward to seeing you,” Coleman said as he shook Logan’s hand and presented him with a gift basket, which included tickets to Buffalo's season opener against Arizona on Sept. 8.
“Thank you so much, sir,” Logan said, before posing for a photo and having the receiver autograph the youngster’s No. 0 Coleman jersey.
What began for Logan as an exercise to improve his handwriting skills and show off his creativity has led to the soon-to-be-fifth grader getting attention for his act of kindness.
The letter in May, which included recommendations on where to find Buffalo’s best pizza and chocolate chip cookies, in part read: “Welcome to Buffalo, Keon! Last summer, I started making friendship bracelets to give to players to spread love. I hope they fit (they stretch out). I can’t wait to see and hopefully meet at training camp. Go Bills.”
After images emerged of Coleman wearing the bracelets during the NFL Players Association’s rookie photo shoot in Los Angeles in mid-May, the demand for Logan’s bracelets grew among Bills fans.
Buffalo Bills rookie receiver Keon Coleman meets with 10-year-old fan Logan Bittner following the team's NFL football training camp in Pittsford, N.Y., Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Coleman received a thank you card and another set of friendship bracelets Bittner made for the receiver. Credit: AP/John Wawrow
The Bittner family has teamed with Buffalo-based 26 Shirts to sell the bracelets for $8 apiece, with $5 from each purchase going to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. With help from his mother, Krystle, Logan said it takes him about 10 minutes to make one bracelet, which spells out “Mafia” (a nickname for Bills fans) and features a string of beads in red, white and blue Bills colors.
“The poor kid’s hands are going to fall off. But in a good way,” 26 Shirts founder Del Reid said. He said a majority of the 1,300 bracelets made have been sold, with more than $5,000 going to charity.
“It was super amazing, because I wasn’t expecting going on the field and the present,” Logan said after meeting Coleman, the Bills' first pick this year, who was drafted 33rd overall out of Florida State.
The colorful Coleman, who has quickly made an impact in Buffalo with his outgoing personality and pass-catching ability, felt equally grateful.
This image provided by the Bittner family, shows thank you card and friendship bracelets that Logan Bittner presented to Buffalo Bills receiver Keon Coleman following the team's NFL football practice at training camp in Pittsford, N.Y., Tuesday, July 30. The 10-year-old first sent Coleman a pair of friendship bracelets in May, and the rookie receiver wound up wearing both in photo shoots taken at the NFL rookie premier in Los Angeles and during practice. The attention led to Logan making 1,300 more bracelets to put on sale in helping raise about $5,500 to go toward Buffalo’s Oshei Children’s Hospital. Credit: AP
“You never know how much you can impact someone with just a smile or a nice gesture,” he said.
“It just came into my heart that he took the time to make the bracelets, so it don’t hurt me to wear them,” Coleman added. “Why would I take them off? I don’t wear them for the media. I wear them because I like them. It was a nice gesture for him and I appreciate it.”
Logan first began handing out bracelets at training camp last year. The since-traded Stefon Diggs was the first player to get one.
Logan’s father, Colin, said the idea to make bracelets was prompted by the outpouring of support for Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who made a remarkable recovery from going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati in January 2023.
”(Hamlin) was preaching love and kindness, and we wanted to find a way to spread that in a different way,” Colin said.
Another reason was his son needing to work on his handwriting. Logan says his teacher took note of his improvement.
It shows in the thank-you card he presented to Coleman this week.
“It means a lot to me that you liked my bracelets and still wear them,” Logan wrote, while explaining how much he’s raised for charity. “None of this would have happened without you. I can’t wait to see your first touchdown!”
Colin was impressed by the time Coleman took out of his day to meet with his son.
“It seemed like he enjoyed meeting Logan as much as Logan enjoyed meeting him,” Colin said. “You never imagined that the letter would even get to him, let alone leading to all this. So yeah, it’s definitely an amazing moment for us and (Logan) especially.”
Logan has something more to look forward to, aside from having more bracelets to make.
“Yeah, I’m going to the Cardinals game. And we’re going to win,” he said.
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