Bilhal Kone has been in the NFL for just three months, yet his season seems to be over before it could begin. On Thursday, a fan recorded a video of the Baltimore Ravens cornerback breaking his leg while attempting a catch with Indianapolis colt wideout Ashton Dulin in a preseason game.
Later it was reported that he has torn his ACL and MCL, ending his season.
This is not the first instance where Kone has suffered an injury in his short NFL career. Last month he suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to leave practice. He made a return the next week alongside Jalyn Armour-Davis.
Kone initially committed to Iowa Central and registered 47 tackles and three interceptions. In 2022, he transferred to Indiana State and had 34 tackles, six deflections. He signed for Western Michigan in 2023 and registered 112 tackles (three for loss), 17 pass breakups, and two interceptions over the last two seasons.
The Ravens picked him in the sixth round of this April's draft.
Bilhal Kone's life full of adversity
Injuries are not the only obstacles in Bilal Kone's life. Born in Apple Valley, Minnesota, he and his family lived in poverty in his youth, to the point that he was sent back to Cote d'Ivoire to live with his grandmother. When he returned, he learned that his younger brother had lymphoma.
"He was just a kid that had energy wherever he was," he recalled in an interview with NFL.com in May. "When he was in the room, you knew he was there. Everybody loved him. When they saw him, they saw me, they saw my older brother. We were really tight and always together."
Hamza died in May 2016, just after that Kone's elder brother Mohamed suggested that he move out of their house. This led to a camp hosted by the University of Minnesota, where he met former Colts cornerback and undergraduate assistant Donald Celiscar.
Celiscar later signed him to Western Michigan, starting his football career.