Keon Coleman won't brave Buffalo winter on snowmobile: 'That's a lot of machinery'

Keon Coleman is already adjusting to life as a Western New Yorker.

It will be an admittedly massive lifestyle shift for the 20-year-old, who grew up in the heart of ‘Cajun Country’ in Opelousas, LA. He’s flirted with midwestern living in the past, attending Michigan State University from 2021–2022 before returning to the south and transferring to Florida State in 2023. Buffalo, however—Coleman’s home for the foreseeable future after the Bills selected him with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft—is a whole different beast, baring little in common with Opelousas, East Lansing, or Tallahassee.

Hailing from the self-professed “spice capital of the world,” Coleman is trading in the heat of seasoning in Opelousas for the heat of chicken wings in Buffalo. He’s swapping the sunny skies and notorious rain of Tallahassee for the cloud-filled gloom and mounds of snow in Western New York. He’ll soon learn about the majesty of Mighty Taco and the life-pausing power of the phrase “lake effect snow.”

Situated in the upper-right corner of Lake Erie, Buffalo often falls victim to “lake effect snow;” the weather event occurs when cold air moves over an unfrozen and, thus, relatively warm lake, prompting snow bands to set up and empty over nearby land. It’s a common occurrence along the shores of the Great Lakes (particularly Lake Erie), but being the most populated city that frequently deals with the phenomenon, the event is oft-associated with Buffalo; the city averages roughly 95 inches of snow per year.

And though we’re still a few months away from having to frequently deal with lake effect snow, Coleman is already preparing for winter life in Western New York. Nike recently sent the rookie a care package of coats to help him bear the elements, and he’s already gotten a taste of the cold in the team’s cryotherapy chamber.

He’ll experience a Buffalo winter proper before long, but he will not do so aboard a snowmobile.

During a recent appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast, Coleman stated that he likely won’t be purchasing a snowmobile in Western New York; an ever-practical and pragmatic man, the wideout will instead look into a more applicable tool.

“I don’t know man, that’s a little dangerous,” Coleman said. “I like wheels. If it ain’t got wheels, I’m not trying to ride it. We’ll see. That’s a lot of machinery. If anything I’d get a snow plow before a snowmobile. I’m not trying to go out there and play in no snow and no snowmobile, they don’t have no mountains or nothing out here. If this was somewhere like up in Denver where you can go up on a slope or something, I get it, but I ain’t trying to drive a snowmobile."

Bills rookie WR Keon Coleman is apprehensive about getting a snowmobile in Buffalo because, as he said, “that’s a little dangerous. I like wheels. If it ain’t got wheels, I ain’t really trynna ride it.”

🎧 https://t.co/i9jBta0LxS pic.twitter.com/mScfVN2MsI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 14, 2024

There’s nothing leisurely about a Buffalo snowfall; riding a snowmobile on snow-covered suburban streets seems fun until one realizes the shoveling that needs to be done to make the event feasible.

That said, Coleman is open to the idea of purchasing a different kind of all-terrain vehicle to brave the Buffalo snow.

“Four-wheeler, for sure,” Coleman said. “Snowmobile, if it had wheels, I’d definitely get it, but I’m not dealing with it.”

He’ll just have to make sure to grab chains for the tires.

Even if the rookie receiver doesn’t ultimately purchase a snowplow or four-wheeler, his teammates—or head coach—will likely assist him should a lake-effect snowband render him isolated. Head coach Sean McDermott famously picked up pass-rusher Von Miller and punter Sam Martin en route to the facility during a 2022 snowstorm that caused the team’s Week 11 game against the Cleveland Browns to be relocated to Detroit.

And even if his head coach isn’t there to scoop Coleman, those next door likely will be; Buffalo, after all, is the City of Good Neighbors.

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