Beyond the player, the Ravens are getting a highly motivated and mature person. His challenging upbringing started in the Ivory Coast for six years before moving back to Minnesota. His first language was French.
Tragically, Kone’s younger brother, Hamza, died when he was set to enter high school. Due to financial reasons, Kone moved in with the family of current NBA players Tre (Chicago Bulls) and Tyus Jones (Phoenix Suns) during high school.
The death of his brother has pushed Kone personally and in his football career. And as fate would have it, he was drafted on the same date, April 26th, of Hamza’s birthday. Kone’s older brother, Mohamed, plays professional basketball in Australia and the two talked this morning about celebrating their late brother’s birthday.
“I was thinking about that all morning, honestly. That was more on my mind than a lot of things,” Kone said. “I’m really grateful and I know he’s watching above guiding all of us. I’m appreciative of him.”