Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis presented a plaque to 2019 Kankakee High School graduate Keagen Trost at Monday’s city council meeting recognizing him for being a 3rd round pick by the L.A. Rams in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Curtis said they are glad to add another name to the list of Kankakee residents who have made it to the NFL: 

"We've been fortunate in our community to have a couple of people from the city of Kankakee that have played in the NFL or currently playing with Tyjuan Hagler a while back who won a Super Bowl and then we've had Jonathan Ward who's also been playing in the NFL. But this past draft we had a graduate of Kankakee High School that was just selected in the third round and that's pretty spectacular when you think about it. There's not many players, you're talking less than 300 that get actually drafted, a lot signed on afterwards, but to actually be drafted shows a commitment by a team of what they think that player means for the future."

"Thank you for the recognition. It was great, my journey coming from Kankakee, and I aspire to motivate the youth, come back and do things for the community so I appreciate the recognition", said Keagen after receiving the plaque. 

Prior to the city council meeting, a meet and greet with Keagen was held at Kankakee High School where Athletic Director Ronnie Wilcox said Keagen’s maturity and wisdom really stands out:

"For a man at 25, the way he carries himself, when you talk to him, the depth is beyond impressive to me. And so when you think about athletes going off and some of the things that are coming his way, like you're nervous, you're worried, I'm confident great things are coming."

Keagen leaves for the Rams’ rookie minicamp on Thursday.