Keaton Leavitt Bills (born May 22, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

Early life and high school

Bills, from

Draper, Utah Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. state of Utah, about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. As of the 2020 census, the population is 51,017, up from 7,143 in 1990. Draper is part of two metropolitan areas; ...

, is one of 11 children. He was a standout football player for

Corner Canyon High School Corner Canyon High School is a public school in Draper, Utah. It is the newest high school in the Canyons School District. Its colors are navy, silver and white, and its mascot is the Chargers. History Corner Canyon High School opened in 2013. ...

in Draper, playing as a two-way lineman while receiving first-team 4A all-state honors on the defensive line from the ''

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'' as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, also being chosen that year second-team all-state to the defensive line by the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

'' and honorable mention for his play on the offensive line. A three-star recruit, he signed to play

for the

in 2016, but served a mission for

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS) before joining the team.

College career

Bills made his debut for Utah in the 2019 season, appearing in three games before deciding to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. In the 2020 season, Bills played and started in four games for the Utes. During the 2021 season, Bills he appeared in 12 games, eight as a starter. In 2022 season, Bills played all 14 games for Utah with 12 as a starter, being named an honorable mention to the All-

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

at the end of the year. He returned for the 2023 season and started 12 games, being named an honorable mention All-Pac-12 player for the second time. After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Bills decided to declare for the 2024 NFL draft.

Professional career

After not being selected in the 2024 NFL draft, Bills signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

References

External links

Utah Utes bioBuffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bills, Keaton 1998 births Living people American football offensive guards Utah Utes football players Players of American football from Utah People from Draper, Utah Buffalo Bills players