Keno Hills, a native of Tampa, Florida attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and was subsequently drafted into the NFL in 1996. He played for the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and Miami Dolphins throughout his career, living every kid’s dream. However, during a visit with the Rotary Club of Warren, he said that he learned the hard way that sports is only a small part of a full life.
When his sports career abruptly ended, and the fame that went with it halted, Keno found himself aimless and without purpose, searching to fill the void football left. Due to his imposing stature, he found himself working several security jobs. Although he had thus far drank little alcohol, Keno found himself and began partying heavily due to the exposure of the security profession lifestyle. Without much foresight and the wisdom life’s experiences bring, he went places that a thriving football career had helped him avoid. Through an incremental series of compromises, he landed himself with full-blown drug addiction, which stripped him of family, finances, future, and an insatiable love of life.
A once proud person, Keno panhandled in front of a store, but it was in this place that he cried out to God. He came to the realization that he could either change or die as a drug addict. He entered rehab, completing the program after 24 months, but he soon relapsed. Never one to give up, he entered Mid-Michigan Teen Challenge. Once again, though, the ever-alluring pull of the streets robbed Keno of the path he so desperately wanted and deserved.
That gridiron determination would not let Keno give up and die, so he reached out to a friend in Warren, which Keno now calls his new home. He hopped on a plane and entered the one-year program at the Warren Family Mission (WFM), a place he still resides. Living with a rolling rooster of 30 men, all with different personalities and struggles, restored the long-forgotten lessons of commitment, respect, discipline, problem-solving that he had left when his career ended.
The structured environment has offered Keno the chance to serve others out of his newly acquired self-love through the radical love of Jesus Christ. As a result, Mr. Hills has found that serving others now fills the void. Beyond his work with WFM, Keno shares his story with young people, endeavoring to encourage them to find purpose in life and to listen to the wisdom of other people.
Keno Hills
Men’s Center Resident