Dalton Keene (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

Early life

Keene grew up in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

and attended Chatfield High School, where he played middle linebacker and running back on the football team and also ran track. He was named first-team All-State as a senior after rushing for 1,175 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.

College career

Keene started 12 games as a true freshman and caught 10 passes for 167 yards. He was named honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

after recording 28 receptions for 341 yards and three touchdowns in his sophomore season. As a junior, Keene caught 21 passes for 240 yards and five touchdowns. Following the end of the season, Keene announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. Keene finished his collegiate career with 59 receptions for 748 yards and eight touchdowns in 39 games played.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Keene was selected in the third round with the 101st overall pick in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. The Patriots acquired the pick from a division rival, the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, trading two fourth-round picks in the 2020 draft and a sixth-round pick in the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. It was the first time in

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick ( ; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, inc ...

's 20 years as head coach of the Patriots that the team included a future draft pick to move up in a draft. He made his NFL debut in Week 7, recording one catch for eight yards. He was placed on injured reserve on November 10, 2020, with a knee injury. He was activated on December 5, 2020. On August 7, 2021, Keene was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. On August 21, 2022, the Patriots waived Keene.

Philadelphia Eagles (first stint)

On September 6, 2022, Keene was signed to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

practice squad. He was released on October 4.

Denver Broncos

On October 15, 2022, Keene was signed to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

practice squad. He was released three days later. On December 27, 2022, Keene was re-signed by the Broncos to their practice squad. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 8, 2023.

Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)

On January 20, 2023, Keene was signed to a reserve/future contract by the Eagles. He was waived on July 26, 2023.

Houston Texans

On August 1, 2023, Keene signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 22, 2024. He was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL on August 21.

References

External links

Virginia Tech Hokies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, Dalton 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Colorado Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Sportspeople from Littleton, Colorado American football tight ends Virginia Tech Hokies football players New England Patriots players Philadelphia Eagles players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players