Football isn’t football where Seydou Traore is from.
In London, football is what the Yanks call soccer. Traore was good at that too, yet it was the American brand of football that always held an allure for Traore.
A strange and off-the-beaten-trail of a football journey has brought Traore to Colorado as a tight end transfer from Arkansas State. An under-the-radar addition to a Buffaloes offense that quickly has stockpiled potentially explosive talent, Traore is attempting to take another developmental step that has ascended by leaps and bounds since he got his first taste of 11-man football just three years ago.
In just a few seasons, Traore has evolved from a standout soccer goalie to All-Sun Belt Conference honors at Arkansas State.
“Getting into the game of football, I had been watching highlights on ‘NFL this Week,’ kind of a UK show that kind of breaks down the game for people back home,” Traore said. “I was playing for a team, they said come play for my local club. I tried it out and really stuck with it.
“Just before playing American football, I played soccer and I played goalie, so I feel like the hand-eye coordination kind of translated well over (to football). I was quite an athlete coming out, but raw with technical ability, but I think that pass catching came naturally to me.”
Traore joined Clearwater Academy International in Florida in hopes of earning a Division I scholarship. After recording 26 receptions for 433 yards and three touchdowns at Clearwater, Traore fulfilled that goal when he joined Arkansas State in 2021.
Traore made 12 receptions for 97 yards as a freshman before truly finding his stride last fall, posting 50 receptions for 655 yards and five touchdowns. A first team All-Sun Belt selection, Traore ranked fifth among all FBS-level tight ends in receiving yards and seventh in catches.
New tight ends coach Tim Brewster said last week, “I’m not about situational tight ends. I’m about a complete three-down tight end.” And in the battle to be the Buffs’ every-down tight end, Traore has the most experience among those in the competition.
CU has a number of returning tight ends in Caleb Fauria, Erik Olsen, Louis Passarello, Austin Smith and Zach Courtney, although they have played sparingly while biding their time behind former starter Brady Russell (Fauria is out this spring due to a foot injury but expected to be ready by preseason camp).
Taking the chance his fast-developing skills will translate to the Power 5 level, Traore is working to become that every-down guy for the Buffs.
“I think the similarities are definitely when the ball is in the air, itap my ball, go get the ball,” Traore said. “Knowing what I’ve done last year, I think everyone is depending on me to when the ball is thrown, do what I do to make a play.
“The ball is rolling here. You gotta have good eyes, get your eyes to the signal, get the ball to the official. Those habits were preached … The pace at which they’re calling the signals and the pace at which we’re snapping the ball is much faster.”
