As last month’s NFL Draft reached the back end of the third round, Keagen Trost flipped his phone face down around pick 90.

The 2019 Kankakee graduate and first-team All-SEC offensive tackle at Missouri knew he was slated to go as early as the third round, but as offensive linemen stopped coming off the board, he started to think that his draft night party would extend another day.

Almost as quickly as the face of his phone and his emotions both turned down, that phone and his life turned up in the blink of an eye.

“Then my phone rang,” he said. “I saw it was a Cali area code and just got super excited.”

The Los Angeles Rams were calling to inform him they were selecting him with the 93rd overall pick in the third round, making Trost the first Kankakee graduate to be drafted in almost 50 years.

Trost was celebrated by the Kankakee community he’s quickly become a role model for on Monday. Prior to being recognized at the Kankakee City Hall meeting, his alma mater hosted a party for him at the Dr. Genevra Walters Community Center.

He was joined by former coaches and teammates, family, and other supporters, including scores of kids that turned out to get an autograph from the first Kankakee graduate to be drafted since Eastridge alum Estus Hood was taken 62nd overall by Green Bay in 1978.

Trost is the first Kay to join the NFL since James Kinney signed as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005. That’s the same year Bishop McNamara’s Tyjuan Hagler was drafted in the fifth round by the Indianapolis Colts, the last time a Kankakee area native was drafted.

“It’s super exciting,” Trost said. “It’s nothing but a great opportunity with the Rams. They run a great system that I feel fits me as a player. I can fit good in their system and it will be exciting to see how it all shakes out.”

Outside of the loved ones with him Monday, not many would have assumed the NFL was in Trost’s future when he graduated from Kankakee and began his college career at Division II Morgan State (Ind.).

Maybe not even Trost himself.

“I would say to myself it had to have taken a lot of hard work to get there,” Trost said. " ... I would have probably hoped it was true, but I don’t know if I would have believed it until I saw it."

But his supporters did. His former coach at Kankakee, current Kays assistant Omar Grant, did. The man he calls his mentor, former Bishop McNamara assistant Curtis Crossley, did.

And nobody did more than his mom, Shannon. And there’s definitely nobody who’s more proud of him.

“I can’t even put into words how proud I am of him,” she said. “Amazed, just unable to put into words how proud I am, how well he’s done, how well he’s succeeded, where he’s going. It’s always been his dream, and he’s there.”

And as he rose through the college ranks, more and more people began to believe Trost would make the league. He spent a year at Morgan State, the COVID-19 pandemic and an injury-riddled redshirt season at Indiana State, where he spent his first two years of college eligibility anchoring the line.

That led him to Wake Forest for the 2024 season and ultimately Missouri last fall, where he was Pro Football Focus’ top-rated tackle and helped launch him into the second day of this year’s draft.

“He’s a walking testament,” Grant said of Trost’s grind. “He has a unique journey. A lot of people don’t know his story. I don’t even think he thought he’d be at this point. He was one of those kids that just said, ‘I want to play football, let’s see what happens.’”

The determination and development Trost has displayed is something Grant said can be a great example to the next wave of local youth, and so is how he’s quickly realized the role he’s grown into as a community pillar with his high profile.

Since the draft, he’s spoken to kids in the Kankakee School District multiple times, discussing topics like mentorship and the importance of consistent class attendance.

Seeing how instrumental his own support system has been in his life, Trost now hopes to support local youth the same way he’ll look to support a potent Rams offense led by reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford.

“I think really growing up, getting to experience college and having a good relationship with my mentor (Crossley) has helped guide my life to help me get to where I am today,” Trost said. “It helps me want to help others. Everyone won’t make the NFL, but in any path they do take, I want to have a mentorship role and help others with whatever they’re chasing, sports, college education or any path.”