Multiple Tennessee football players said Saturday that they have made plans to spend time with a Knoxville-area boy after a video of him saying he's a victim to bullying went viral.
In the post, his mom wrote that her son, Keaton, asked her to record and post the video.
"For the record, Keaton asked to do this AFTER he had he me pick him up AGAIN because he was afraid to go to lunch. My kids are by no stretch perfect, & at home, he's as all boy as they come, but by all accounts he's good at school. Talk to your kids. I've even had friends of mine tell me they're kids were only nice to him to get him to mess with people. We all know how it feels to want to belong, but only a select few know how it really feels not to belong anywhere."
Tyler Byrd, a sophomore wide receiver at UT, tweeted Saturday afternoon that he and some of his teammates at Tennessee are "going to the middle school next Tuesday show young Man some love we will also TWITTER LIVE some of it so everyone can show there love and support".
Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano tweeted that Keaton has some friends on the football team that would love to spend some time with him. It came as response to a tweet from former Vol basketball player, Skyler McBee, where he said "I would love to see some UT players come go to lunch with him I bet he wouldn’t be bullied then @D1fuzzymuffin17 @smithtrey98 @BroadwayJay2 @CoachJPruitt @JKShuttlesworth @ToddKellyJr."
Please let his mother know that we are trying to reach out. Keaton has some friends on the football team that would love to spend some time with him. https://t.co/tj1ZqDM4KD
— Jarrett Guarantano✞ (@BroadwayJay2) December 9, 2017
The Tennessee Titans' social-media manager Nate Bain also tweeted Saturday afternoon offering a bodyguard to Keaton.
I need someone to connect me with this child's family, please. I've been told he is from Knoxville.
Mr. Lewan is against bullying and willing to provide his services as a bodyguard.
Do your thing, Twitter! Connect us. #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/OkrQP0UTqe
— Nate Bain (@natebain) December 9, 2017WBIR 10News is working to confirm which school Keaton attends. The Knox County School District said he "is currently not enrolled as a Knox County Schools student."
The original Facebook post by Keaton's mother had been shared over 206,000 times with more than 8.9 million views as of 5 p.m. Saturday.