Ravens Insider: Ravens wide receiver Keith Kirkwood never quit. He has his daughter to thank.

[ExtremeRavens]

Keith Kirkwood made the most impactful decision of his NFL career sitting on the toilet.

It was the day before the 2018 NFL draft. Kirkwood was in the bathroom at his grandfather’s house in Neptune, New Jersey, mulling over his future. Despite a successful college career at Temple, league pundits weren’t certain he’d hear his name called.

Kirkwood walked into that bathroom thinking if he could play at least one NFL season, that would be enough — dream realized. If he had to go be a police officer or a janitor afterward, he told his wife Shayna, so be it. “Everything inside of me [was] like, ‘Ah, I don’t wanna do the NFL,’” he thought.

But Kirkwood had a realization that day with his pants wrapped around his ankles. If he quit football, what kind of example would that set for Aria, the daughter he’s raised like his own?

The undrafted free agent receiver has been cut, hurt, inactive and designated to practice squads over six years in the league. The Ravens finalize their 53-man roster at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Now with a second daughter, Kali, and a son due in November, Kirkwood still isn’t quitting football.

Aria is Shayna’s daughter. Her biological father tragically drowned off the Jersey Shore before she was born. Kirkwood has raised her like his own. He can remember meeting her so vividly. It was at FINS, a Caribbean restaurant in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, where Kirkwood and Shayna had their first date. He was 18 years old. Aria was 1, a glowing cherub dressed in all white.

“I just knew I had to be in this child’s life,” Kirkwood said. “Something was filling me in that moment, like a spirit coming over me like, ‘Hey, you cannot leave this child’s side.’ Throughout my entire life, she has been the strength for me not to give up.”

They met at a pivotal time in Kirkwood’s life.

Ravens wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, a former undrafted free agent, is battling for a spot on the roster. (Kim Hairston/Staff)

The lifelong basketball player with multiple Division I offers who many deemed destined for a future in the NBA pivoted before senior year. He was enamored by his peers competing under Friday night lights.

Neptune High School football coach Mark Ciccotelli recruited Kirkwood to a preseason seven-on-seven tournament at Rutgers University. It was a trial run, but it turned into so much more. Kirkwood, 6 feet 3 with no concept of routes or formations, caught four touchdown passes.

Back at the school, Ciccotelli pulled Kirkwood aside.

“Do you want to be a 6-3 center in the NBA? It’s not gonna happen,” Ciccotelli said. “But do you want to be a 6-3 NFL wide receiver? Kid, I believe in you and I know you can be an NFL player one day.”

Kirkwood said, “That moment right there changed my entire life.”

He went home to his football-wary parents, greeted by a series of lectures on why he should stick with basketball. The next day, Kirkwood tried pleading with his late aunt, Ramona Gonzalez. One forged signature later, he was set on a new path.

The University of Hawaii was one of the few schools interested in a late-start recruit with sparse tape. As a freshman 10 hours from home by plane, he wore a band around his wrist to remind him of Shayna and Aria. Hung up in his locker were pictures of his family to remind him of home. When he transferred to Temple, Kirkwood often bunked at Shayna’s parents’ house 90 minutes from the North Philadelphia campus. That meant leaving at 4 a.m. most mornings to get to workouts in time.

Kirkwood began his career in New Orleans — a bit of serendipity considering his grandfather’s house was filled with Saints paraphernalia. Injuries hampered his time there and with the Carolina Panthers. But he kept pushing.

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On a clear-skied afternoon following a recent Ravens training camp practice, Kirkwood retold the rollercoaster it took to land in Baltimore. His head tilted back slightly, letting his eyes shut softly. He took a deep breath. Gratitude poured off his tongue with each twist and turn.

“It was such a fulfilling moment,” Kirkwood said. “I was smiling from frickin’ ear to ear.”

Earlier this summer, Kirkwood had been home in New Jersey getting his affairs in order. He had come to terms with retiring from football after six seasons. Playing a career-high 13 games with the Saints last year and catching his first touchdown pass since 2018 was plenty to feel proud of.

He flew back to New Orleans later that day to check on his property. A text from his agent came not 30 minutes after he deboarded, “Hey, I don’t know if somebody was listening to you but the Ravens wanna bring you in for minicamp.”

Kirkwood called Ryan Daly, his beloved trainer of three years, and was on a flight home the next morning. They had four days to get him ready.

There were 6 a.m. lifts and extensive mobility workouts. Then they’d get out to the field to get Kirkwood in football shape. Daly said they attacked a plan of mobility, strength and power and then field work. It ended with Kirkwood running the top speed of his life at 29 years old: 21.9 mph. The NFL veteran sobbed tears of joy. Daly got him a hoodie to immortalize the feat.

“He’s a guy that just always works really hard,” Daly said. “There are very few guys that you meet in life that they just make you better. When Keith Kirkwood is around, he just makes everybody better.”

Trainer Ryan Daly gifted Keith Kirkwood a custom hoodie after the Ravens receiver ran the top speed of his career this offseason. (Courtesy of Ryan Daly/handout

Kirkwood finished minicamp healthy and confident. He even caught a touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson on the last day. The Ravens pulled him in for a physical, which he said generally insinuates the player will be signed. Kirkwood went to meet with a scout. The scout let him down easy. He had a great three days and maybe they’d sign him down the road, he said. But not this year.

Kirkwood walked to his car head held high.

“It was the most unbelievable experience that a seven-year veteran who’s been practice squad, inactive, cut, hurt,” he said, “just to be in that position was unbelievable.”

Kirkwood called his family on the drive home to share his career had seemingly reached its curtain call. But before getting back to New Jersey, his phone rang. It was the Ravens’ front office. There was a miscommunication and they wanted to sign him.

He’s had three catches for 56 yards over two preseason games. He’s taken some reps with the starters. But Baltimore’s receiver room is overcrowded with limited spots available. Whatever happens next week, he never quit.

“Sometimes when I can close my eyes and take that deep breath, I can think about all those trials I’ve been through,” Kirkwood said. “When I walk out of that building — whether on this team or not — I’m gonna have my head held high and I’m gonna be the happiest guy on this earth.”

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