Downingtown East’s Abraham Sesay is an elite edge rusher. His greatest strength extends beyond the gridiron.
Sesay, who’s bound for Notre Dame, remained humble while being heavily recruited by major college programs. He also carries a charismatic energy of making those around him “a better person.”
Downingtown East football coach Michael Matta remembers watching the local eighth grade team play in 2022 with his son, who was coaching alongside him at the high school. They had a list of players to keep their eye on, and one stood out to them as “clearly the best on the field.”
“He wasn’t drawing attention to himself, just playing hard and doing everything right,” Matta said. “I looked at my son and he goes, ‘I know what you’re going to say, best player on the field is that guy.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
The player was Abraham Sesay.
Sesay, now a 6-foot-5, 215-pound, five-star edge rusher, is ranked No. 3 in Pennsylvania and No. 25 nationally, according to 247Sports. He is committed to play at Notre Dame next year.
He is a star athlete who attracted attention from the top football programs in the nation, but what separates him is his character, Matta said.
“I haven’t said this about every kid I’ve ever coached, but there are kids that you feel like you’ve become a better person by being around,” Matta said. “Usually the players say that about the coach, but every so often I say that about a player and I feel like I’ve been a better guy being around him.”
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Sesay began playing football in first grade because it was a sport his family members played, including his grandfather, who is in the West Chester Hall of Fame. Sesay tried other extracurricular activities, including basketball, track and field, the saxophone and violin, but he always came back to football.
And playing football at the collegiate level was his ultimate goal..
“I felt like I always wanted to get to that next level, but coach Matta really instilled in me that it’s possible,” Sesay said. “It was always a goal of mine, but he instilled the confidence in me that it could be a reality and that if I just work hard and listen to the program and put my head down that I can accomplish this dream of mine.”
The recruiting process began early for Sesay, with his first scholarship offer coming from Syracuse in January of his sophomore year. It picked up his junior year, and navigating it wasn’t always the easiest, he said.
“It was definitely a little challenging just because a lot of people were asking a lot from me,” Sesay added. “A lot of these coaches, they want you, so they’ll start to make promises and say a lot of things to just get you to their schools. I’m so blessed that my two parents were behind me to really guide me through this process.
“A lot of times people get steered the wrong way and chase the wrong things — have the wrong priorities. My parents did an amazing job in making sure my priorities were straight and important to me, so whatever school I decided to pick matched up with my priorities and what I was looking for.”
Bill Belichick from University of North Carolina, James Franklin while he coached at Penn State, Marcus Freeman from Notre Dame, among others, traveled to Downingtown East on the same day to try to persuade Sesay to play for their program.
“A lot of [coaches] were talking about, you remind me of this NFL player or this is how much money we’re going to give you,” Matta said.
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After the visit, Sesay approached his coach and said, “You know coach Freeman talked to Barack Obama yesterday.”
“I know that coach Freeman laid that Easter egg for him,” Matta said. “And he figured out that this is not just a great football school. This is a school where the head coach talks to the former president of the United States.”
Sesay received offers from 36 colleges, including LSU, Ole Miss, Penn State, Georgia, and Ohio State, before committing to Notre Dame on June 16. He wanted a school that offered more than football.
Matta remembers when the recruiting process began. Sesay’s mom told him she wasn’t interested in how many NFL players each school had. She cared about whether her son could major in computer information or cybersecurity, and how many of those students graduated and found a job.
“The first time I went to Notre Dame, it was just kind of a feel thing,” Sesay said. “I wanted a lot out of football, but I also wanted a great education. I wanted to really compete and go to a high-level football school where I’m going to be tested, but I also wanted that amazing education that I can really use and go somewhere whenever I’m finished with football. Notre Dame was just one of those places where I can have the best of both worlds.”
Sesay holds himself to a high standard in the classroom and community. Despite the attention and praise that came with being one of the nation’s top recruits, he’s remained grounded.
“The biggest challenge is when he gets so much adoration and so many people tell him how great you are,” Matta said. “He was able to separate all that and know what he wanted and what was best for him.”
Sesay is looking forward to his arrival in South Bend, Ind. Before then, he’s soaking in his final season high school football at the place that made him the player he is today.
“I want to lead this team to a district championship, as well as going on to states,” he said. “I want to leave a legacy here at Downingtown and put my best foot forward for the guys younger than me to learn and be a role model for them.”
