This edition of Poppa's Perspective is brought to you by Bob's Discount Furniture, official furniture store and a Mattress partner of the New York Giants.

And on this episode, we welcome in Super Bowl champion Kevin Boss, who joins us here on the show.

Kevin, Great, catching up.

How are you, my friend?

I'm doing great.

Yeah, it's an honor to be here with you.

Just looking forward to chatting and good to hear your voice.

Kevin.

Let's talk a little bit about, you know, first getting drafted by the New York Giants and what that was like for you coming in as a kid that grew up out on the West Coast and now all of a sudden, here you are coming to New York City and going to play for the New York Football Giants.

Yeah.

I mean it it was a big jump just going from Division two football to the NFL.

You know that that was a big jump in it of itself.

Just the speed of the game.

I mean really, the biggest and met for me, I think was just the just the x'es and o's.

I think in Division two football I could get away with just you know, being a better athlete than everybody.

But yeah, that was that was probably the biggest transition.

But yeah, that was big.

But let alone, just going from a tiny little town that I grew up in, tiny little town that I went to school in and then move into to New York and New Jersey, that was that was a big jump for me.

But I feel really fortunate that it was New York and now that that's a place that I get to come back to every year.

Before we get into you know, the big catch in Super Bowl forty two and helping beat the Patriots, let's talk a little bit about you know, you come to the team and I think some fans forget about Jeremy Shockey was there and he wound up getting hurt late in the season, thus your role started to increase.

What was it like being an understudied Jeremy Shaki and what did you learn from Eli and all those guys as you were kind of going through this first season in the National Football League.

Yeah, I I felt like I was really lucky that I landed on a team, was drafted by a team that had, you know a bunch of vets.

There was guys that you know, Eli and Amani and Jeremy and Plaques and Straighthan and I mean it was just so many you know, older veteran guys that have been around, and we're really a lot of guys that were like true professionals.

And but yeah, Shaki was one of those guys.

And I it was, you know, again being the Division two guy.

And uh, you know, I grew up watching these guys.

I I remember, you know, I played tight end since I was in seventh grade, and so I remember watching Shoki when he was at the U and then being drafted by the Giants, and so to all of a sudden be his backup was pretty surreal, you know.

And then I also grew up in Mission fans, so to be on Amani Tumors team was like pretty often.

You know.

Amani was one of those guys I locked onto early on, and he was he was a constant pro and somebody that I just like tried to follow his footsteps.

And yeah, but learned learned a ton from Jeremy.

He was an incredible player.

I think sometimes people forget just how good he was, and so to have the opportunity to play behind him.

For a season and to learn behind him really helped me.

So Kevin tell us to talk us through the forty five yard catch and run in Super Bowl forty two, coming out for the start of the second half.

What was the conversation like, Yeah, you know, it was one of those situations where it wasn't like a play that was in our game plan for that particular game.

It was more like you got to get of credit to to Gilbride, and you know, I think coach Pope was was in on it as well.

We kind of recognized pretty early on that if we were to send me in like a little motion, we could we could get me open down the scene there and I was getting jammed off the line of scrimmage quite a bit, but they were leaving the middle of the field open, and so I by sending me in motion, I got a little room detached from the line of scrimmage there, gave me a little bit of space to release, and you know, from there it's it was pretty It was pretty easy.

You know, it was just middle of the field was wide open.

Eli threw me a good.

Ball and man, if I always say, if I was a little bit faster, I would have scored.

But uh set up Tyree to score that that first touchdown for him, and but yeah, it was it was unique in the way that we kind of yeah, like I said, just kind of drew it up on the sideline.

Hey, Like I think if we'd throw.

A little yo yo motion in here, Yeah, stretch it wide to the numbers and bend it in slightly, it's going to be open.

And sure enough it was.

It's kind of interesting, right, So for the older Giant fan that was a staple right sims to Bavarro and running that scene.

And of course Mike Pope was the tight ends coach during that era as well.

Yeah, so it was one of those things that really resonated with Giants fans.

What about the lift that it gave the team offensively?

Yeah, I mean we were struggling a little bit to get some things going offensively.

Our defense obviously was playing lights out, but we were we were stalling a little bit offensively.

So you know, that was the first play of the fourth quarter, and it was it was definitely a little energy boost for our team and a little confidence boost.

And like I said, I think, yeah, Tyree scored a couple of plays later, but yeah, I always just feel super grateful and blessed that I had the opportunity to make a play and to make a little bit of a difference in that game.

You know, in the aftermath of it, all right, the Tyree catch, Plexico scoring the touchdown, the hail Marys by Brady right in front of your bench, down that left sideline, and you know, the ball getting deflected at the last minute.

I mean, how surreal was it for you that a fifth round pick Western Oregon wind up playing a key role in your rookie season is ending with a Super Bowl and you having a big hand in it considering where the season started for you.

Yeah, I mean I think at the time, I just didn't even realize how just fortunate and lucky I was to have been drafted into this organization and then to yeah, go win a Super Bowl my rookie year.

And like you said, after we started pretty slow, and it just, yeah, the stars aligned for that particular season, and you know, I just you know, we had guys like Jeff Fiegels that was in I think year twenty and was playing in his first Super Bowl.

So I took it.

I think all of us rookies kind of took it for granted a little bit, you know, And I obviously never never played in another super Bowl after that.

But when you're a rookie and it's your first year, kind of like, oh, this is just this is great, this is what we do.

You know, and then you realize just how challenging, how challenging it is to get back.

But yeah, it was.

I count my lucky stars and my blessings all the time that I ended up getting drafted by the Giants and we had the year that we did that year.

In four years with the Giants, forty five starts in fifty eight games, a lot of touchdowns with the Giants, I mean you had eighteen touchdowns, not being like the full of the offense.

You wound up playing with Oakland in twenty eleven and then finished your career up in Kansas City and then, like a lot of guys, like life after football kind of hit you because of injury, you weren't able to continue playing.

What was it like sorting through that part of your life en route to where you are right now?

Yeah, it was it was hard, honestly, full transparency, it's a struggle.

It's a challenge.

Every guy I talked to is goes through it, and it's just it can it can be kind of a dark time a little bit where you're just so used to having this.

One sole purpose of being a football player.

And trying to take care of yourself to perform at a high level, and you know, the team has you on this schedule, and then all of a sudden, there is no schedule, you know, and so there there's a little bit of a transition period there where you're like, Okay, what next.

And I certainly went through that.

You know, thankfully I knew what I wanted to do next.

It's still hard to like put the wheels in motion into to.

Get started on that next project or that next passion to pursue.

But you know, thankfully I knew what I wanted to do, and I wanted to, you know, open up a gym.

And that's kind of what eventually, after kind of trying to get the wheels going on that, I poured everything I had into that and it's kind of still what I'm doing today.

Yeah, let's talk a little bit about Boss Sports Performance.

Really cool website for those giant fans that might be out in your area or whatever.

They could go check it out at bosssports Performance dot com.

But you know what what you're trying to build here with this business, what you've accomplished so far, where you see it going.

What what's their driving force in this business for you?

Yeah, you know.

I I went through a time in my early high school years where I just lacked some confidence.

I was kind of struggling with honestly, like some like body image issues.

I was just kind of like that kid that grew round and then hit a gross spurt and with with thin out and and I wasn't really that strong as a young kid.

And I had I had a high school football coach that after my freshman year kind of took me under his wing and was like, Hey, you're gonna meet me in the weight room every day after school.

And I did that, and so long story short, it just it really changed the trajectory of my life.

I think, I, oh, I tell my coach.

I still stay in touch with this particular coach, and I've told him this multiple times.

But he really did put me on the right path.

And it sparked a love for the weight room, and it sparked a love for training and just the process and like developing a work ethic.

And I knew right then and there that like, this is something that I wanted to do someday.

I wanted to like give this same feeling to other young boys and girls that were kind of struggling with confidence.

And you know, so I always say, like, you know, football, having the opportunity to play in the NFL was great, and I wouldn't change that for the world.

But like the thing that I feel like I was really put on this earth to do was to do what I'm doing now, and the NFL has just kind of given me a bigger platform to do this on a bigger scale and to impact more lives and to be able to just impact my community on a bigger stage and a bigger level.

Yeah.

I mean, just looking at your website and having visits, did it.

I mean, really, the empathy, the emphasis is really on the youth, isn't it.

Yeah.

I mean I mean, I mean people can go and work out there and train there and use personal trainers, but your whole thing is really about the youth.

Yeah.

Yeah, And that's like I said, that's kind of comes from, you know, my backstory and just wanting to be a positive place in our community.

I grew up in a household where my parents were you know, big played a big role in our community as far as just very involved in our community.

And so that's just what I witnessed, That's what I watched growing up, and that was something that I wanted to do as well.

And you know, I felt it just was like such a natural transition for me, just you know, to finish football, to stay involved in sports, and to want to impact my community, especially.

On the youth side.

And you know, we we'd say it all the time that like, you know, we're we're not just like building bigger, faster, stronger kids, like we're also trying to build like strong leaders in this community too, And I think that's the part that like I'm always like reinforcing emphasizing with my employees.

It's like, hey, like yes, like getting these kids stronger is important, but like giving them a place where they feel seen and heard and loved and like that's really what like I want this place to feel like.

And that's the culture that we've been fortunate enough to build here and it's it's been it's been really life giving for me.

Kevin.

Just one more thing about youth, the youth, you know, as as everything becomes a bigger business and more competitive.

Uh, you see parents, especially in maybe the more affluent communities, getting kids and funneling them to want like we're going to play this year round and do this year around, We're going to train year round.

But then if you open up a media guide for the NBA or the NFL or Major League Baseball, you see that, like so many of your favorite sports stars were actually multi sport athletes right on through high school.

What's the message that you would have to parents out there that are trying to funnel their kid into one sport and over commit them to one single sport when they're ten, eleven, twelve.

Yeah, don't do it.

It's a trap.

It is an absolute trap.

And I mean this could be a whole podcast, and it's actually like a kind of a hot button for me, slash, Like, I'm just really passionate about this subject and just how bad it is for our youth to be doing that at such a young age.

And I think the parents are are to blame.

Like you said, it's just like they use sports can kind of feet like prey on parents, like fear, you know, and like feel like my kids missing out.

And but there's just there's so much research behind just the benefits behind these kids moving from season to season in sport to sport, and just the overuse injury, and I mean just other things too, of just like not getting you know, bored and burnt out.

Like that's that's an easy one.

I see so many talented kids, especially baseball.

Baseball is crazy.

But these kids that are being burnt out on baseball by like times they're like fourteen because the parents have just shoved it down their throat.

But yeah, I just it's it's a it's an absolute trap.

Parents.

I just can't implore you enough to let your kids play multiple sports.

And I promise it's it's just a very short sighted mindset to just think that like, hey, my kid is going to be really great at twelve, Like nobody is gonna get drafted at twelve, you know.

So I think it's something that we just have to look at the big picture and understand that puberty is a great equalizer and it's got to be the long game and looking at the big picture.

Kevin circling back to the Giants, Obviously, Strahan has the fairy tale ending.

Not many people get to walk it off.

There's been a few.

Ray Lewis was another one that got to do it.

But most careers end kind of the way yours did.

Yeah, where it doesn't end on your terms.

When you think about those four years with the Giants and obviously the Super Bowl, but sort of the bonds and friendships and the lessons that you learned in that time that now as you get a little bit older and you're raising kids of your own, you find yourself kinds of reaching back to some of those messages that you once had blasted in your ear.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, I mean, I think having having a leader.

You know, we talked about it a little bit beforehand, but you know, having a leader like coach Coughlin, And that's another reason I just feel extremely fortunate to have landed where I landed and just have a guy like Coughlin to that led our team the right way, and to be able to look back and think of the lessons that were learned through through Coach Coughlin and and through you know, the trials and tribulations of that that you know, first season, but also just the ups and downs of my four years there, and yeah, just uh, something that I would I would never change for the world in terms of having to the opportunity to play for for the New York Giants and having the opportunity to to play for coach Coughlin.

And having that name etched on a Super Bowl trophy, Like, that's that's imperpect too, right, And that's something that you could share with your family moving forward.

You know, the the Wellington Mariline.

Once a Giant, always a Giant.

When you hear that, what does that mean to Kevin Boss?

Yeah, you know, I I recently had this conversation when I went back to a game this season.

I brought my my thirteen year old son back to a game and I was talking to somebody how like I think a lot of franchises try to like use that, but I feel like the Giants are like the one franchise that actually live that out and you know, they, you know, when former guys come back, like myself, like I feel like they roll out the red carpet for you and they take care of you.

And and I think that's you know, starts with the merri family and and how they want their former guys to be treated.

And and it's just I from talking to other guys around the league, I know it's not the same for other franchises and for other organizations, and so yeah, the Giants really continue to live that out and I feel again, just super lucky to be able to experience that still to this day, you know, and getting to go back to games and feeling like I'm still part of it in a way.

Kevin, we appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to join us.

Always great catching up, and thank you so much for your time and best of luck with the Performance Center.

Yeah, I appreciate it, Bob, thanks for having me.

Man.

That's Kevin Boss joining us on this edition of Popper's Perspective, brought to you by Bob's Discount Furniture, official furniture store and a Mattress partner of the New York Giants.