Bend Super Bowl champion speaks of experience
Kevin Boss, owner of Boss Sports Performance, won Super Bowl XLII with Giants
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers is just four days away. Twelve years ago, Bend resident Kevin Boss played on football’s biggest stage -- and walked off the field a champion.
Boss started at tight end for the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots in arguably the greatest game in sports history.
Both teams were fighting for a chance to make history – the Patriots had their eyes set on becoming the first team to have a perfect season and win the Super Bowl, while the Giants were hoping to become the first NFC team to win the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team.
During that 2007 season, Boss was a 23-year-old rookie out of Western Oregon University. He had only one reception in Super Bowl XLII, but it came in the fourth quarter and went for 45 yards, the longest play in the game. The Giants would score a touchdown on the drive to take a 10-7 lead.
The Patriots recaptured the lead two possessions later on a 6-yard connection from Tom Brady to Randy Moss. That, of course, set up the Giants' comeback on the following drive, including what would be known as “The Helmet Catch” by Boss’ fellow tight end, David Tyree.
Giants won 17-, capturing their third Super Bowl in franchise history.
It’s a day Boss looks back on with pride, but hoisting the Lombardi Trophy was not his only fond memory during that time. He said the entire week leading up to the game was special. However, if he could do it all over again, Boss said there’s one thing he would change.
"I wish I would've just taken more pictures and tried to soak up every moment,” Boss said Wednesday. “I look back, and at that point, I think I had a Razr phone that wasn't taking great quality photos. Hindsight is 20-20 always, but I wish I would've had a video camera and done the old school kind of camcorder, because those things are just priceless moments that you can't recreate."
That’s what led to Boss offering this piece of advice to Chiefs and 49ers players in the midst of the same week right now – soak up as much as you can. After all, you never know if you’ll make it back to the big game.
Boss expects this year’s game to come down to one thing – quarterback play. He said the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes has the edge over the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
"Patrick Mahomes is pretty special, and Jimmy Garoppolo is a good quarterback too, but Mahomes has just a few more elements to his game that Jimmy does not -- that most people don’t,” Boss said.
Another matchup to watch out for in this game is at the position Boss played for six years in the NFL, tight end. Super Bowl LIV features two of the best the league has seen in recent history, in the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and the 49ers’ George Kittle. Boss said he gives the nod to Kelce, because he’s been in the league longer and has a more unique skill set.
Boss said he’ll be pulling for Kansas City, where he spent his final season, but really is just hoping for a good game.
“I hope it's a, you know, high-powered shootout, 45-48 game. I'm going to be rooting for the Chiefs. I was there for a year, my oldest son was born there, so he's kind of taken that on as his team to root for."
Super Bowl LIV kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday on Fox Central Oregon.
Boss went into more depth with us about his own experience playing in and winning the Super Bowl. Tune into NewsChannel 21’s special Fox newscast, right after The Masked Singer on Super Bowl Sunday, for the full story.
