Five minutes with Kyle Vanden Bosch

huskernumerouno · February 18, 2008

By STEVEN M. SIPPLE

Sunday, Feb 17, 2008 - 11:48:06 pm CST

Former Nebraska defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch comes off a 2007-08 NFL season in which he led the Tennessee Titans and ranked sixth in the AFC with 12 sacks. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound native of Larchwood, Iowa, recently appeared in his second Pro Bowl, recording two tackles and a sack. He and wife Lindsey have a 2-year-old daughter and 10-month-old twin sons. Vanden Bosch took time Friday to chat with Steven M. Sipple of the Journal Star.

You were voted a captain by your teammates this past season. I know you felt great about that. How great?

“To me, it’s the biggest honor you can get. That’s because there’s nobody around you more than your teammates, so you can’t fake stuff. Your teammates know who’s real and who’s putting in the work. Your teammates are the guys you sweat with and go to work with every day.”

Do guys actually play hard in the Pro Bowl?

“I would say most do. Some don’t. As for myself, I wouldn’t be in the Pro Bowl if I didn’t play hard. I’m always going to play hard. I mean, there are defensive ends around the league, and maybe an end or two on our team, with more physical ability than me. But nobody plays harder. That’s what I pride myself in. That’s what I’m known for — playing harder than anybody else. If there’s a high school coach somewhere around the country telling a kid that he should play like me, and then that kid flips on the Pro Bowl and sees me not going hard, then that’s pretty much a discredit to everything I’ve done.”

I’ve heard your work ethic goes back to growing up in Larchwood, Iowa, and working for your father’s construction company. Is that true?

“That’s where I really learned how to work. That’s where I learned what work was. In high school, after having a game on Friday night, I’d get up early on Saturday morning when most kids were sleeping in or watching cartoons. I was out pouring cement and doing stuff like that, which for a kid isn’t a lot of fun. But it taught me what real work was. Guys in the NFL complain (about their job), just like any other profession. But I don’t think we realize how lucky we have it. What I do is play a game, and I love every part of it — working out, practicing, playing in games. But to me, it’s not real work. It’s still a game. I get paid for playing a game.”

You started your final 23 games at Nebraska, completing your college playing days in 2000. What do you remember most about your Husker experience?

“I learned so much from Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom. When I was a freshman, I watched their intensity and the way they could turn it on on the football field. That’s something that stuck with me my whole career. Also playing with guys like Chad Kelsay and Chris Kelsay, it was such a no-nonsense position. It was a bunch of guys who came into work every day and played hard every day. I developed a lot of pride in playing my position, and that carried over to the league.”

You face great players every week in the NFL. Could you pick out the greatest?

“Preparing for Peyton Manning has been the biggest challenge of my career. He’s in our division, so I face him twice a year. Not only is he an accurate thrower, but he’s the smartest player in the league. He out-thinks and out-prepares most of his opponents, so that makes it difficult.”

You also made the Pro Bowl in 2005. Your reaction to being named to the game a second time?

“Obviously it was an honor. It’s great going the first time. The second time, you show the first time wasn’t a fluke. You’ve proven yourself again. In my first Pro Bowl season, I had six sacks before anybody had really heard of me, and then I started to get double teams and started to get running backs and tight ends coming over to try to take me out of my pass rush. This year, guys in the league knew who I was and knew what I was about, and I was still able to overcome that and make the Pro Bowl.”