Picture it: a kid from L.A. who plays football in Oregon, eating Korean barbecue with a guy from Indiana working in the shadow of metro NYC.
That, Giants fans, is how the marriage of Big Blue and Kayvon Thibodeaux was cemented earlier this month.
“I took him to my house and we were able to break bread and do everything that we needed and I let them know that I eat, right,” Thibodeaux laughed in his post-draft media call. “It was really dope, we got to break bread and we really got to build that relationship.”
As Thibodeaux had said in a previous interview about it, he wanted to show the Giants he was hungry literally and figuratively, and they seemed to get the message. Thibodeaux spent quite a lot of time with and talking to the Giants over the draft process, all the way up to a FaceTime as he was getting on the plane to head to Vegas for draft night.
“They were surprised that I answered. But you know me I'm always authentic with it, so just being able to have that last minute conversation gave me that idea that yeah, they really care,” Thibodeaux said.
The hunger was kept alive for the long haul, and he’s glad that he got to build that foundation with the brass – and believes he’s the perfect for New York.
Related
“I'm really competitive and hungry and I feel like New York is the pinnacle of a dog-eat-dog world,” Thibodeaux said. “It was really dope to build the foundation, and now, I have a real understanding because when I get there, I can go to them for anything. The Giants are getting a leader, they are getting a competitor, and they are getting a guy who wants to win at any means.”
He already has a good relationship with another former Giants defensive star, too, in Michael Strahan.
“He’s one of my mentors and he's been talking to me throughout this process. He actually came to visit me when I was on my visit with the team, so seeing him out there that was really dope because he's given me wisdom and he even was able to speak on my behalf because we have built a relationship over the year,” Thibodeaux said. “He has literally walked in my footsteps and can show me the ropes on the field and off the field.”
Now, though, the real work begins, as Thibodeaux has to prove the good chatter he got – that perhaps he was the best edge rusher in the draft – to be right and the bad chatter (i.e., notions of a sluggish work ethic) wrong.
He already started that process during his many meetings with the Giants pre-draft, holding nothing back, and noting that clearly, the Giants took him at face value.
Related
“I don't necessarily know if there was anything specific that they needed answers, but I answered all of the questions without them asking. I was able to lay it all out on the line and I think they respected my delivery,” he said. “I say that the Giants believe in me, and anything that was said about me before this point is history, and now all we're focused on is the future.”
He’ll be stepping into a defense run by Don “Wink” Martindale that runs multiple schemes, and head coach Brian Daboll has already said that the team envisions Thibodeaux doing “a lot of different things.”
Daboll also said “he’ll have to earn it,” but Kayvon is ready for the challenge.
“I’m a smart guy. I feel like his multiple defense is really going to give me the opportunity to be versatile and kind of just show everything I bring to the team,” he said.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch