Carlo Alvarez

USA Football’s Player Academy season is right around the corner. A full schedule of 10 academies kicks off on June 14 with the first one at Lassiter High School in Marietta, Ga.

These academies are premier camps modeled after NFL training camps with classroom and on-field training. Players receive position specific and age-appropriate instruction on proper fundamentals and techniques from the area’s best youth and high school coaches.

With the help of the NFL Players Association, USA Football also secures past and present NFL players to serve as keynote speakers at the academies. Eight-year NFL veteran Rocky Boiman will join USA Football Board Member Merril Hoge and Keith Rucker at USA Football’s Player Academy held at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, from July 12-15.

Boiman will return to St. Xavier where he played for Coach Steve Specht. After graduating in 1998, he went on to play at Notre Dame. Boiman has been a linebacker and special teams stalwart for the Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a Super Bowl Champion with the 2007 Colts.

Boiman recently spoke with usafootball.com to talk about the Player Academy, youth football and St. Xavier.

How were you contacted about being a keynote speaker?

I was contacted by my old coach Steve Specht. He’s the head coach at St. Xavier High School. He was my coach when I went there. He told me about what was going on there and had passed my information along to USA Football about being someone who was an accomplished athlete and individual and fit in with the kind of mold they wanted. So Coach Specht passed my info along, and I’m very excited about it.

How often do you talk to Coach Specht?

He’s a guy that a whole month doesn’t go by without me checking in or him checking in. He’s a mentor about things in my life. He has a great deal of respect for me, and I do for him. We work well together. He’s someone who’s a great figure in my life. I definitely enjoyed playing for him and can’t say enough about his ability as a coach and a leader.

Why is it important to you to be at the Player Academy?

It is great because I truthfully didn’t know much about USA Football before. I knew they have some relations with the NFL, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. It’s a governing body for youth football that youth football has greatly needed and can benefit from. You have your AAU, CYO and different kinds of leagues, and now I think it’s great that youth football has a governing body to get kids what they need and to form a good relationship that parents and kids will benefit from.

Do you have any idea what you will be speaking about at the academy?

I’ll share my story about playing in college and the NFL. And one thing I like to talk about is how my career has gone through many trials and tribulations. One point in particular, I tell the story to kids about after my fourth year with the Titans. I signed in the offseason with the Cowboys, trained, and last day of camp I was released. You’re excited, you’re a prospect that’s been signed and for whatever reason it didn’t work out. You think “why is this happening, this shouldn’t have happened, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore,” that mental battle. Low and behold I hung in there. A day later, I get a call from the Colts, and I go on to have a great year with them and win a Super Bowl. The world is about perseverance, and football is too. You need to keep battling, keep fighting. Our society is one that promotes finding the easy way out. You don’t have to stand for anything. If things get hard, you can quit. I’m trying to share that if you do battle and stick in there, things beyond what you expected can happen to you. I never thought I’d be a part of a Super Bowl. Had I gone on with Dallas, I wouldn’t be sitting here with a Super Bowl ring, so things happen for a reason if you stick in there.

What are your thoughts on heading back to your old stomping grounds at St. Xavier?

It’s great, truthfully, for me. It looks a heck of a lot different since when I went there. The program has grown with the facilities and the sponsorships they have. The field versus what I played on, I would have cut off my arm in high school to play on that. The weight room would rival or top NFL weight rooms I’ve been in. It’s a special place, and a place I hold very dear to my heart. I try to give back. Anything with Steve Specht’s name and St. X’s name on it, I want to help out and be a part of.

Since we’re talking about youth coaches and youth football, what would you say is your favorite youth football memory?

I guess one for me is when I was eight years old. I started playing when I was seven. When I was eight, my dad was the head coach. We won the youth super bowl, so this is my second super bowl I’ve won. It’s something that can mean so much to a kid. As many places as I’ve played for, I still hold those fond memories from when I was young. If there were a fire in my house, other than people, that super bowl trophy would be something I’d try to grab out of there. It’s a fun time, it’s a great game. It’s cool looking back and seeing that’s where it all began, so I hold that very dear. Dad was an assistant when I was seven and coach from eight to twelve. It’s always something I’ll share with my dad because he was there with me. It’s a great bond. He’s always been right beside me in this journey. I wouldn’t have made it this far without him as a coach and as a father.

Youth football players and parents can register for a Player Academy today at USA Football’s Player Academy page online.