Kayvon Thibodeaux Reveals Unexpected Advice From Giants Legend

If you have ever heard the expression “stand for something or fall for anything”, look no further than New York Giants outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux for someone who is fully bought into that mindset. 

In fact, as the former first-round pick approaches his third NFL season with the Giants, he has developed his own motto to represent the same belief of what he aims to do on and off the field. 

“Be somebody to somebody,” Thibodeaux said on a recent appearance of The Pivot podcast. 

Kayvon Thibodeaux Reveals New Thoughts & Unexpected Advice

When he was first coming out of the college ranks at Oregon, many thought the one stain on Thibodeaux’s resume was his effort and character which would inherently rear its ugly head on the field. The misconception of him being “Me” over “We” was exacerbated by the fact the No. 5 overall pick was coming to a New York media market that would throw him into the spotlight, especially if he was becoming a distraction to a struggling football team. 

Thibodeaux might have danced with these concerns for a bit during his rookie season, but in his core it’s never been the type of person he’s wanted the world to see. From the humbling beginnings in urban Los Angeles to his third trip around the professional gridiron, he has learned the importance of mentorship and using it to inform the opportunities in front of him, something he is prepared to pass on to teammates and those who watch him as he assumes a bigger role in the Giants defensive front. 

“Be somebody to somebody, that’s how I got here today,” Thibodeaux explained to co-hosts Ryan Clark and Fred Taylor in his interview. 

“I had somebody who was a figure in my life, we’ve all had missing pieces in our lives and God puts people along our journey to help fill those pieces. I think it’s up to us as the young people to continue to ask those questions, continue to reach out to the mentors, the people who pour into us and appreciate it.” 

“When you have an opportunity and you understand the weight of it, then you can make the right decisions…it’s great to see young men and women heed the information that we’re continually giving because that’s what is going to help us further off.” 

As Thibodeaux would go on to explain, he would even deploy that same message upon himself as he worked towards and set his goals for the 2024 season. The 23-year-old is coming off a campaign in which he racked up 11.5 sacks with 50 total tackles and three forced fumbles which put him into the Giants record books as the 17th-ranked player to achieve that statline. 

He made it a goal from there to push himself further towards the club of elite Giants defensive linemen such as Michael Strahan, who held the record of 22.5 sacks in a single season, and the great Lawrence Taylor. 

While doing the work of searching for the “gray area” between talent and hard work that separates those guys, Thibodeaux decided to fall back on one of his own mentors in the aforementioned Giants linebacker legend for wisdom on what he needs to do as a leader in the defense this season. 

“You be available, you don’t get hurt and you run to the ball, that’s the answer,” Thibodeaux said about Taylor’s advice to the team’s budding leader. 

“I went to LT, and I said, what’s the secret? He said 'You know damn well, there ain’t no secret, I run to that ball. I don’t care if, you know, some players say I did my job, my job is to run to the ball'.”

“That’s the mentality that I did not have, that I had to open my eyes and look in the mirror and say, if you really want to be the greatest, that’s what you got to do and there’s no way around it. You got to run to the ball and you got to get the ball every play...There's no secret sauce."

Along with being an impactful player and mentor to the younger players on the Giants, Thibodeaux understands that his responsibilities entail being a voice for what is right or wrong in the locker room and broader organization. 

He started that this offseason with the whole Saquon Barkley debacle, which consumed a lot of the conversation surrounding the Giants since the former No. 2 pick left for Philadelphia, including the coverage on the team’s offseason Hard Knocks special. Many thought Barkley should have been retained despite the declining trends in the running back market, but cap values and business decisions came into play that saw one of the Giants leaders get sacrificed to a division rival. 

While he understood the business logic of it all and tried to stay out of ignorance, Thibodeaux believes the Giants should have made it work to do good by the former rusher that was the sole catalyst for their offense for several seasons. To him, it’s about recognizing and rewarding the sacrifice and hard work that’s gone into lifting up a struggling team for a long period of time, which should extend beyond the days of Barkley. 

“When I look at the Saquon situation, that man put a lot of work in,” Thibodeaux said. 

“The running back position is tough, it’s that sacrificial lamb. It’s the guys who are getting the ball 30 times a game. I am seeing him on the plane, next to him seeing how beat up he is after a win or a loss, whether he gets the ball or not he is still beat up, there are so many guys coming after him.”

“So when you’re in that sport and you’re playing for the guys next to you, it hurts when you know the heart and soul of your team isn’t being treated right, regardless of what I feel about it. You feel for your teammates…and it irritated me so like now we talked about ‘let’s go win the Super Bowl for Bobby (Okereke), for Daniel (Jones), let’s go win it for Dex(ter Lawrence) and the guy who have been here putting in the work.”

Listen to the full podcast to hear more about what Kayvon Thibodeaux had to say about his mindset for the season, Malik Nahers, and how the Giants are continuing to improve the culture and product on both sides of the football.

More New York Giants News: