EDITOR'S NOTE: Kyle Bosch was a three-year starter for West Virginia at offensive guard, garnering All Big 12 honors during his tenure with the Mountaineers. A native of Saint Charles, Illinois, he is now considered a solid NFL Draft Prospect, with some scouting services seeing him as a day three draft pick (4th to 7th round). This is the first of a series of diaries Bosch will do in "as told to" form with HERO Sports senior writer Brian McLaughlin. Bosch is one of several subjects who will periodically break down what it is like to be an NFL Draft prospect, day in and day out. He is currently training in Denver.
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THE SHRINE GAME EXPERIENCE
We flew in Saturday and were picked up by Shriners at the Tampa airport and headed to the hotel, got acclimated and had some meetings, did some measurements and tested cognitive ability while also getting to know the Xs and Os and strengths and weaknesses. The next day (Sunday) we woke up about 9 a.m. We had a team meeting, went into some position meetings to go over the playbook, had lunch and then we went to the Childrens' Hospital — which personally was my favorite part of the entire week.
VISITING THE KIDS
Going to the Shriners Hospital for Children was a chance to meet kids with chronic illnesses and things going on in their lives which aren't necessarily the best. I enjoyed getting to know them and spend time with them and maybe put a smile on their face, it was really fantastic. To see what the Shriners do for these kids and how much money they put into these hospitals all over the country — it is truly fantastic.
It was all surreal. Usually when I visit places like the hospital I try to talk to as many people as I can. I met a 15-year old named Austin who had a brittle bone disease. He was super intelligent and a super nice kid. I remember being 15 and playing sports and looking forward to getting my driver's permit, and to be dealing with all he is at the same age, it puts everything in perspective. You feel for these kids and it really makes you wake up. It brought me back to what we've done in West Virginia.
It really makes the mystery of life even more mysterious to see children who are going through something so horrible yet are so happy.
Kyle Bosch during Shrine Game practice (courtesy of the Shrine Game)
HITTING THE GRIDIRON
Monday was a later day compared to the rest of the week, our first day of practice. We had a team meeting and breakfast and then practiced about two hours, went back to the hotel and had more team meetings. We had a buffet for an early dinner and I enjoyed the Mahi Mahi. I ate a lot of fish during the week so it was nice being in Florida and being able to enjoy the local food. Next day we started a bit earlier, and we were training at Shorecrest Prep on a grass field. We had one of the guards go down with an injury so I filled in for reps at both guard positions.
I was really impressed in practice with (defensive linemen) Folorunso Fatukasi from UConn and Kentavius Street from N.C. State. They were both hitting on all cylinders, really impressive.Then I tweaked my ankle and I didn't get to participate the rest of the week, but I still attended the meetings and obviously met with scouts and GMs and teams the rest of the week. It was a good week for the most part, aside from tweaking the ankle.
Meeting with teams, you learn in many ways they're the same in the way they approach things. After you meet with several of these teams it feels like name, rank and serial number type of questions and then some of them it goes deeper. They want to know about your family, how many brothers and sisters do you have, that sort of thing. It was interesting. You get to know a bunch of these people and you exchange phone numbers and hopefully I'll get to know them all better as we go along.
Kyle Bosch enjoying the Tampa Bay weather before heading back to Denver
O-LINE ROOMMATE SHENANIGANS
I roomed with Austin Kuhnert from North Dakota State, Brian Allen from Michigan State, Brad Lundblade from Oklahoma State and Tony Adams from N.C. State together in a three-bedroom condo at the Tradewinds Hotel with a living area and a kitchen. We had a blast all week, just messing around and just hanging out — just being guys. It was nice to come back home and hang out and bust each others' chops.
This is a great story. I've known Brian Allen from Michigan State since we were kids because he was from Hinsdale near where I'm from close to Chicago (Saint Charles, Ill.). So my buddy Brian (Allen) went into his room to talk to his girlfriend on the phone. Austin told me he didn't think Brian had his phone number, and Austin said maybe we should mess with Brian a little bit. So I said let's do it.
So we called Brian and pretended to be with the GM for the Minnesota Vikings, and as it turns out, Brian had met this GM before. I said, "our flight leaves in a less than an hour and we're waiting on a limo to pick us up from the hotel, you need to get down here right away and meet with us. We're really interested. You're high on our draft board and our GM wants to meet with you again."
So the rest of us are all sitting in the living room. All of a sudden Brian comes tearing ass out of his room without a shirt on, hurrying to put his shoes on. We were like, "What's going on, where you going?" He was like, "The GM from the Vikings called and he has to see me right away because he's leaving in 10 minutes. I need to get downstairs."
So I gave Brian my debit card and said, "Hey, while you're down there can you get me some popcorn?" He says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever" and flies out the door. Then he called Austin's number still thinking we're with the GM and said, "where do I need to meet you?" So we had him going all over the place downstairs before he looked up Austin's area code and realized it was a Dakota area code.
Next thing I know, Brian's in the gift shop buying a cake for himself on my debit card to get back at me, and I didn't get any popcorn. We all got a good laugh on that one.
Thanks for reading, and we'll catch you next time.
