Lance Glinn:

Welcome in to another episode of The Inside the Ice House Podcast. Today's guest is Kayvon Thibodeaux, outside linebacker for the New York Football Giants. Kayvon, thanks so much for joining us inside the Ice House. Happy to have you here.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Super excited to be here, man.

Lance Glinn:

So let's start with your NIL tour over the last few months, stopped at a bunch of schools around the country. When you first conceptualized this idea, something that you wanted to do, what was the mission and why was it important to make this more than just showing up and talking football? Because it's very easy to do that, but you want to really have a purpose.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I think it started when I was in school. When you're a part of a football team or a sports program, the program brings in a lot of people to come and share knowledge and share wisdom from public speakers to former players to different people in different fields. And for me, I was always the kid who had a bunch of questions and I felt like the information I was given didn't leave me with, I guess you could say a call to action. I think there's one thing to motivate and then there's another to give kids a real game plan and give these young men and women a real game plan on how to succeed. And for me, I felt like there was a void that needed to be filled with just guidance and kind of leadership from the athlete perspective when talking about money.

Lance Glinn:

And so when you're walking through these sessions, when you're speaking to these student athletes, men and women for their respective sports, what are the conversations like? What are the questions that they're asking? What are you trying to preach to them about how they can maximize their value right now, both on and off the field?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Well, first I tell them my story and my story started off at the beginning of NIL. And for me, it was a very entrepreneurial spirited story and I had a plan kind of going into it and I didn't shy away from the fact that it was a new realm. I didn't shy away from the fact that there was a lot of questions that we need to find answers to. But I was very just decisive and I just didn't accept anything. I was a guy who said no before I said yes. And through that I was able to have a long-term mindset, I guess you could say, for my future at that time. So for me now, I start off with just the conversation telling my story, telling where I started, and then we kind of go into what the landscape is now.

And a lot of these young men and women are faced with more pressure, more politics, more money than we ever were. So for me, I just want to be a vessel, a resource and a pillar for not just the player, but the communities that surround the players that will help them in succeeding with their long-term goals.

Lance Glinn:

Yeah. And funny enough, so I covered college football when NIL started and obviously the transfer portal starting around the same time too, I think like a year or so off. And you're right, there's a lot more money being thrown around now than there was when NIL first started. There were a lot more opportunities being thrown around now than when NIL first started. Even in this NIL era though where money is now so accessible to these student athletes, I feel like the financial literacy piece that these student athletes need to know isn't being taught to them at the level that it should be. How do you make sure that you're preaching to them, look, this money is there for you, but you need to make sure you're smart with it, you're disciplined with it and you can't go and just because you have all this money now, start spending it wildly.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Well, the NIL market is so competitive and not from the player perspective but from the organization perspective. So it's hard to get a young person to conceptualize that this is all going to be over soon and this is just a moment in time. I think that it's on us as the former athletes or the people who have been through that time to just shed light on that and have them understand that these decisions, whether it be a marketing, whether it be a school, whether it be... They all impact your future and they all play a key role. So for me, I try to get their mind focused on longevity and what your end goals are. When you write a story, most great writers start with the end of the story in mind and then you map it out from there. So when you have your goals, your goals, they'll help you create your principles and your principals will help you just guide who you are and navigate to where you want to go.

Lance Glinn:

And so you're a part of the JP Morgan Chase Athlete Council as well, a unique seat at the table for you to really make an impact, make a difference more than what you're even doing with this NIL tour. How do you, or how has being a part of this group, being a part of this council sort of shaped the way you think about money, leadership, influence, and how you can help these student athletes and even current professional athletes better prepare for their financial future?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

The athlete council, first it's an honor to be a part of, and I think it's something that is important and it's needed and it's long overdue. The athlete council focuses on just the outreach, having elite athletes in each field help JP Morgan focus on what's needed within the athlete community and helping create all the things that we as athletes dream about when it comes to generational wealth and being able to utilize our platforms at a young age and seize these moments when they come, knowing that they are a short point in our life. So for me, I think one of the great things I've learned is looking at the influence. I'm on a board with a lot of legends and I am currently the only active NFL player on that board.

And I think it speaks volume to how important it is to have experience and how important it is to go through things and go through time. And now for me, I think it also sheds light on the fact that more athletes that are active and more athletes that are currently at the height of their career need to continue to shed light on these things and we need to value our impact and continue to just shed our light and shed our message and create a culture. For me, when you look at sports, sports has created a culture of hard work. We've created a culture of unity, of discipline, of all of these things. And I think with money, that's almost taboo in sports because it's always been, "Hey, let's focus on the sport." But I think we have a unique opportunity to combine the two and not necessarily intertwine them, but I think there's a mutual agreement that finances and sports have together. And when we can harness that power at a younger age, the more long-term benefit we'll see.

Lance Glinn:

Absolutely. Especially in today's day and age of sports. You talk about that sort of mutual agreement that the two have. So I want to shift to the football side of things right now. You get to play under John Harbaugh, new head coach of the Giants. Look, as a Giants fan, I'm just going to be honest with you, he was my first choice when he was available. I'm excited for the season. I'm excited for what's to come. I'm excited for the season you're going to have. I know I'm happy for where the franchise is headed. What stands out to you first and foremost just about his coaching style and how he, or has he sort of influenced how you prepare, how you think about the game and what the season might look like moving forward?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Where are we at right now? Where are we currently? Where are we sitting? What building are we in?

Lance Glinn:

We're in the New York Stock Exchange.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

We're in the New York Stock Exchange. And I think it's so beautiful because it was built off a system and processes and it was built off of things that stand a test of time. And for me, I really love this new regiment and organization because coach believes in processes that stand the test of time. And as players, you're going to war, you're doing things and you have to be able to reach limits and reach goals that others don't see possible for themselves and your coach gives you the best opportunity to do that with the efficiency of the process and of the program that they put in place. So when talking about football, when talking about finance, I think it's all about how efficient your process is and how keen the humans are to that process because everything's beautiful, the Xs and Os, but you got to buy in and there's emotion and there's reality that sets into that. So I'm loving it, man. I'm super excited. I think we got a great future ahead.

Lance Glinn:

Yeah. And you mentioned the NYSC, 234 years old, the NYSC turned this year and not only has the institution survived, but it's succeeded and grown to great leaps and bounds since 24 brokers founded under a Buttonwood tree in 1792 through these processes, through a common mission and a common goal. We were talking before we press record, I've been a Giants fan my whole life. 2007, 2011 are great. Those teams were built on great past rushers and great past rusting units as well as great offensive lines too. But I think that this year's team has depth that we haven't seen at the past rusher position since those 2011, 2007 teams. You had Strahan, [inaudible 00:10:36], Tuck, et cetera, Canti on those 2011 teams. You have yourself, you have RO Reese, you have Brian Burns, you have Abdul Carter, right? How do you evaluate the room, all the talent that has been accrued at that position, at the outside linebacker position, at the defensive end position and what are your expectations for what the four of you guys and the whole defense can do?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

All right, there are so many parallels in this and we've been talking about money and been talking about finance. So I'm kind of balancing the two of my brain just how I'm thinking at this point. But imagine hitting the lottery and now you're sitting there and you're like, "All right, what do I do with this money?" And it's like, what do I do and how can I utilize this for the future of my program or my life and for the New York Giants. We have a plethora of talent. We're at the lottery of defensive players from the corners to the safeties to the linebackers to the outside linebackers. And I think that for us it's just continuing to gel together and from a player perspective, continuing to just buy in and grow and then from the coach's perspective, continuing to just utilize everybody's strengths and put everybody in positions to succeed.

Lance Glinn:

How would you evaluate your just evolution as an NFL player? Because you are going into year four.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Year five.

Lance Glinn:

Year five, excuse me. So it's been a transformation I'm sure from year one to where you sit today. Or where would you say you've evolved from those first training camps, those first OTAs five years ago to where we sit here in 2026?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I think with experience and I've had a lot of my OGs tell me this. You get to a point where you learn to separate your personal feelings from the business and the sport. And I think in life when, and as a man, when you can separate the emotion behind your discipline, behind your work ethic, behind your grind or your purpose or your why, then you can really succeed. When you look at the great ones, they've been able to really perform under high stress, high pressure situations and they don't break. They don't break a sweat. And I think that for me, I've been able to through the ups and the downs, through the adversity, cultivate a sense of poise within the game.

Lance Glinn:

And so we're talking football and finance, and you got to think in finance. There's a lot of noise that comes. There's AI, which has obviously been a talk of every company and they're integrating in some way, shape or form. There's space, there's quantum, right? There's all this noise being thrown at all these companies that they have to sift through. Well, what's noise that actually matters versus what's noise that doesn't matter? How do you, especially with rising expectations this year from media and from fans with growth of the team, a new coach, obviously just new players being brought in as well as obviously players returning from previous seasons, how do you sort of tune out the noise and make sure you just focus on what matters, focus on the team, keep things straight ahead essentially, and make sure that you keep the goals the goals.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Speaking of finance, I had this wise guy up in San Francisco, he hit me with a quote. He said, "Your experiences of the past can't harvest the energy of the future." And I think it means although we've lived, you cannot let that limit what possibilities are out there. And as we continue to evolve and if you're focused and if you're loving your evolution right through the process, then you don't really have time to read about the... You don't have time to focus on what people are saying about the process if you're focused on it and you love it. So when you think about us as a team, it's like we got to just keep doing it. As long as we just keep doing it one foot in front of the other, keep stacking bricks, keep doing the things that we need to do to grow, everything else will fall in line.

Lance Glinn:

So I want to do a couple of rapid fire questions for you, a little fun, a little talk about a little compare, contrast type of thing. So as a young past rusher, first and foremost, going through high school, going through college, were there any pass rushers you modeled your game after? And if there were, and I'm assuming there were, who were they and why did you model your game after them?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I would say you always look at the best. When you were a young kid growing up, you just look at the top and say like, "Hey, who are the best guys that I could be like?" And I think at the time I was growing up, it was Von Miller, it was DeMarcus Ware, it was-

Lance Glinn:

Julie Peppers, Jared Allen type guys.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Julie Peppers, it was a couple of guys and I would just watch them and you just watch these videos. I didn't necessarily say I grew up watching ball, but I think as I got into high school and started to learn and started to get an understanding for what my expertise was going to be, then I looked for those people who were the highest level of experts in that.

Lance Glinn:

What quarterback have you loved sacking the most or is there a quarterback that you haven't sacked yet that you have your eyes on?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Nah, these are nameless faceless opponents, man. It's hard. I would say definitely those more elusive quarterbacks, those are the guys you want to get because around the league, they got the most missed tackles and they make you miss, but it's like, yeah, you definitely want to get those guys.

Lance Glinn:

Which as you're preparing for a game on Sunday, film study or on the field of reps, which gets you more prepared for the game?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I would say film study. Your body, man, your body has limits. You can't overdo it. You have to be able to work smarter and not harder all the time when it's such a physical sport. We got 22 weeks of straight football.

Lance Glinn:

Hardest thing or what is the hardest thing for a young edge rusher to learn once they get to the NFL?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I would say the hardest thing for a young edge rusher to learn is that everybody has a piece and your piece is only important if you do your piece regardless of whether it's a sack or stopping the run or taking the inside or taking the edge. Whatever decisions we make on the edge or as edge defenders, it's like, yeah, if you get a sack, you're the best player on the field, but if you don't contain on the run, then you're just laying down.

Lance Glinn:

The guy's going 70 yards. You know what I'm saying?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

You're just letting your team down. So it's just stay consistent, man. It's a game of highlights, but it's a game of consistency.

Lance Glinn:

If you weren't playing football, what would you be doing right now? Are we talking finance?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Probably not. I probably wouldn't be in finance, man. That's a lot of desk work. I like affecting people. I like being out and spreading a message. So I think I would do something in psychology or I don't know, man. I may have been a lawyer.

Lance Glinn:

Okay.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Yeah. I don't know.

Lance Glinn:

Got it. Well, we could have had Dr. Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Exactly. I still can.

Lance Glinn:

Still can. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Kayvon, as we wrap up the conversation, if everything clicks, and this is coming from me as a lifelong Giants fan. So if everything clicks, if this is the year where it all really comes together, what does this version of the New York Football Giants look like? What does the 2026 version look like?

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

I don't know. See what I'm saying? Past experience, and this is what I'm saying. We keep thinking about the past and we keep thinking about what something could be in the future, but it's like, let's not even think about the past. Let's just do it every day and let's see what it could be. Because if we don't limit it to what we think it could be, it could be anything. The sky's the limit.

Lance Glinn:

Absolutely.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

So for me, man, I'm just excited. I'm excited for my piece in it. I'm excited to lead in it, lead the charge, keep elevating the culture.

Lance Glinn:

Yeah. Well, we're excited. I speak for all Giants fans. We're excited for you, the rest of the defense, the offense, Coach Harbaugh, everyone to take the field this fall. Kayvon, thanks so much for joining us inside the Ice House.

Kayvon Thibodeaux:

Yes, sir. Thank you for having me.