Darian Kinnard steals the show in Big Boys Club

Ahead of the NFL Draft, Darian Kinnard was eager to show professional football teams another side of his personality. The Kentucky All-American offensive tackle has successfully accomplished that goal, particularly as a star in Fox Sports’ Big Boys Club.

The 43-minute pre-Draft program in its second year of existence attempts to educate its audience about the complexities of offensive line play. Former Oregon and NFL vet Geoff Schwartz joins Duke Manyweather’s five prospective draft picks on their road to the draft. In a crowd that features Charles Cross (Mississippi State), Evan Neal (Alabama), Trevor Penning (Northern Iowa), and Andrew Stueber (Michigan), Kinnard’s personality takes center stage.

Right off the get-go the former Wildcat is cutting up during a stretching portion, prepared to show the world that he can break a 4.4. He’s quick to throw barbs at his peers, proving that he even though football is a serious business, it’s still a game that’s supposed to be fun. When a guy drives a minivan, he’s going to get mocked, plain and simple.

Aside from the hi-jinx, the BBN gets a better understanding of what Kinnard overcame to reach this point. He opened up about his abusive father and how his mother she scraped and clawed to help him reach his goals. Kinnard believes his upbringing directly correlates to his play on the field.

“Having just my Mom and being told that I need to be the man of the house, I think the best fit for me was being a protector. Yeah, I can be aggressive, but I also have a job of protecting something. The quarterback is like my mother. This is my family and I’m protecting my family,” he said as video of a Belk Bowl pancake played.

The emotional segment with Kinnard begins around the 13:40 mark. If you’ve got more time, I encourage you to stick around for the entire feature. We often glorify a quarterback’s knowledge of the game, without understanding the complexities that offensive lineman encounter against the world’s best athletes. If you don’t want to know what an “Alert Squeeze Double Jordan” is, you’ll still appreciate Penning beam with pride while bragging about legally assaulting other humans.