Steelers kicker Chris Boswell has room for family, football but not much else

PITTSBURGH — Not long after word leaked out that longest tenured Steelers veteran Cam Heyward is waiting for a pay raise, another All-Pro and the team's second-longest-tenured player followed suit.

Chris Boswell has been aces for two seasons running and is the NFL's current kicking king, coming off the best season of his career. He's pretty excited about it. Just ask him.

"No, last year doesn't affect this year," Boswell said. "I don't earn anything more special this year than I did last year, so keeping last year as last year."

That was Boswell about a week prior to a report he actually does want to earn more this year than last year. He's in pursuit of a new contract as the league's 11th-highest-paid kicker, per ESPN.

The paradox of Boswell is he doesn't want the glory or the recognition, but he clearly wants the compensation. Boswell's not exactly one for warm and fuzzy conversation, but he's sort of an open book when he does get in front of a microphone.

"I was able to compartmentalize after a [crap] year, then come back and have a good year," Boswell said, referring to his miserable 2018 campaign followed by a near-perfect 2019. "I'm just gonna keep saying this: kick by kick. The next kick matters the most and then after that, the next kick matters the most, and then we'll look back at the end of the year and see what happened."

Boswell's routine and muscle memory at this point is almost robotic, as he reluctantly put it. Long snapper Christian Kuntz, who spends as much time with Boswell as anyone, uses the term "sniper mentality" to refer to his friend and fellow specialist.

For the first time in his career, Boswell led the NFL in made field goals last season with 41. He missed just three, all from 40-plus yards and two from 50-plus, making him an easy All-Pro selection.

"I was surprised when I found out that was his first," punter Corliss Waitman said. "He's been so good for so long."

For more than a decade, though — with few exceptions — Justin Tucker ruled the NFL kicking world. Everyone else was just booting for second. Boswell did manage to match Tucker financially in August 2022 when he signed a new five-year, $23.26 million deal, which has since been eclipsed by the likes of Evan McPherson and Dustin Hopkins in his own division.

But Tucker is out in Baltimore amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations from massage therapists dating to 2012. The Ravens cut him. He's suspended for the first 10 games of this season by the NFL, and sixth-round pick Tyler Loop is taking his place in the AFC North.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the rivalry, Boswell is humming along other than that contract issue. He was riding around in the passenger seat of a golf cart Thursday outside the locker room, yelling out to Kuntz. You wouldn't know anything was amiss with Boswell or his representation.

"I get interviewed, and it's about you," Kuntz joked with him.

Kuntz knows Boswell isn't one for patting himself on the back or introspective moments with the media. For as much fun as Kuntz likes to have in that realm, hosting his own podcast and always willing to chat, Boswell is at the other end of the spectrum.

If Kuntz ever gets an All-Pro nod, he might get the key to the city. For Boswell, it was barely a blip on the radar in the locker room.

"Not really because I feel like he honestly probably cares the least about it than any of us," Kuntz said. "We were all pumped for him to get it, obviously — the snapper, holder, our whole unit — but he doesn't even really care about it. He just wants to kick. That's what makes him the best kicker in the world honestly."

Waitman would agree on the heels of his first full season with the Steelers. He was mostly known for his booming punts, but holding for Boswell is a key side job, too.

Boswell admitted someday, "probably down the road," he'll be able to take a step back and appreciate his accomplishments — "but not right now." Par for the course, as those closest to him know.

"He's one of one," Waitman said. "A great family guy — I feel like that translates to football, as well. He's consistent off the field."

Boswell welcomed a son, Beckham, in March. But when he married his wife, Havana, last summer, he became a father to her son, Channing, who's attached at the hip to Boswell as much as he can be when he visits practice.

Both sides of fatherhood have been a joy for Boswell, who gave Havana a shoutout for taking care of baby Beckham while the Steelers are hunkered down in Latrobe. He called it a rewarding experience mixed with a learning curve.

"Family matters more now than ever," Boswell said. "Football is not who I am as a person anymore. It's just kind of my job, and I just kind of take it from that perspective."

And it's created some more bonding moments for Boswell and Kuntz, who became a new dad himself just last week to a son named Grey. Boswell's got tips on changing diapers, specifically for a boy, to avoid getting hit with some "friendly fire."

In the meantime, Boswell's also helping to break in a new kicker in backup Ben Sauls, who went undrafted out of Pitt. Sauls has been bouncing ideas off of Boswell throughout camp and leaning on him like an extra coach.

"He's full of advice. Whether I ask for it or not, he's there to help. He's really taken me under his wing," said Sauls, who's picking up on the nuances while also observing Boswell's overall demeanor. "He's very comfortable with himself as a person and as a kicker. I think that's why he's successful."

That gets back to the paradox of Boswell. There's a fiery competitor who's as stoic as they come but also a 34-year-old who approaches the work with a nonchalant attitude and the understanding this good life as a kicker can be fleeting.

Yes, he wants to stay on top, but he's well aware everyone else doing what he does is striving to be there, too.

"If you don't have that mindset, then why even come out here?" Boswell deadpanned. "But I'm not gonna sit here and talk about being the best in the world."

That's quite all right. His teammates will do that for him. And the Steelers likely will take care of their ace up the sleeve.

Twice last season, Boswell scored their only points in the game — and they were both wins, at Atlanta and against Baltimore. When all else fails, Boswell seems to come through.

"He's a cold-blooded killer when it comes to kicking," Kuntz said. "He just wants the ball spotted. Put the ball down, I'm gonna kick it through. It doesn't matter the wind, the weather. Off the field, I feel like he might've gotten a little softer these last couple years — but in a good way."

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