Glen Arbor woman's nephew is in Super Bowl.

K.B. Sutton of Glen Arbor sports a New York
Giants jersey while her son, Kienan, wears a
jersey signed by everyone on the team.
Sutton's nephew , Kevin Boss, will play in
Sunday's Super Bowl for the Giants.

Like millions of others, K.B. Sutton will be tuned to Sunday’s Super Bowl.

More than a casual observer, the Cedar woman will be keyed in on the performance of one player: her nephew Kevin Boss, a rookie tight end for the New York Giants.

Boss, drafted by New York last summer, was tapped earlier this month to help the Giants in their playoff run after starting tight end Jeremy Shockey broke his leg in a mid-December game against the Washington Redskins and was lost for the season.

With just a handful of games under his belt, the 23-year-old Boss will be suited up for what most athletes only dream of — playing in the Super Bowl. The appearance on the NFL’s largest stage comes less than two years after a shoulder injury cut short his college career at Western Oregon University, and put his hopes of being drafted in jeopardy.

“He injured his shoulder and had to have surgery,” his aunt said. “But he had an agent who believed in his abilities and sent him to Minnesota, where he did about three months physical therapy in two weeks.”

Sutton and her son, Kienan, a junior at Lake Leelanau St. Mary, joined Boss in Orlando for the NFL Scouting Combine last summer and helped him in his recuperation.

A certified massage therapist who embraces alternative fitness methods, the Cedar woman took the opportunity to massage rookies at the camp and provide emotional support for Boss, one of her only sibling’s two sons. Her brother, Bob, lives in Philomath, Ore., where Boss grew up.

“He takes a lot of my advice,” Sutton said, explaining that Boss sits in a tub of ice each Monday after a Sunday outing. Boss, who graduated with a physical education major, also practices yamuna body rolling, an exercise in which a ball is used to self massage. He learned the practice from his aunt, who is also a Jazzercise instructor. “He does a lot of his own fitness work, which is what (fitness instructors) encourage. He’ll even calls to have me ship out vitamins to him.”

Sutton, Boss’ only “family” east of the Mississippi, was also with her nephew in New York City on Labor Day weekend when he didn’t get a phone call from the Giants.

“That was good. It meant he wasn’t going home,” she explained. “Kienan and I went with him looking for apartments.”

A football lover, Sutton has followed her nephew’s team all season on the television. But Boss did make it to Detroit for a “family reunion” of sorts when the Lions hosted the Giants on Nov. 18.

In preparation for the NFC championship game on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field Jan. 20, Boss turned to Sutton for home remedies to help keep he and his teammates keep warm.

“I told him to eat cayenne pepper every day that week and to put cayenne pepper in his shoes,” she said.

A bundled up Pam Oliver spoke about the remedy in Fox Sports’ pre-game coverage of the game against the Packers, referencing Bosses’ aunt from northern Michigan as the source of the advice.

“I’m the aunt,” she said, beaming.

Boss was on the field the last time the Giants and New England met, Dec. 29. Although he posted his longest catch of the year to date, a 23-yard grab, the Giants lost, 38-35.

With ticket prices soaring into the thousands for a single seat, Sutton will be at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor rather than the sidelines at Phoenix Stadium, celebrating what she hopes will be a Giant victory. New England, which is undefeated this season, was a 12-point favorite as of press time Wednesday.

Her only regret is that her father, Robert Boss Sr., is not alive to see his grandson play in the Super Bowl. Kevin’s brother, Terry, is also a professional athlete as a member of the Puerto Rico Islanders soccer team.

A resident of the Glen Arbor area, Boss Sr. was a fixture at his grandson Kienan’s football games before his death in September 2006.

“He’d be so proud,” Sutton said.