New York Giants Bobby Hart Is Ready to Battle for a Starting Job

At just 21 years old, at least until his birthday on August 21, New York Giants offensive lineman Bobby Hart is currently among the youngest non-rookie members of the team.

Despite his youth, Hart, who per Pro Football Focus played 155 snaps and started once last year, at right tackle in Week 13 against the Jets, is going to get a chance to make a name for himself this year.

This year, Hart, the Giants’ seventh-round draft pick out of Florida State last year, has thrown his hat into the ring for the starting right tackle position, where his main competition will be incumbent Marshall Newhouse. 

If you think Hart isn’t seasoned enough to undertake this challenge, think again.

For Hart, playing with the “big boys,” or, in this case, guys who are older than him, is nothing new. On June 19 he will share his experience, as well as work with local youth from his hometown Lauderhill, Florida during the inaugural Bobby Hart Youth Football Camp.

 

A Man Among Boys 

The best way to describe Hart’s earliest football years would be to picture a large family dinner gathering in which the adults sit at one table and the kids at another.

The 6’4″, 334-pound Hart, although he was usually several years younger than his teammates ever since he first began playing football at the age of five, always seemed to get a seat at the grown-ups’ table.

Those opportunities that began when a five-year-old Hart was playing with kids who were six, seven and eight years old, taught him some early lessons about being tough and holding his own against his competition.

“It just made me better,” Hart said by phone after completing the Giants’ second OTA workout last week. “Those kids, the peewees, might start crying if something happened whereas those kids I was playing with, they really understand football—hitting harder, running faster and things like that so I had to make that an adjustment early.”

That initial experience playing with older kids would ultimately serve as a pattern for how Hart’s football career would progress.

After starting his football journey as a defensive lineman—he also played a little bit of linebacker and tight end—Hart was routinely one of the, if not the youngest players on his teams.

“That was good for me because it helped me grow up,” Hart said. “I graduated high school when I was 16, and when I was in college, I was younger than everyone—I started my first game when I was 17.”  

Having to battle and hold his own among his teammates taught Hart a thing or two about hard work and how important it was to really apply himself in every facet of the game.

“There’s no substitute for hard work,” Hart said. “The only person you’re trying to trick if you’re not working hard is yourself, so if you put the hard work into football, it pays off 100 percent of the time at any level.

“If you’re in high school and you work hard, then you probably will get a scholarship that gives you a chance at a free education. If you’re in college and you work hard, then you might just get a chance to make it in the NFL.”

 

Gaining the Competitive Edge 

It’s not uncommon for football players at the peewee, recreational and even at the high school levels to play multiple positions on both sides of the ball.

Hart was no different. At St. Thomas Aquinas High School, he excelled as a defensive lineman, until one spring his coach asked him to make the switch to offensive line due to a shortage at that position. 

He obliged, and suddenly he was able to take his game, already at a high level, up a few more notches. Because he was already familiar with how a defensive lineman attacked the ball, Hart had an advantage regarding angles and techniques necessary to neutralize defenders who dared to try to get at his quarterback.

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A key member of the Raiders’ offensive line, Hart, who earned a five-star rating from Scout.com, helped his team compile 5,612 yards of total offense on their way to winning the Class 5A State championship in 2010. 

As he began to have success as an offensive lineman, Hart reached the point when, before he even finished high school, his dream of one day playing in the NFL suddenly didn’t look like a wild fantasy. 

“I think I realized I could go to the NFL when I was in 11th grade,” he said. “That’s when I made the switch to offensive line. Initially I was just trying the position out for the spring to see how things went.

“College coaches would come to our practices and I remember I had one play where I was playing aggressively like a defensive lineman, except I went against a defensive end and I just ran …

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