Saskatoon native and Edmonton Elks' offensive lineman Brett Boyko stands six-foot-seven and weighs 305 pounds. Growing up he had his sights set on playing a different position.
"I say I'm a defensive guy, but quarterback was what I always wanted to play. I was bigger than everybody, so they put me on defence. When I got the opportunity to play quarterback, it was like: 'I want to play quarterback and see if I can do it.' I still wanted to play down south and I put enough faith in myself that whatever I was going to do, I wanted to play pro football. When I was going through the recruiting process, it was a lot of o-line talks. I was recruited as a big athlete, but I knew what was happening when I was going down there," Boyko told Justin Dunk from the Rider Broadcast Network.
"It was a challenge and an opportunity that I put on myself and I was like: 'I'll figure it out.' I will say that in my first year at UNLV, I was the worst football player ever -- I do stand by that. When I talk to people, I say I was a pretty good athlete, could do a lot of things, but when I switched to offensive line I was terrible. It took some time and it worked out, but it was a rough start."
Boyko's post-secondary career was with the UNLV Rebels from 2011 to 2014. He prided himself on his work ethic during that time, learning the offensive line position.
After Boyko's time with the Rebels, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and was on their practice roster for 2015 and part of 2016. When his time with the Eagles concluded, he went to the Los Angeles Chargers from 2016 to 2018.
"I was able to bounce back and get an opportunity to sign with the Eagles and Jeff Stoutland, o-line coach, was still there. Lane Johnson was a mentor to me. While I was there, I had Jason Kelce, Jason Peters. There's a lot of like guys who really took me under their wing in terms of o-line play and you see what they do," Boyko said.
"[They told] young guys all the time, find your routine, find someone, see what they do that they're successful at and mimic it. Understand the way they go about being a pro, that was my approach to everything. I was fortunate to have those guys, the amount of knowledge I've gained. Then you go from there to the Chargers where you're playing with guys and quarterbacks like Philip Rivers, you're seeing a whole new perspective, it's taught me so much along the way."
Boyko spent some time with the San Diego Fleet in 2019. Eventually, he made his trip up north and played with the B.C. Lions from 2019 to 2020, then later with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2021. He had a stint with the XFL’s Orlando Guardians in 2023 before returning to Canada to play for the Elks.
"2018, tore the calf. 2019, you got the knee and the ankle, you're playing through, and you're not putting out good film either. Trying to survive at that point in 2020. No season 2021 and went through this weird illness. Overcame that all and you want to keep playing, but at the same time, it wasn't in the cards. I stepped away and as the season continued, I started getting calls to come back. At that point, the decision was made, then got healthy again and the body started feeling good," Boyko recalled.
"You really miss the brotherhood. I will say that when you're done playing football, I'm sure most guys would say that, the brotherhood and the locker room and all that stuff it carries a weight and so when you're not around that, it does stink a little bit. Missing that, being healthy, my agent called me and said: 'This XFL team wants you. Do you want to come do it?' I said: 'Sure.' Got there on a Thursday, played 70 snaps on a Saturday. Everything came back, including all the love. Once that season finished, I was like: 'I got a lot more ball left.' Let's figure out an opportunity to come back up here, I was glad it was Edmonton and it's all worked out so far."
