Nick Bosa

Nick Bosa (born October 23, 1997, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.) is widely considered one of the best defensive players in the National Football League (NFL), known for his speed, size, and play-reading ability. A standout defensive end at the Ohio State University (OSU), he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers as the number two pick in 2019. His elder brother, Joey Bosa, is also a dominant defensive end in the NFL.

Early life and collegiate career

Bosa hails from a family of gridiron football players. His father, John Bosa, and uncle Eric Kumerow were both defensive ends for the Miami Dolphins, and his cousin Jake Kumerow is a wide receiver in the NFL. When he was just seven years old, Nick Bosa rebelled against the wishes of his parents, Cheryl and John Bosa, that he hold off playing football until he was older. At one point he told them, “If you don’t let me play, I’m going to die.” He got his way and, following in his dad’s footsteps, opted to play defense.

In 2012 Nick and Joey Bosa—who are 27 months apart—were teammates for one season at the football powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In his senior year, Nick Bosa was sidelined eight games into the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), though his school went on to win the state championship. Both brothers played for OSU, although they did not overlap as the elder Bosa went pro after his junior year, picked by the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers as the number three overall pick. The brothers nicknamed each other “Big Bear” and “Smaller Bear.”

Nick Bosa also played three years at OSU, and in 2017 he was a first-team All-American selection, finishing with 8.5 sacks and 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. During his junior year he suffered a serious core-muscle injury, and he left OSU in 2018 to recover and prepare for the following year’s NFL draft. One of the top prospects, Bosa was chosen by the 49ers as the number two overall pick. San Francisco general manager John Lynch cited Bosa’s speed, quickness, and power and said that “he’s an absolute technician with his hands.”

NFL

Bosa, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall (1.93 meters) and weighs more than 260 pounds (118 kg), had an excellent rookie season in 2019, with 9 sacks and 47 tackles in the regular season. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 31–20. He won the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, three years after Joey Bosa had won it (marking the first time that brothers earned the award). Kevin Patra on NFL.com praised Nick Bosa as a player who “combines a relentless motor, size, phenomenal IQ to diagnose plays, great hand technique, power off the edge, speed to chase down ball-carriers from the backside, and explosiveness to give offensive linemen fits.”

In the second game of the 2020 season, Bosa tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season. He returned in 2021, and that year he recorded 15.5 sacks as the 49ers made the playoffs. The team advanced to the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game, where it lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 20–17. During the 2022 season Bosa led the league with 48 quarterback hits and 18.5 sacks, and the team had the NFL’s top-ranked defense. The 49ers finished the season with a record of 13–4 but were again defeated in the NFC title game, this time by the Philadelphia Eagles, 31–7. Bosa won the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award and was named to the All-Pro Team.

Bosa subsequently sought a contract extension with the 49ers, and he missed training camp in the lead-up to the 2023 season before signing a five-year, $170 million deal, which set a record for an NFL defensive player. The contract, which included $122.5 million in guaranteed money, will pay him an annual average of $34 million. That season Bosa helped the 49ers advance to Super Bowl LVIII (2024), but the team was defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime, 25–22.

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