Episode 40 – Garrett Boorojian and Gary Reasons discuss relationship building in a team environment.
Gary is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He won two Super Bowls, 21 and 25, as a member of the NFL’s New York Giants.
Gary played for legendary coaches, Bill Parcels and Bill Belichick, as one of the top linebackers for the Giants in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Unintentionally, Gary was a part of the harrowing sack (along with his former Giants’ teammates’ Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson) that ended former quarterback great and fellow College Football Hall of Famer Joe Theismann’s NFL career. In 2018, a similar injury that’s compared to Joe’s happened when J.J. Watt sacked veteran quarterback Alex Smith. Alex returned to the NFL and was awarded NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2020.
Along with two Super Bowl wins, Gary retired with 87 career starts, 10 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries, and three and a half sacks in nine total regular seasons. In five total postseasons, Gary had nine career starts, three interceptions, and one sack.
Gary talked to Garrett about his upbringing in Crowley, Texas, his collegiate football career at Northwestern State University in Louisiana as the first three–time All–American in Division 1–AA / FCS history, his time living in the New York Metropolitan area and winning Super Bowls 21 and 25, how relationship building defined his playing career on his way to winning those two Super Bowls for the Giants, the evolution of league rules and player safety in the NFL, and his post–NFL career as a businessman in the medical industry where Gary consults on, invents, and provides healthcare insurance solutions to companies’ employees and the senior population across America.
Gary also spoke about the acronym YES (Y = Why, Expectations, and Structure) on how to achieve success in any group or organization. He explained how YES made the Giants a successful team. Gary finally discussed what he learned as a player and part of a team from both Coaches Parcels and Belichick, and how much his family means to him. Gary and his wife Terri have been married for 40 years. They have three children, Nicholas, Randi, and Lacy, and two granddaughters.