Why Being Naive Is Working for One Iowa Football Newcomer

Iowa's punting game is back on its elite level this year, and that is due to the instant success of Boston Everitt, who may not even know how good he has been.

Sep 12, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes punter Boston Everitt (49) punts the ball against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For most of us, watching and understanding football is a way of life. It's everywhere you look. It's essentially on every single night of the week in some fashion, be it college football or the NFL.

That's not the case for everyone, though. For one of the newest members of the Iowa Hawkeyes, it's far from the case. Aussie punter Boston Everitt is in his first season playing football, and his ability to be naive is looking like a benefit for him.

Being naive to things is letting Boston Everitt punt without worry

Iowa ushered in all sorts of newcomers on the specials teams unit this year, including Chris Polizzi, the new special teams coordinator. In his first year with Boston Everitt, he spoke about being naive leading to success.

"Boston's a great story. Somebody that is as green to the game of football, not only college football, not only Big Ten punting here at Iowa.

"But naive, I think, is an appropriate word, and he'd be the first one to admit that, "Hey, why are we -- why is it called that? Why are we doing that? Why are we...," Polizzi said of Everitt.

Boston Everitt is continuing to get better

While he has already had a fantastic start to his career with the Hawkeyes, Chris Polizzi believes that he has the talent to get better, not just physically, but mentally, which, for a punter, could be even more important.

"But I think in the improvement that you see in Boston is just his willingness to learn. He is a sponge. He tries to soak it up as much as possible. I think he has great practice habits. I think he does a great job moving forward with a bad practice or a bad rep.

"He does as good a job of anybody of compartmentalizing it. What did I make the mistake on and how do I move forward with that? And just his overall maturity. He's not a young kid that gets too down on himself," added Polizzi.

Boston Everitt is handling the ups and downs very well

"He's not a guy that, you know, he's hit like 17 of his 27 punts have been inside the 20, and I don't even know how many landed at the one. And he kind of jogs off and he's like, "Pretty good, right?" I'm like, "Yeah, that's excellent. That's really good.

"So, not a guy that gets too high and too low, and he's enjoying it. He is someone you enjoy as a coach working with a guy that appreciates the simple zeal of excelling in football," continued Polizzi.

Special teams are an area where it's easy to let things spiral. When a kicker or a punter has one job, simply to make field goals or hit punts well, and it starts going sideways, it can be hard to respond to the adversity.

Iowa has found another talent in Boston Everitt, who, like Tory Taylor, is able to handle the good and the bad. It helps that he has a lot more good than bad, too.