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Two years ago, almost to the day, Clint Boling and his wife Kelly stood inside the Paul Brown Stadium locker room as the Bengals guard decided to retire and end his eight-year NFL career.

He still had good football left but cited health concerns over a blood clot and the calling of two young girls to take care of at home. He’s had zero residual health issues since.

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Oftentimes, when players retire, they yearn for the adrenaline rush. They spend days and nights thinking about their great games, their legacies and still immersing themselves in the game they let go. Some even try to come out of retirement.

Clint Boling is not that guy.

“There was not a point in time where I said, ‘I wish I was still doing that,'” Clint said. “I couldn’t even comprehend going to put pads on or a helmet on.”

As the father of 4-year-old Emma and 3-year-old Avery, there wouldn’t be time to think about the past even if he wanted.

“The energy level that kids have is unmatched,” Clint said while sitting next to Kelly, just feet away from an inflatable bounce house that has lived in the foyer of their Atlanta home since the pandemic started. “They are doing great.”

Even this conversation for Hear That Podcast Growlin’ came scheduled before Clint’s training and with an appearance from Avery beaming after her nap to show off the pink turtle stuffed animal she got from that day’s trip with dad to the aquarium.

The constant churn hasn’t dissipated just because the NFL stopped setting the schedule.

How does a person whose adult life revolved around football find a new sense of normal after walking away from the game at age 30? What does starting over adjusting to pedestrian life look like and how does a family navigate it?

A fascinating question and different answers exist among the hundreds that walk away from the game each year, all for a variety of reasons.

From black diamonds and reviving tennis careers to weight-loss wardrobe displacement and scratching the football itch, Clint and Kelly grew their young family and took on NFL retirement without looking back at what they left behind.

Except for the food in Cincinnati. They still look back at the food.

“We obviously miss the things that came along with football and friends we met there and everything, but God, we always talk about the food in Cincinnati,” Kelly said. “All of our restaurants we used to always go to. It’s unmatched to anybody else.”

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As much as they’d like to return to Cincinnati to breeze through Bakersfield, Sotto, Maplewood, The Eagle and Jeff Ruby’s, the Bolings haven’t been back since the day they walked out of the locker room on July 15, 2019.

That partially because the approach to maneuvering into retirement went much like Clint’s approach to football: steady, consistent and grounded.

Clint set out the first season to just enjoy the time away from the game. Resurrecting his love of skiing came first — he’d been unable to enjoy it for fear of injury affecting his contract. He was hitting the double black diamonds almost immediately. They went to a few University of Georgia games and played golf. Lots and lots of golf.

“Just the little things that you miss that you never really realize that you are not able to do,” Clint said.

What he was able to do for the first time was watch football on Sundays and took a liking to NFL Sunday Ticket and placing the occasional wager on a few of the games. But when sitting on the couch watching games, one feeling was notably absent.

“It was a much different feeling but I didn’t regret it, I didn’t miss it a ton,” Clint said. “It’s not like I was dying to be out there. I was content with the decision I made.”

The connection to the Bengals lessened dramatically as the roster flipped from a collection of friends and former teammates to players he’d never met. Watching his former team for the first time on “Monday Night Football” that year giving up eight sacks didn’t change that feeling.

“We watched them play the Steelers and go against Cam Heyward,” Kelly said, “and were a little like, OK.” There’s a unique sense of contentment that comes from not having to block that guy anymore.

While the timing of walking away from the game forced his hand early, as often ends up the case, it turned out to work out perfectly in the big picture. Certainly for Kelly, who was about to take on a season with two kids for the first time had Clint continued to play.

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“We had Avery right after the season ended,” Kelly said. “It was in a way good timing for us because we needed all hands on deck at home. It was much appreciated because with two, how close ours are, we definitely needed both of us at home which was really nice. I didn’t take it for granted because I needed all the help I could get.”

In the meantime, Clint turned his workouts and diet from keeping on the weight to dropping it and lost 50 pounds. That meant cleaning out the closet of all those clothes purchased for an NFL offensive lineman.

“I had a ton of great golf shirts,” Clint said, “so if anybody is in need of a 3XLT Nike golf shirt, let me know.”

Boling planned to take the first season just enjoying being out of football and then figure out what to do next when the calendar turned to 2020. As with everyone’s plans, the calendar flipping to 2020 changed the game.

“At that point in time, I really needed to find something,” Clint said.

Then football re-entered his life.

He hooked up with his former high school coach, Terry Crowder, who took over a small, new program at King’s Ridge High School with only about 35 players and latched on coaching the offensive line. Unlike his attempt to use his degree in the insurance industry, this felt like a snug, rewarding fit.

“It helps that this is a guy that played eight years in the league,” Clint said. “They like to listen. They ask questions, like, ‘Hey coach, what was this like? Who was the hardest person you ever blocked?’ That kind of stuff. That has been the best part, being around kids and helping them out and trying to help them along the way. Been a lot of fun and something I will continue to do moving forward. Some of these things like an office job, nothing like that has really caught my eye. Fortunately, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to and this is something I have really enjoyed.”

Life truly does come full circle, momma was right‼️@HoochHappenings 2010 state championship coach Terry Crowder and 2007 OL @cboling60 (8 years on the Bengals) reunite 14 years later on the @KingsRidgeCS coaching staff.

👇👇👇 https://t.co/S9vHbUHSiM pic.twitter.com/dLy9cZ9D2d

— Brett Greenberg (@74Talk) June 24, 2021

Clint added training for high school athletes to the plate as well and can’t hide the excitement over seeing an impact in those roles.

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“You think about growing up, all the people that helped you along the way, your coaches, some community coach you met as an eighth-ninth grader,” Clint said. “The first coach that told you you could play in college, you just remember those little things and people helping you along the way. I’ve tried to get into that and find a way to help other kids out. That’s been a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed that.”

The combination makes for the right balance of work-life-adventure right now. And with retirement, the free time has allowed Kelly to start playing tennis again as she did on a club team in Georgia before.

“He hangs with the girls and I go do stuff with my friends,” Kelly said. “So it’s nice to have my own gig because Clint got eight years of his gig.”

For any thought of experiencing difficulties adjusting to retired life and finding a new rhythm, those are as absent as a quiet moment around the Boling household.

More golf trips like the one Clint took with former teammates Andrew Whitworth and Eric Winston to Las Vegas earlier this year are on the horizon as is another high school football season. Then countless hours and activities with Emma and Avery.

Retirement proved the right decision and provided all the freedom and opportunity desired for the Boling family. The only thing it didn’t provide is regret.

“A lot has happened, life moves on and you continue to adjust, pick up new things, new habits and new hobbies,” Clint said. “I have moved on quicker than I thought.”

(Top photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

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