Kris Boyd’s Family Guide: Meet the Jets Star’s Brother and Cousins

For New York Jets cornerback Kris Boyd, football is a family business.

With a brother who suited up at the University of Texas and a pair of cousins in the NFL, it’s no wonder that Boyd has made a career for himself by playing on Sundays. Over seven pro seasons, he has also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.

The former Texas Longhorn’s football career was quickly put on the back-burner in November 2025, however, when he was injured in a shooting outside a midtown Manhattan restaurant.

“I am praying for New York Jets player Kris Boyd and his loved ones,” New York City mayor Eric Adams wrote via X after news broke of the shooting on November 16. “Although we’ve gotten shootings to historic lows in our city, we must continue to work to end gun violence. Too many young lives have been tragically altered and cut short by this epidemic.”

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Keep scrolling to meet Boyd’s family.

Athaley Taylor

Kris and his brother DeMarco were raised by their grandmother, Athaley Taylor, after their father’s death. She died while Kris was in high school.

Kris’ football coach at the time, Randall Canady, recalled meeting Athaley at her home one day when the brothers did not show up at school.

“She said, ‘They told me they were sick’. And I said, ‘No ma’am, they’re not sick,’” he recalled in a 2019 interview with KLTV. “She called them out of their room. She said, ‘Uh, uh coach…’ She turned around, she was on a couch right here. And the front door was in the back and she said, ‘Coach, whatever you do, take care of my boys.’ And the next day she died, and if I ask Kris right now if he gets in trouble and I say, “Kris, what did your grandmother tell me?’ He’ll drop his head and say, ‘She said take care of my boys,’ and I’ve tried to live up to that.”

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DeMarco Boyd

Kris and DeMarco shared a tight bond growing up, eventually becoming college teammates with the Longhorns. They played two years together at Texas, where they won the 2018 Sugar Bowl. When his playing days ended, DeMarco became a chef.

Bobby Taylor

Kris’ older cousin was an All-American cornerback at Notre Dame before he was selected in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft. He played a decade in the pros, including nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, compiling 323 career tackles and 19 interceptions.

Bobby is now a football operations strategic advisor for the NFL, where he has helped rookies transition into the league and promotes the NFL’s official flag football league.

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Curtis Brown

Like cousins Kris and DeMarco, Curtis played for the Longhorns in college from 2007 to 2011. His pro career lasted just three full seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before a torn ACL cut his time in the league short.

“Football ended abruptly for me after my injury,” he recalled in a 2024 interview with Steelers Takeaways. “I didn’t know who I was – I saw myself and didn’t know who I was looking at. I felt thrown away. The NFL is a business. I had no attachment to anything anymore.”