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OL Alex Boone (Official Thread)

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Frightening story about Alex...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/osu/daily/081106osufb.html

Ohio State player back after battle with alcohol
Sophomore tackle said he was drinking 30 to 40 beers per day.

By Doug Harris

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS | "Hi, I'm Alex, and I'm an alcoholic."

Those are the words Ohio State sophomore tackle Alex Boone freely uttered while struggling to gain control of problem drinking with the help of counseling, Alcoholics Anonymous and close friend and teammate Todd Denlinger.

Boone, a sophomore starter and former Parade All-American, said he was routinely downing 30 to 40 beers per day, a pattern of bingeing that began in high school and escalated when he arrived at OSU.

"I used to drink till I dropped," he said. A DUI arrest in April was the reality check he needed to finally confront his demons. "I screwed up and I could have lost everything," said Boone, who has been reinstated to the team after a short suspension.

With Boone's troubles mounting, coach Jim Tressel asked Denlinger, a sophomore defensive lineman from Troy, to mentor his out-of-control classmate. "It was pretty much putting him under my wing," Denlinger said. "He realized he's got a problem. And Coach Tressel said, 'This guy really respects you. Can you help him out?' ''

Asked how they avoided temptation, Denlinger said: "We did other things. We got away from the party atmosphere. We went Putt-Putt or we'd just hang out and take walks.

"Sometimes he'd come down to my room, and we'd just sit and talk and read the Bible. He changed his whole life around."

The 6-foot-8 Boone said he quit cold turkey, and his weight has dropped from 350 pounds to a more manageable 308. Offensive line coach Jim Bollman lauded the player for his recovery, and Boone said his life has never been more satisfying.

"Now that I'm away from it, I feel like a new man," he said. "I feel better about myself, I'm more confident. I'm stronger. I can do things I couldn't do before. I realized you could have fun without alcohol."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125

or [email protected]
 
Upvote 0
I see that as an uplifting story rather than a frightening one.
Every college freshman needs someone like Denlinger to take them under their wing if necessary. Unfortunately, the Todd Denlinger's of the world are too few and far between.

"Now that I'm away from it, I feel like a new man," he said. "I feel better about myself, I'm more confident. I'm stronger. I can do things I couldn't do before. I realized you could have fun without alcohol."

Judging by this quote, now hopefully Boone will be a great role model / mentor for future Buckeyes. It's apparent he will be a much better player this season.
 
Upvote 0
NightmaresDad said:
I see that as an uplifting story rather than a frightening one.

It's apparent he will be a much better player this season.
Click to expand...


There's the "frightening" part. Already good enough to play as a Freshman, with all the off-field issues, it could be "scary" how much better Boone now has the opportunity to be.

:evil: Opposing D-Lineman should be afraid...very, very afraid.
 
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stxbuck said:
as a teacher at a parochial school who sees this kind of thing, I can assure you that kids do not begin getting hammered on beer in the 8th grade w/out a tacit "wink, wink" from their parents
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This is simply not true, and I don't see how being a teacher at a parochial school would qualify you to make such a sweeping assertion. Eighth graders can run around behind their parents' backs just the same as twelfth graders can.
 
Upvote 0
zincfinger said:
This is simply not true, and I don't see how being a teacher at a parochial school would qualify you to make such a sweeping assertion. Eighth graders can run around behind their parents' backs just the same as twelfth graders can.
Click to expand...
In general. It is true. It may not be true in this specific case. In fact. It may be way off base, but early alcoholism can usually be traced, rather than conjured.
 
Upvote 0
IronBuckI said:
In general. It is true. It may not be true in this specific case. In fact. It may be way off base, but early alcoholism can usually be traced, rather than conjured.
Click to expand...
When something is stated as an absolute, to call it generally true negates the original statement, rather than supports it. Certainly if parents are lax about underage drinking, their kids are more likely to engage in underage drinking. It does not follow from this that anytime a kids engages in early underage drinking, it is because his parents gave it a tacit ok.
 
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Vindy.com

8/12/06

Buckeye Boone bashes booze<!-- BITSHeadlineEnd -->


Jim Tressel dropped the lineman on the depth chart and warned him that he had to change his ways or depart.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Asked how close he came to losing everything — a spot on the Ohio State football team, school, his freedom, his life — massive Alex Boone held up his thumb and forefinger. They almost touched.
Last April 2, Boone celebrated being named a starting offensive tackle by drinking himself into a stupor and then getting behind the wheel of his pickup truck. He doesn't remember hitting the car on a campus street.
That night, rather than possibly costing him or someone else their life, he might have saved his.
Unthinkable
"I could have done something worse," he said. "I could have hit somebody. I could have killed myself, my girlfriend. It could have been terrible. I thank God every day that I didn't do that. I really do. I wake up every morning and I think, you know, I could be waking up in a jail cell right now."
Boone, who had his first beer at 14, liked being portrayed as a wild man.
"Everybody kind of looked at me as a partyer," he said. "I kind of feel bad about that now; I regret doing that."
In the days after his arrest, there was a public outcry that another high-profile Ohio State athlete had flouted the law and gone bad.
"You have to make good decisions on a daily basis, represent yourself, your family, your team appropriately," athletic director Gene Smith said. "We preach that every single day. Over the last year, I think our team has done a marvelous job in that regard. Every now and then you're going to hit a hiccup. Alex Boone committed that hiccup."
The plea
Ashamed, the 6-foot-8, 325-pound sophomore pleaded no contest to drunken driving, paid a $300 fine and had his driver's license suspended for 180 days.
He also was stunned when he spoke to those closest to him.
"I talked to a lot of my family members and they said, 'You need to stop,' " he said. "They all went sober with me, which is really good. After that I just kind of stopped and said, 'I don't need this. It's making me not the kind of person I could be.' "
Coach Jim Tressel dropped him to second team on the depth chart and warned him that he had to change his ways or he would be gone.
In response, the new Boone lost 50 pounds and will likely start when the Buckeyes open their season Sept. 2 against Northern Illinois. The 19-year-old has been sober since spring. No longer does he need a drink to have a good time.
He says he is a new man. His teammates have noticed the difference.
"He's made some good decisions," fellow tackle Steve Rehring said. "He's got his head on straight. He did what he needed to do to play here and be good here."
Teammate's observation
Offensive guard T.J. Downing said the change has been remarkable.
"Alex has become a smarter person because of it," he said. "He knows there's certain things he has to look out for. And everything that makes you smarter off the field makes you stronger on the field. It opens your eyes a little more and you don't take things for granted."
Boone said he regrets starting to drink because he feels so much better now. He said there is no pressure to go out every night and waste his time and money on alcohol.
"I tell people all the time: Don't be like me. Live through me. You can go out and have a good time [but] if you're not 21, don't drink. It's not worth it. It's not worth the hassle, it's not worth the things that it will do to you," he said.
Boone knows how close he came to throwing everything away.
"You know, when that happened to me, everything I'd done — the community service, the practices, the games and all, — everything went out the window. Nothing mattered any more. I was just a big idiot," he said. "I kind of look back and I'm like, you know what? How many kids right now are doing the same thing when someone should have said just don't drink?"
<!-- BITSPrintFriendlyStart -->Saturday, August 12, 2006 Jim Tressel dropped the lineman on the depth chart and warned him that he had to change his ways or depart.
COLUMBUS (AP) — Asked how close he came to losing everything — a spot on the Ohio State football team, school, his freedom, his life — massive Alex Boone held up his thumb and forefinger. They almost touched.
Last April 2, Boone celebrated being named a starting offensive tackle by drinking himself into a stupor and then getting behind the wheel of his pickup truck. He doesn't remember hitting the car on a campus street.
That night, rather than possibly costing him or someone else their life, he might have saved his.
Unthinkable
"I could have done something worse," he said. "I could have hit somebody. I could have killed myself, my girlfriend. It could have been terrible. I thank God every day that I didn't do that. I really do. I wake up every morning and I think, you know, I could be waking up in a jail cell right now."
Boone, who had his first beer at 14, liked being portrayed as a wild man.
"Everybody kind of looked at me as a partyer," he said. "I kind of feel bad about that now; I regret doing that."
In the days after his arrest, there was a public outcry that another high-profile Ohio State athlete had flouted the law and gone bad.
"You have to make good decisions on a daily basis, represent yourself, your family, your team appropriately," athletic director Gene Smith said. "We preach that every single day. Over the last year, I think our team has done a marvelous job in that regard. Every now and then you're going to hit a hiccup. Alex Boone committed that hiccup."
The plea
Ashamed, the 6-foot-8, 325-pound sophomore pleaded no contest to drunken driving, paid a $300 fine and had his driver's license suspended for 180 days.
He also was stunned when he spoke to those closest to him.
"I talked to a lot of my family members and they said, 'You need to stop,' " he said. "They all went sober with me, which is really good. After that I just kind of stopped and said, 'I don't need this. It's making me not the kind of person I could be.' "
Coach Jim Tressel dropped him to second team on the depth chart and warned him that he had to change his ways or he would be gone.
In response, the new Boone lost 50 pounds and will likely start when the Buckeyes open their season Sept. 2 against Northern Illinois. The 19-year-old has been sober since spring. No longer does he need a drink to have a good time.
He says he is a new man. His teammates have noticed the difference.
"He's made some good decisions," fellow tackle Steve Rehring said. "He's got his head on straight. He did what he needed to do to play here and be good here."
Teammate's observation
Offensive guard T.J. Downing said the change has been remarkable.
"Alex has become a smarter person because of it," he said. "He knows there's certain things he has to look out for. And everything that makes you smarter off the field makes you stronger on the field. It opens your eyes a little more and you don't take things for granted."
Boone said he regrets starting to drink because he feels so much better now. He said there is no pressure to go out every night and waste his time and money on alcohol.
"I tell people all the time: Don't be like me. Live through me. You can go out and have a good time [but] if you're not 21, don't drink. It's not worth it. It's not worth the hassle, it's not worth the things that it will do to you," he said.
Boone knows how close he came to throwing everything away.
"You know, when that happened to me, everything I'd done — the community service, the practices, the games and all, — everything went out the window. Nothing mattered any more. I was just a big idiot," he said. "I kind of look back and I'm like, you know what? How many kids right now are doing the same thing when someone should have said just don't drink?"
<!-- BITSPrintFriendlyEnd --><!-- BITSMailPreviewStart -->
Click to expand...
 
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Way to go, Alex!

12514.jpg


Nice to see some vascularity in the right arm of an offensive tackle!

Keep up the solid work, Alex!
 
Upvote 0
Dispatch

8/21/06

Boone has sober outlook on his life
Tackle says he’s new man after drunken driving incident

Monday, August 21, 2006

Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Alex Boone ran his right hand through his long hair and smiled.
Letting his hair grow long this summer, however, was not an act of rebellion. Far from it. The last thing he wanted was to make waves on the Ohio State football team.
Not after that early morning in April when he tried to drive home from a campus-area bar despite being very drunk. He sideswiped a car with his pickup, and his other life was exposed. The gaudy parts have been delineated — his craving for beer that often took him on 30- to 40-can binges, how he drank like a fish for years after taking his first sip of beer when he was 14 or 15.
It caught up to the sophomore left tackle one week into Ohio State’s spring drills. It cost him $300 in fines, his driver’s license was suspended for 180 days and he had to attend an alcohol counseling program. He also moved into the doghouse of coach Jim Tressel and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman for an extended stay.
Still, Boone felt lucky.
"I could have done something worse," he said. "I could have hit somebody. I could have killed myself, my girlfriend (who was riding with him). It could have been terrible. I thank God every day I didn’t do that.
"I wake up in the morning, and you know what? I could be waking up in a jail cell right now. That’s something I’ve got to thank God for."
Running his hand through his long hair is also a reminder.
"As long as this hair is long I will be clean, believe me," Boone said.
Anyone can look at the 6-foot-8 Boone and see more than his hair is different. Cutting out beer, for starters, helped him drop 40 pounds from last year’s playing weight. He’s now a svelte 310.
More than that, his eyes are clear, and so is his mind, he said.
"The truth is I do feel like a different guy," Boone said. "I’m a lot thinner. I’m not drinking, I’m not doing stupid stuff like I should have not been doing."
He has found he can still be a good-time guy even without a buzz.
"The truth is, I feel more confident in myself," Boone said. "I feel like I am ready to play football."
Those around him have seen the difference.
"He’s looking trim, for one thing, so now I don’t have to look at his fat butt in the weight room anymore or next to my locker," senior right guard T.J. Downing said, laughing.
But he knows what Boone went through was no laughing matter.
"To go through all of that, while also having the media and the fans out there bashing him, it’s tough to deal with," Downing said. "But he is a strong kid, and I expect big things from Alex this year.
"He knows what he has to do, and he knows he has to be on the straight and narrow or he’s going to be on the bench."
What he has to do, above all else, is stay sober and out of trouble. Tressel and Bollman told him as much after his incident last spring. Bollman has seen no troubling signs since.
"To answer your first question, is he walking the straight and narrow? He has to during camp. He doesn’t have any choice," Bollman said. "But I think if he has truly made some of the changes that I think he has, you won’t have to be on him at all."
Boone hasn’t shied away from talking about his trouble because he has a message.
"I tell people all the time, ‘Don’t be like me. Live through me,’ " Boone said. "You can go out and have a good time, but if you’re not 21, don’t drink. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth the hassle. It’s not worth the things it will do to you.
"When that happened to me, everything I had done up to then, the community service, the practices, the games, it all went out the window. Nothing mattered anymore. I was just a big idiot."
He said he could take nothing for granted, not even projections that he would be the starting left tackle. When Bollman laid out the depth chart to his linemen just before preseason camp began, Boone held his breath.
Of course, Bollman saved left tackle for last.
"I was like, ‘He could write Steve Rehring. Tim Schafer. Who is going to write?’ " Boone said.
Then Bollman wrote out "Boone."
"I felt like a new man," Boone said. "That’s how I’m going to take this season. I’m a new man. It’s a new season. And I’m going to do what I have to do."
[email protected]
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
zincfinger said:
This is simply not true, and I don't see how being a teacher at a parochial school would qualify you to make such a sweeping assertion. Eighth graders can run around behind their parents' backs just the same as twelfth graders can.
Click to expand...

I have to concur on this.
I've seen many kids getting drunk every weekend without any knowledge of their clueless parents. :(
Kids will out fox their parents on many things.
 
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