Boles battles beast on his back

Boles battles
beast on his back
Ex-U-M tailback seeks to rebuild
his life after years of addiction
BY JOHN HEUSER
Nt:ws Sports Rtportt:r
DETROIT - The corner of Linwood and
Elmhurst on the city's near west side has
gone quiet in the late morning, save for the
humming of cars that occasionally drive past
on the rain-dampened pavement, and the
impatient barking of a narcotics dog in the
rear seat of a parked Wayne County sheriff's
cruiser.
A handful of law enforcement officers have
gathered outside the sprawling, Thdor-styled
building, constructed in 1939 as a rabbinical
school. Since 1972, it has been called
Elmhurst Home and used as a residential
treatment center. About 100 recovering
addicts live there at a time, getting clean and
trying to collect, bit-by-bit, the pieces of
their lives, often smashed and scattered
beyond anything recognizable.
Hour-upon-hour of Narcotics Anonymous
and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings lay souls
bare, like fresh fish for sale, split end-to-end
and iced down in the market. There's a 6 a.m.
wakeup, then a military style roll call. Daily
tasks get assigned, like cleaning communal
bathrooms, the chore handled by the man
waiting to cross the four lanes of Linwood.
Progress in the battle is tracked in thick
work books, filled in by residents rehearsing
the concept that drug addiction won't release
its death grip until they change their thinking.
The man in the tom, hooded gray sweatshirt
and the dark-blue mesh shorts knows
how impossible that can be.
"Someone's in some trouble," he says,
casting a quick glance over his shoulder at
the officers before stepping off the curb.
Within 15 seconds, the one-time star football
player, the tailback considered by Bo
Schembechler as perhaps the finest he ever
coached at the University of Michigan, is
standing at the windowless entry of a plain,
low·slung building. He's there for an inter·
view, arranged after speaking with a reporter
who had left a phone number with the man's
probation officer.
The man presses a button next to the
locked door. "Who is it?" asks a woman's
voice from within Elmhurst Home's adminis·
trative offices.
Then he says the name, once cheered lustily
by football fans, now twisted in knots by years
of drugs, homelessness and incarceration.
uTony Boles."
There's a click, the lock releases and he
walks inside.
SEE BOLES, D6

The last of the former Michigan star's skills have vanished, except on film and in memory
'Truly•glft'
Gray flecks accent Boles'
close-cropped hair and beard.
Two top teeth are missing to
formagapnearthefrontofhl.s
mouth.Hesays,however,thata
recent physical showed him to
beingoodoverallhealth,except
for the right knee, which he
rubsabsent·mindedly.
It's being consumed by arthritis.
Bone fragments, floating
loose beneath the skin, need to
be removed. The best thing
wouldbeakneereplacement.
butat38,Bolesistooyoungfor
that operation, he was told.
Hardwarefromsurgeryto
repair the joint that was shredded
back in 1989-whenhe was
ajunioratM.ichigan-stillholds
th.ingstogether.Motrinisthe
onlydrughe'st.akingnow,Boles
says,anecessitytoduUtheache
thatnevergoesaway.
At6feet,2inchestall, Boles
weighs about 190 pounds, 10 or
so less than when he played. He
works out in the weight room at
Elmhurst Home, but realty can't
run any more. The last of Tony
Boles' football skills have vanished,
exceptonfilmandinthe
memoriesofthosewhorecall
hissublimeathleticability.
At Michigan, when players
met during the off-season,
they'd run -40-yard dashes,
timedelectronical.ly.Bolestook
histurn,stunningteammates
who made him sprint again to
see if the equipment was functioning
properly.
~Nobody ran what he ran,"
says Phil Webb, a fonner Michigan
player who's now a police
officer in Binningham. uHe was
sub4.3(second.s).Hewastruly
a gift, speedwise."
In closed-door meetings,
coaches raved about Boles'
potential. His position coach,
Tirrel Burton, now retired and
living in Ann Arbor, compared
BolestoDallasCowboysf!:reat
Tony Dorsett, who m1xed
evasiveness and acceleration in
matchless fashion.
"He could have been the
best,~ Burton says of Boles.
''And he had great hands. He
would have been a great wide
receiver."
Former Michigan defensive
backThom Darden, who served
as Boles' professional agent,
says the tailback was considered
tAlented enough by NFL
scouts to be a potenlial No. I
overall draft pick.
Though indifferent toward
conditioning and the classroom
(Bolesonceservedasix-week
suspension from football at
Michigan for poor academic
performance), Boles was a marvelonlhefield.
Inl988,his
sophomore year, Boles gained
1.408 yards rushing, which
ranks as the eighth-best performance
in 126 seasons of
Michigan football.
A pinched nerve cut into his
carriesin19811,butheadinginto
the Nov. 18 Minnesota game at
the Metrodome, Boles had still
rushed for 822 yards, was aver·
agingaBigTen-best6.3yards
percarryandhad216yards
receiving.
Michigan was 8-1 to that
point, and would trounce the
Golden Gophers 49-15. The
inj.ury, which happened when
Boles was tackled on his only
rushing attempt, drew little
mention in the next day's Ann
Arbor News.
Schembechler,coachinghis
Tony Bolas (42) runs for yardag• during th4 1989 RoM Bowl against South.rn Callfomia.ln 1981, his
sophomor11 }'flr at Michlgan,BoiM plnad 1,408 yards rushing.
(mal season, said immediately
after the game that he thought
Boles would be (me. He wasn't.
The last meaningful carry of
Boles' life went for 17 yards.
Hedroppedoutofclassesin
the winter term ("I didn't want
to be crutching around campus,~
he says.) Eventually, he
quit rehabbing his knee. Tony
Boles was gone.
Dr•fted by Cowboys
lnl990,DardeninvitedBoles
to Cleveland, putting him up in a
hotel,givinghimacar,working
himoutwithtrainers.Darden
bet$25,000orsoonthekidwith
the gimpy knee who was obviously
missing something.
"Icouldtelltherewasahole
in his soul," Darden says. ~He
wasaguywhowasnottotally
happyinhisownskin."
Boles would push himself
hardforacoupleofdays,then
skip a workout.
"Iwaslosingdesire,"hesays.
ul had lost confidence in
"1Y' Nonetheless, the Dallas Cow·
boys used an 11th-round draft
pickln1991onBoles,whonever
madetheactiveroster
Withhisslgningbonus,which
Bo\essayswasabout$15,000,he
rented a limousine and bounced
bar to bar around the Dallas
area. Boles and a man he met
that night got high on cocaine
Boles says he then "dropped
dirty" for the Cowboys in a drug
test,andhewli.seut.
Born in southern Georgia,
and raised in metro Detroit,
Boles remembers himself as a
child,watchingforgueststoset
downnear-emplyglassesathis
parents' parties. When no one
waslooking,he'dtiptheglass
back, finishing the drink. He
says he smoked marijuana for
thefirsttimeinhighschooland
testedpositiveforthedrugonce
at Michigan.
His stepfather reminded him
frequently that he'd never
amounttoanything,Bolessays,
amessagethatresonatesinhis
head today.
Alter Dallas, Boles played
nearly a full season of football
with the San Antonio Riders of
the World League of American
Football, the predeeessor of
NFL Europe. But he missed the
season's last two games while
he was locked up; jailed because
hewasduped,Bolessays,into
picltingupastrangerwhoasked
to stop at a flower shop, then
robbed the place.
Boles' jobs after that were
many and meaningless to him,
lastingnomorethanamonthor
two. He was a construction
laborer, did roofing, worked In
grocery stores.
~The little money I had, I
-invested in selling drugs," he Boles was living in F1orida
then, near Fort Lauderdale. It
wasn't long before he became
strungoutonhisownproduct,
crack cocaine. "It's been all
downhillfromthatpoint,"Boles
~A"s ked how many times he's
been arrested, Boles lets out an
audible,"whoooo,"as hebegins
tocounl
"I would say lOtimes ... plus,"
Boles says, slowing down his
speech. "Yes, I've been arrested
quiteafewtime!."
Mostly drug busts, ph.ls some
thefts. All to support his habit.
Boles was (ltllt homeless in
Broward County, Fla., when he
lived in a place he knew as Tent
City. He has also been homeless
in Inkster, Detroit, Ann Arbor
and Akron, Ohio.
Boles landed in Ohio after
hooking up with a truck driver
inlnkster,aplaceBolessayshe
had grown tired of. He was
promised a ride to New Jeney,
where the trucker was headed.
They stopped in Akron so
Boles could use the restroom,
and when he came out, he was
alone. Boles called the toea!
sheriff,whotoothimtoahomelessmission.
"I was doing pretty well
there," he says. "Then I got
right back inrolved with drugs
again."
This time, Boles sold narcotics
to undercover police, and
wassenttoOh.io'sGraftonCorrectional
Institution, where he
servedaboutsixmonths.Boles
estimatesthat,alltold,hehas
spent eight to 10 years behind
ban, either in jail or prison.
"Iwouldnever,everwishthat
on anyone. To get inrol~·ed with
drugs, any type of drugs, or to
go to penitentiary," he says
"Penitentiary is nota place for
no one. It absolutely scared
me."
With old te•mmates
Ton,y BQies was dead, killed in
Romulus in a drug bust gone
wrong. Atleaslthatwasthe
rumor circulating around the
Michigan football family.
Eventually the story was
heard by Webb, who couldn't
believe the unassuming,
supremely talented player from
Westland John Glenn High
School was, in fact, gone.
"Not this guy,ft says Webb,
who hosted Boles during his
recruiting visit and became
Boles' mentor at Michigan. "He
was like Superman. He was a
godforalittlewhile."
In 2003, through contacts in
the Wegtland Police Department,
Webb found out Boles had
becnreeentlyarrested,thathe
was alive.
uDon'tgo try to find this guy,"
anofficerwamed."He'sgoing
tobreakyow-heart."
Against that advice, Webb
checked Boles' old addresses.
The search took Webb, and
another former Michigan playef;
quarterbackM.iehaelTaylor,to
MichiganAvenueinlnkster.'lbe
crime-ridden, dilapidated
stretch of asphalt also was an
area frequented by Boles.
Webb and Taylor stopped at a
liquor store and asked the
owner if he knew of Boles.
Boles, as It turns out, had
recentlyleft,walkingiU'OWidthe
comer.
"Iwasgettinghigh,and this
bigtruckpulledup,"Bolessays.
"These two big guys get out, two
ofmyhuddiesthatlhadplayed
ball with."
Webb embraced Boles and
didn'tletgo.Hesetthehomelessmanupinamotel,
gothim
ajobatacarwash.Asthelooth
Michigan-Ohio State game
approached, Wehh asked Boles
If he'd like to return to Ann
Arbor to attend a reunion offormerMichiganfootballplayers.
Boles accepted and was
received warmly by his old
teammates, some who gave him
business·cards and offers of
help. When hundreds offonner
players created a tunnel in
Michigan Stadium to guide the
2003Wolverinesacrossthefleld,
Boleswasthere.Wlthnoletter
jacket of his own, Boles wore
one loaned to him by Webb.
During the game, a Wolverinesvictory,
Bolesconlentedly
watchedfromasidelineposition
nearthenorthendzone.ltwas
the fint Michigan game Boles
had seen in person since leav·
ingschool.
~He was like in heaven
again," Webb says. un was a
turning point, I thoughC
While waiting to receive a
copyofhisbirthcertificateand
other identifiealionneededto
help get his life back on track,
Boles stayed nights in Ann
Arbor's homeless shelter on
HuronStreet.Webbwentoffto
Michigan's Rose Bowl game,
feeling encouraged about his
friend. The next thing Webb
knew, Boles had again been
arrested.
Onemid-Januarydayin2004,
Bolesandanewacquaintance
were driving and drinking.
Broke, they began plotting a
way to get money.
ulwasdrinkinganddrinking
anddrlnking,"Bolessays.ulgot
false courage."
Boles and his partner targeted
ano!dercouplewalkingalong
State Street, less than a mile
north of Schembechler Hall,
Michigan's football building.
Boles jumped from the car and
ripped the pune from the
woman, who was knocked to the
ground and dragged into the
street. As the vehicle drove
away,shemanagedtogetthe
license plate number.
Within days, Boles was
arrestedwhenpolicepulledthe
car over in Inkster. He confessedtothccrime,
eventually
pleadedguiltytounarmedrobbery
and was sentenced, briefly
staying at a state prison in
Jackson before being transferred
to Carson City (Mich.)
Correelional Facility. Between
jail, prison, then boot camp,
Boles served nearly a year for
thepune snatching, which he
sayswastheonlyviolentcrlme
he has committed
~I say again today, I apologize
{to the couple)," Boles says.
ul'm sorry. I know I probably
scarredthemforlife.If they
don't forgive me, that's OK"
Peeling the f•c•de
Released from boot eamp in
January2005,Bolesplunged
intohisoldhablts. Within three
months, he had violated parole,
wasgettinghighandwasagain
homeless, this time 1n Detroit's
seedyCassCorridor.
Hespentmostofhistimein
Cass Park, recollected by Boles
as uJurassic Park,~ and as the
place where police picked him
,up_fo,u rmonthsagoinadrug
Alterspendingseveralweeks
inanothertreatmcntprogram,
Boles arrived at Elmhurst
Home in February. He had no
wallet. No identification. None of
the contact information handed
to him by ex-teammates.
Boles' only clothing was what
he wore; a coat, a sweatshirt,
jeans and shoes. And a deeply
imbedded mask he hid behind, a
disguise that cloaked years of
guilt and embarrassment.
uuwasaterrlblefeeling,"he
says."lwascoveringeverything
up, all the pain and shame I had
from my lifetime."
Harold Lockett, Boles' counselor,
began peeling the facade
off as soon as Boles arrived.
When Lockett met Boles he
said: "You're Tony Boles. You
played for the University of
Michigan."
When Lockett introduced
Bolestotheotherresidents,he
toldthemofBoles'history,his
homelessness, his athletic
~u'He put me out there," Boles
says. uAt flfllt, the defenses
came up. I didn't want no one to
know thal I wanted to go .in, get
what I needed and get up out of
there."
Yet,aft.er20hoursofmeetings
each week for the last two
and a half months, Boles says
finnlythathe'sinrecovcry.He's
tapped into deep emotions,
cryingatchurchandinconversations.
Boles. who has been in reha·
bilitationtwicebefore,sayshe's
better prepared to make the
change permanent this time. He
was planning to meet with his
mother(hisstepfatherdiedin
1994) andhis21-year-olddaughter
this weekend, neither of
whombehasseeninmorethan
a year. Webb also intends to visit
Boles soon.
"We'reallprayingforhim.We
al\knowaboutthemonster,the
beast on your back," Webb says.
~u·s takensomeofthebestof
people and turned them into the
worst of people."
When Boles leaves Elmhurst
Home later Ibis month, he'll
movcintolransitionalhousing
in Detroit, living with other
recovering addicts for up loa
year.AlthoughBoleswillhaveto
pay rent there, it's still unclear
what he'll do for work.
An education major at Michigan,
Boles would like to finish
his degree at some point. He
hasconnectedwithaminister
who said he may be able to help
Boles become a substitute
teacher. Boles also is talking
about retelling his story in
schools, cautioning young people
about bow any life-no matter
its promise-can be forever
altered.
The last time Boles spoke
withhisdaugbter,shecould.n't
resist talking about what might
have been. NFL riches. Stardom.
The easy life.
There are no fantasies like
that left for Boles.
He pictures a future for himselfthatsoundssimple,
butso
far has proven agonizingly
elusive.
~1 see myself helping others,
and sober," Boles says quietly. "I
don"! have to be rich, I don't
have to be poor. Just content
and at peace with myself."
JolmHeuser canbertaehtdat
jhftiJ~nna~romor
734-99Hi816.