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Bucs/NFL

So many stories

Bucs receiver David Boston has been the center of countless tales and rumors. But are any of them true?

By GARY SHELTON
Published August 17, 2006

LAKE BUENA VISTA - It has always been the best thing you could say about David Boston. Also, the worst.

Sometimes, the guy is beyond belief.

So much speed, so much size, so many stories, and which do you buy into? There is his past and his promise and his point of view, and which one sounds closest to the truth? There are the things you have seen and the things you have heard, the things he says and the things he has done, and how does the polygraph read?

With Boston, it always has come down to this:

Do you believe this guy?

Do you believe in this guy?

From team to team, his mythology has trailed him, the way the stories used to follow the old gunfighters. He has been in a few towns, and he has broken a few hearts along the way. On the other hand, he will be 28 on Saturday, he still runs like something out of NASCAR and his biceps still swell out of his shirt, all of them inviting you to believe in Boston all over again.

"I hear a lot of strange things," Boston said. "But most people who have gotten to know me away from the perceptions know I'm an okay guy."

On a folding chair in a bare room in a trailer at the Bucs' training camp, Boston and his reputation sit together and compare notes. He looks an interviewer in the eye, never blinking when the questions turn blunt, never raising his voice as he responds to the old stories. He says he has matured, that he has learned from his mistakes.

If you are asking what Boston believes - well, he believes he is going to be a big deal in this league all over again.

Considering his age and ability, considering his risk and reward, Boston is the most intriguing athlete in the Bucs' training camp. It is easy to forget what a force he was a few seasons ago, back when he had a combination of size (6-2, 228) and speed that didn't seem fair.

And so the Bucs are taking a flyer. Why not? There doesn't seem to be a lot to lose. The Cardinals invested the No. 8 pick in the draft in Boston, and San Diego invested a seven-year, $47-million free-agent contract. Consider what the Cowboys are risking with Terrell Owens, the Raiders with Randy Moss and the Vikings with Koren Robinson. The Bucs? All they are risking is that Boston stretches a few T-shirts.

"There have been a lot bigger gambles than David Boston in the history of this league," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "This is a 27-year-old wideout who was arguably among the top five in all of football just two or three years ago. To me, that's a pretty good proposition."

When it comes to wide receivers, Gruden seems to know a fixer-upper when he sees one. From Irving Fryar to Andre Rison, from Jerry Rice to Joey Galloway, he has milked some excellent seasons from players who seemed used up to others.

Gruden seems to have a feel for older receivers, for knowing when to give them a day off, for knowing how to adjust a game plan to fit them.

"You get these guys, and sometimes you've got to have some flexibility," Gruden said. "I like David Boston's talent level a lot. He needs to regain his physical status. He was a beast when healthy. If he can get healthy, he can play. If he can get his stamina, his endurance and all of those things back, he can definitely help us."

If the league has forgotten Boston, Gruden remembers. Back in the 2001 season, Gruden's Raiders had overcome a 23-7 deficit to Arizona, taking a 24-23 lead in the fourth quarter. Thirty-two seconds later, Boston burst open downfield for a 50-yard touchdown reception. The Cardinals won in overtime.

"He ripped us," Gruden said. "He ripped us good. And we weren't alone. He was phenomenal that year."

By then, however, the whispers had started: That Boston took plays off. That his growing weight was artificially induced. That his reliance on his own trainer made him a bad teammate.

There was the Don't Touch My Nipples Story: In that one, Boston reportedly told defensive backs to take it easy on him in practice because he just had his nipples pierced.

"That's false," Boston said. "My nipples used to be pierced, but I never asked the defensive backs to take it easy on me."

There was the Dead By 30 Story: In that one, Cardinals assistant coach Joe Greene, the old Steeler, once told the team that Boston would be dead by the time he was 30.

"I've never heard that one," Boston said.

There was the Woman in the Room Story. In that one, a coach looked in on Boston at bed check to find he wasn't alone. He told the woman to leave, and according to the story, Boston said that if the woman was made to leave, he wasn't going to play.

"What?" Boston said. "I've never heard that. That was in ESPN the Magazine? I didn't see that. It's totally false."

There was the You Can't Suspend Me If I'm Not There Story. In that one, San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer was going to suspend Boston for missing workouts, but he couldn't. Boston didn't show up for their meeting.

"That one's true," Boston said. "There was a miscommunication about what time we were meeting."

And, of course, there were the Steroid Rumors. Boston was 210 pounds when he was drafted, but by his fourth year, he had bulked up to linebacker size.

"I've never taken a steroid in my life," Boston said. "I was suspended for using a steroid-related substance. It sounds flashy to say it was for steroids, but people who know, know there are like 40 substances related to steroids, and they don't make you bigger or stronger."

The one that makes Boston shake his head is the old charge that he doesn't care enough. He swears he does. After playing only 27 games in the past four years, including just five games in two injury-filled seasons with the Dolphins, the Bucs' opponent in Saturday night's preseason game, he swears he misses being an impact player.

"I'm the guy who used to break joysticks when I would play my sister in video games," Boston said. "I have a relentless passion for this game.

"I'm as fast as I've ever been. I want it all back. I want everything back that I had. I want to be looked at as the same player I was. I want Super Bowl rings."

Do you believe in fourth chances? Do you believe in karma?

Perhaps this was where he was meant to be. Consider: When Boston was a young man, he and some friends slipped away to get tattoos, a move certain to draw a flag from his father, NFL referee Byron Boston.

Boston's choice? He pulls his T-shirt away to show you; over his right breast is an animated Chucky doll.

"Chucky was real big in my hometown," Boston said. "I liked Chucky. There was something different about his attitude."

If Boston proves to be worth his face, maybe Chucky ends up with a tattoo of him, too.

[Last modified August 17, 2006, 02:01:34]