THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509020540
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Norfolk State tight end Ronald Boone vividly remembers the ``shocking numbness'' racing through his arm as he knelt on the artificial turf.
As he rose, his arm did not follow, swinging unnaturally at his side.
His right humerus, or upper arm bone, had been snapped just above the elbow when Virginia State linebacker Silas Demary, trying to get around Boone, chopped down on it.
``After the way I'd played in spring training and summer practice, people were looking for a lot from me,'' Boone, 22, said. ``It just blew everything away.''
Boone wasn't around to see the end of a humiliating, season-opening 54-6 loss to the Trojans. After catching three first-half passes for 29 yards, he was carted off the field on a stretcher.
Two days later, five screws were surgically inserted to repair the break.
Redemption for a season lost begins tonight when the Spartans again open against that same Virginia State team at that same Foreman Field (WAVY, 7 p.m.) in the Labor Day Classic.
Boone will again line up at tight end, the difference being 20 extra pounds and four screws that remain in his arm.
At 6-foot-5 1/4 and 237 pounds, Boone more closely resembles a lineman this season than the rangy wide receiver who was first-team All-Tidewater at Wilson High School and played on two state title teams.
``I thought if I put on that kind of weight that it would slow me down,'' said Boone, who received a medical redshirt year from the NCAA and has sophomore eligibility. ``But it hasn't. I still feel just as fast and just as sharp.''
Boone increased his weight at the urging of head coach Darnell Moore, who also coached Boone at Wilson High.
``Here's a kid who was dieting to stay at wide receiver,'' Moore said. ``I told him, `Look, you've grown out of the position.' It took him awhile, but now that he's accepted he's a tight end, his potential is unlimited.''
Where Boone once spent whole practices running pass routes, he must now huddle with linemen half the time, honing blocking skills that were close to nonexistent. Moore describes Boone's early attempts at run blocking as nothing more than ``a windscreen on a tennis court.''
But he improved rapidly. The only real concern heading into tonight's game is how fast he can knock off the rust that might have accumulated.
Factoring in a redshirt year as a freshman, minimal playing time as a red-shirt freshman and the lost season of a year ago, it's been almost four years since Boone played a full football schedule.
Even Boone's spring workouts were cut short by injury. He stepped in a pothole on the Spartans' practice field and missed Norfolk State's spring scrimmage with a sprained ankle.
``After that, the doctor told me he thought I was having so many injuries because I didn't have enough calcium in my diet,'' Boone said. ``I didn't drink hardly any milk. I don't like milk. But since spring practice, I've been drinking milk every day.''
As in his high school days, Boone will have Aaron Sparrow throwing to him. The two have known each other since Boone was in the eighth grade and Sparrow a ninth-grader at Wilson High.
It was only natural they'd room together. But there were some uncomfortable moments last season when Sparrow was rewriting Norfolk State's passing records without Boone's help.
``Aaron was pretty supportive, but it was hard at times,'' said Boone, who spent six weeks with his arm in a sling. ``I used to go home and talk to my mom about it, and she'd just say, `Keep your head up.' But I was supposed to be a part of that passing attack.''
Boone has taken more than a passing glance at the receiving numbers posted by James Roe (77 receptions, 1,454 yards), Darius Blount (57, 800) and Marty Conner (38, 466) last season.
``I'm using them as goals for myself. I see myself as having a major role this season,'' Boone said. ``Aaron can dump it off to me for short yardage, or he can loft it up and I can go and get it.''
Then Boone paused, reflecting on his misfortunes of a year ago.
``But my main goal is to make it through the season.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Beth Bergman, Staff
Ronald Boone
by CNB