Senior Spotlight: Shawn Boone

RALEIGH, N.C. - The first time that Shawn Boone played organized football, it didn't go so well. In fact, when the Wolfpack's hard-hitting senior first put on pads, he ended up sitting on the field, crying for an hour.

"I couldn't wait to play football," said Boone. "I had watched it on TV and played Madden and I just wanted to play so bad. So when I was eight, I could finally start.

"The first couple of days there was no hitting, just helmets. I was doing fine. Then came the first day in pads."

During warmups, a kid named Shawn Russell (Boone has never forgotten that name) tackled Boone.

"It felt like my rib was broken. I started crying and sat on the ground for an hour. I said 'I don't want to play this game no more!' My mom told me I didn't have to play if I didn't want to and we could leave. Then my dad said, 'I paid $120 so you're going to get up and go hit him back."

At that moment, a football player was born.

"From then on, I was just knocking people out," the Wolfpack's nickle/strong safety recalls. "In rec league they used to call me the crackback king, because I played tight end and they used to run the toss sweep and motion me in and I would dominate the d-end."

Boone was all of nine years old when he earned that moniker.

"At first I just liked the hitting, but once I got older, the skill set started to grow and I started playing running back too. By the time I was 10, I knew I was pretty good."

The players surrounding Boone were pretty good too. His hometown of West Palm Beach, Fla., was the home of several players who had risen to NFL stardom, so the young players had much to aspire to.

"Anquan Boldin was from there and then you had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed at Miami. My favorite players were anybody who could hit people. Going to college to play football and then going to the NFL were always my goals."

It didn't quite sink in how much work it would require to accomplish those goals until he reached high school.

"I had always been the star of the team, but when I got to high school I realized that I had to get better ... to perfect my craft.

"People used to say, 'All you can do is hit. You can't cover.' I didn't know how to cover. The only thing I knew how to do was go around and hit people. I was a smart player - I always knew what was coming before it happened - so my weaknesses didn't always show, but I didn't have the total skill set. I wasn't fast and all my boys were way faster than me, so I would get killed in practice.

"I realized that something had to change if I was going to achieve my goals. I knew I had to be the smartest player on the field, no matter what position I was playing. I needed to know everything that's about to happen before it takes place."

Boone attended Dwyer High School, which boasted strong academics and strong football. When he was playing quarterback for the freshman team, the varsity quarterback was a kid named Jacoby Brissett.

"When the season was over they picked certain guys to move up to the varsity team. Since I was the quarterback on the freshman team, I was watching him and what he did."

That relationship would end up being one that determined his future. Boone's career took off and during his sophomore year, he had eight scholarship offers. By the time he was senior, he and six of his teammates had gotten really close and even came up with a (somewhat prophetic) nickname for their group: The Pack.

The "Pack" led Dwyer to the state title during his senior campaign and the college offers started rolling in. He visited Penn State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Ohio State, and of course, NC State, where his old teammate was his host. Boone actually committed to Penn State, but the next week, the head coach left.

"My mom always said, 'Don't worry about it if things don't go as planned, be patient and wait your turn. If you force it and it's not time yet, it's not going to happen.' I just remembered that and didn't stress."

Eventually, Boone decided that NC State was the place for him. "Everybody told me it was a good family place," he recalls. "I knew it was God's plan for me to be here. Everybody felt good about it. My goal was to come in and be the man. But I wasn't playing as much as I thought I would be and I was definitely homesick. But I finally said, "I love being on the kickoff team, so I'm going to embrace my role. Everybody told me, 'Wait your turn because you don't want to go out there if you're not ready.'

Boone wasn't alone. There was a large group of freshmen defenders that year who were waiting for their turn - a "little linebacker" named Bradley Chubb, B.J. Hill, Kentavius Street, Airius Moore, Mike Stevens, Justin Jones.

"We just laugh about it now," he says with a smile. "We used to be in the hotel room the night before the game with no stress. All I needed to know was my job on kickoff ... to go get the ball. I wasn't stressin' about a game plan. I knew the game plan but I knew I wasn't going to play because I barely took reps in game prep. Find the ball, hit the ball and I'm fine!'

That Pack ended up waiting their turn and now is one of the most talked about defenses in the ACC. Boone's other Pack? The one from Dwyer? One plays at Ohio State, two are at Northern Illinois, one plays at Wagner and another is at Bowling Green.

As a senior, Boone is known as a hard hitter, but one who combines that physicality with a football acumen that makes him even more formidable. Now he's using what he's learned to help the younger players.

"I'm trying to get [sophomore safety] Jarius [Morehead] to think like me - to be the smartest player on the field. To think ahead. Control and command. It's remembering what I've gone over and what I've studied. You just read the little things. When you're on the receiver, his eyes, his stance, his body language. Looking at the QB, it's what kind of signals he's giving. When I look at tight end, if he's coming to block me, how he's standing. I had to progress with that over time. In high school I did it, but when you get to the next level with even better players, you have to reboot and expand your thought process."

Boone has also learned to identify his weaknesses and work to make them his strength. He is typically one of the last players off the field at the end of practice, working overtime to perfect his game. "I started that last year," he says. "I needed to put in extra work catching balls. I was always dropping picks in practice."

In December, Boone will graduate with a degree in communications - just 3-1/2 years after starting at NC State. His goals are then to enjoy a long career in the NFL and then become either a broadcaster or a coach.

When asked how he wants to be remembered at NC State, Boone doesn't hesitate. "That I was the hardest hitter. That I was a leader, an encourageer. That I was one of the best players to come through NC State and one of the best players ever from my city. That I helped lead this team to an unforgettable season. That would be a great legacy."

North Carolina State University Athletics

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Shawn Boone

Bradley Chubb

B.J. Hill

Justin Jones

Airius Moore

Mike Stevens

Kentavius Street

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