Desert bloom - Rising Star: David Boston - Cover Story

DAVID BOSTON ALWAYS HAD potential. After setting 11 school records in his three years at Ohio State, the wide receiver was the eighth player taken in the 1999 draft, by the Arizona Cardinals.

Boston's first two seasons in the NFL were pretty good statistically--40 catches for 473 yards in 1999 and 71 catches for 1,156 yards in 2000--but he still wasn't the receiver the Cardinals thought he should be. He didn't always play hard and tended to showboat.

But this year, at age 23, Boston seems to be maturing--and the Cardinals are noticing.

"It's obvious when you see his effort every play," says Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer. "It goes to the smallest things, being on time, getting everything done fight. He's really grown up. He would go hard, but then he would take a couple of plays off here and there. Now I think he's learning that every play could be the one. We've been waiting for that day, and now it's here."

Says Boston of his own maturity: "I've learned that you need more than your athletic ability. You can be decent or good, but you're never going to be great. You're not going to be a guy who can take your team to the Super Bowl, just being an athlete. You've got to do the little things right."

Boston likes the offense that has been installed on the Cardinals, and he says he's also learned a lot from new receivers coach Jerry Sullivan. "I love this offense," Boston says. "I like all the movement, all the down-the-field passing."

Now, it seems, Boston finally is on the verge of cashing in on his vast potential.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group