Aaron Boone (American football)
Aaron Rostenbach Boone (born January 13, 1978) is a former American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europe League (NFLE) and Arena Football League (AFL). After playing college football for the University of Kentucky, he was signed by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) in 2003, Chicago Bears in 2004 and Carolina Panthers in 2005. He also played for the Berlin Thunder of NFLE, and the Philadelphia Soul, Kansas City Brigade, and Utah Blaze of the AFL. In 2011, before suffering a career ending knee surgery, Boone became the all-time Utah Blaze franchise leading wide receiver in all categories including receptions, yards and touchdowns.
High school years
Boone attended Millard High School in Fillmore, Utah,[1] where he was an All-State selection in baseball, basketball and football. In his senior year he led his team as quarterback to a 2-A state championship title in 1995. Served as student body president.
College career
Boone played collegiate football at the University of Kentucky,[2] where as a senior he led the team in all receiving categories with 41 receptions for 706 yards and 10 touchdowns. He led the nation in Receptions-to-Touchdowns ration (minimum of 10 touchdowns) with 4:1. He also tied for the most receiving touchdowns in the SEC. Played in the famed "Bluegrass Miracle" game at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002 vs top ranked LSU, Boone's incredible performance with 3 receptions for 112 receiving yards and 3 TD's was overshadowed by the last second Hail Mary Pass which won the game and later won an ESPY Award. He graduated with a degree in Business Management and a minor in Spanish. Previous to transferring to Kentucky in 2000, Boone earned First-team All-America by the JC Gridwire and All-America by the National Junior College Athletic Association at Snow College in Ephraim Utah. He caught 81 passes for 1,505 yards and 19 touchdowns in his Sophomore year.
Professional career
National Football League/NFL Europe
Boone signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003. The following year, he was signed by the Chicago Bears and allocated to NFL Europe where he played for the Berlin Thunder. Boone had 13 receptions for 221 yards and four touchdowns. He led the league in touchdown-to-catch ratio (30 percent) and ranked third in receiving touchdowns. Berlin finished the season with a record of 9–1 and defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy 30–24 in World Bowl XII. In 2005, Boone signed with the Carolina Panthers and was again allocated to NFL Europe. He played in 10 regular season games for the Thunder and led the league in receptions with 43, ranked second in touchdowns with five, second in yards with 582, and fifth in points scored with 30. He helped the team to a berth in World Bowl XIII. After the NFL Europe season, he returned to Carolina and spent time with the Panthers until he suffered a season ending shoulder injury.
Arena Football League
Boone joined the Philadelphia Soul in 2006. Later that season, he was traded to the Kansas City Brigade, where he was named to the AFL All-Rookie team. He recorded 66 receptions for 748 yards and 19 touchdowns as a rookie in only seven games.
Utah Blaze
In 2007, Boone signed with the Utah Blaze, where he played in only seven games, due to an early season ankle injury. For the season he recorded 32 receptions for 420 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2008, Boone completed his second year with the Blaze finishing third in the entire AFL with 135 receptions and eighth in the AFL in yards with 1,527. He also added 23 touchdowns during 16 games.
In 2010, Boone recorded a career-best season, earning him All-Arena League honors. He played in 16 games where he led the Blaze in all receiving statistical categories. Boone finished third in the AFL with 146 catches, fourth in touchdowns with 46, and eighth in yards with 1,448. This was the second straight season Boone had tallied over 135 receptions, 1,400 yards and 25 touchdowns. During a nationally televised game (NFL Network) versus the Milwaukee Iron on May 14, Boone scored a franchise best seven touchdowns in one game.
In 2011 at the age of 33 Boone was on pace to shatter the AFL single season receiving records in receptions, yards and touchdowns until half way through the season when he suffered a career ending knee injury. Prior to the injury, Boone did became the All-Time Utah Blaze franchise leading wide receiver in all categories including receptions, yards and touchdowns.
Personal
In his free time, Boone enjoys his family time and eating, traveling, looking for deals, scuba diving, and ping-pong. His favorite sports team growing up was the Chicago Bears and his favorite athletes are Walter Payton and Andre Dawson. Boone is the sixth of 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls. He is from an athletic family; his father played football at BYU, his younger brothers Jesse and Jason both were star offensive lineman for Utah and were starters on the historic "BCS Buster" team of 2004, they both went on to play professionally as well. His older sister Amy played basketball and volleyball at George Mason University as well as semi-pro basketball for the San Diego Wave of the NWBL.
Boone and his wife, Lindsay, currently reside in Heber City, Utah and have three young children; Kaiya, Dawson and Rowen.
See also
Reference
- ↑ Kyle Goon (July 19, 2011). "Football: Fillmore roots helped Utah Blaze's Boone brothers build pro careers". www.sltrib.com. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ↑