Peny Boone Marks Fateful Time With Terps Pledge
By Bill Wagner
Peny Boone committed to play football for Maryland after taking an unofficial visit to the College Park campus on June 16.
Boone spent an entire day getting to know the coaching staff better and hanging out with players, going to dinner with running back Javon Leake and wide receiver Jeshaun Jones, among others.
The running back from Martin Luther King High in Detroit was so impressed with the overall atmosphere surrounding the Maryland football program that he decided around midnight to give a verbal pledge to Head Coach Mike Locksley the next day.
It was somewhat symbolic that Boone solidified his Division I football future just in advance of June 28. That date will always hold special meaning for the four-star prospect, who garnered nearly two dozen scholarship offers.
Boone lost his older brother and mentor on June 28, 2016 when Zurlon Tipton accidentally shot himself in the stomach at a car dealership in Michigan. Tipton, who played briefly in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, was removing a duffle bag containing two guns from his car when one discharged. The 26-year-old Detroit native was taken to the hospital and died shortly afterwards.
“It’s something I think about all the time,” Boone said of Tipton’s tragic death. “Hardest day of my life. We were really, really close.”
Tipton was a star running back at Sterling Heights Parkway Christian and earned a scholarship to Central Michigan. The 6-foot, 231-pound power back rushed for 2,463 yards and 34 touchdowns during a decorated collegiate career, earning All-Mid American Conference honors and the Herb Deromedi Award as CMU Most Valuable Player in 2012.
Tipton signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and made the 53-man active roster that season. He became the backup behind Dan Herron and scored his first rushing touchdown in the AFC Championship game loss to the New England Patriots.
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Boone followed in his older brother’s footsteps as a running back and considered him a role model, both on and off the football field. Whenever Tipton returned to Detroit from Central Michigan, he would make time to talk about football and life with his younger brother.
“Zurlon played a very important role in my upbringing and my football career,” said Boone, who remembers many days they spent together at the local bowling alley. “We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun, but we also had a lot of serious conversations about different stuff.”
Tipton imparted all sorts of acquired knowledge about being a tailback at the highest level, making sure his younger brother understood the attention to detail that is required.
“My brother would tell me that in college and the NFL, the games come faster. You have to hit the hole with the right type of speed or you won’t hit the hole at all because it closes so fast,” Boone recalled. “My brother was always teaching, always pushing me. He wanted me to know how things were done.”
Martin Luther King offensive coordinator Terel Patrick said it’s almost uncanny how much Boone resembles Tipton in terms of size, style and appearance. Boone, like Tipton, is a big back with surprising speed and quickness.
Boone has been likened to a pair of current NFL stars – Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans and Eddie Lacy of the Green Bay Packers.
“I’m a strong runner with a burst. I can run through you or around you,” Boone said.
George Boone agrees with Patrick’s assessment that his two sons are very similar in terms of the skills and attributes they bring to the running back position, which is not all that surprising.
“Peny grew up watching Zurlon play high school, college and pro ball. I’m sure he picked up a few things along the way,” the elder Boone said. “Peny really looked up to Zurlon so it kind of makes sense he would try to emulate the way he ran.”
George Boone III grew up in Saginaw, Michigan as part of an athletic family. George was a standout point guard in basketball at Saginaw High while his younger brother played 10 years in the NFL. Alfonso Boone, an imposing 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive end, was a seventh round draft choice of the Detroit Lions and also played with the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.
George Boone III moved his family to the East side of Detroit while pursuing maintenance work with the automotive industry. He has four sons and said all could have been Division I athletes, but only Zurlon and Peny “chose the right way to go.”
“Zurlon and Peny are 10 years apart in age, but they had a special relationship,” George said. “You would never know Zurlon was an NFL player because when he came home he’d be outside playing basketball with Peny or just hanging out watching sports. They had a real tight bond and it definitely hit Peny hard when Zurlon passed.”
Boone started playing football at the age of six and was always a running back, shredding defenses while playing for the St. Clair Shores Green Hornets and Grosse Point Red Barons. He initially attended Fitzgerald High in Warren, Michigan – a suburb of Detroit. He rushed for 820 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore, earning the attention of Division I schools across the country.
Success did not come as easy after Boone transferred to Martin Luther King as a junior. Head coach Ty Spencer had watched film of Boone and knew the talent was there, but it was not evident early on during the 2018 season.
“Peny had a learning curve he had to go through. At Fitzgerald, he could get the ball, break outside and be gone,” Spencer said. “King plays at a lot higher level and Peny had to adjust to the caliber of competition. He also had to buy into the way we run this program and what we expect out of our players.”
For a good portion of last season, the light bulb did not come on for the youngster. Spencer could not believe he had a 6-foot-1, 225-pound Division I prospect and was still having to use a three-back rotation.
“I’ll admit my patience was running thin and I was getting frustrated because I knew what Peny was capable of doing,” Spencer said. “Finally, toward the middle of the season, Peny started getting more comfortable. Once that boy got it, there was no holding back. Our offensive coordinator started letting Peny go and he was just phenomenal the rest of the way.”
Boone wound up rushing for 961 yards and 11 touchdowns with most of the damage coming during the playoffs. He gained 634 yards in five games as Martin Luther King captured the Division 3 state championship by routing Muskegon, 41-25.
“Peny was outstanding in the postseason. We barely beat River Rouge 7-6 and he helped run out the clock with gaining some tough inside yards,” Spencer said. “Peny was a man among boys versus Warren Woods, running for 258 yards and three touchdowns. I thought we was also exceptional in the Muskegon game, picking up big first downs and breaking a bunch of long runs to either score or set up touchdowns.”
Boone has been clocked at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash and Spencer said opponents constantly underestimate how well the big guy moves once he gets going.
“People don’t give Peny credit for his speed. We see him out-running defensive backs all the time,” Spencer said. “He’s also a doggone good receiver. Whenever we flank him out, Peny runs good routes and comes down with the ball.”
Boone was named first team All-City by Detroit Free Press and first team All-State by the Associated Press. Spencer believes his back should be one of the top candidates for the Gatorade Player of the Year Award in Michigan this season.
“Peny had a fantastic off-season and has gotten a lot stronger and faster,” Spencer said. “I think if Peny stays healthy he’s going to have a phenomenal senior season. He closed out last season with a lot of confidence and I expect that to carry over.”
Spencer is pushing Boone to take his game to the next level by studying film and focusing on the mental side of the game. It’s not just about running and catching the ball at the Power Five Conference level and Boone must become a better pass blocker.
“Physically, Peny has all the tools it takes. Now it’s about getting the mental part down pat and that comes from watching a lot of tape,” said Spencer, in his fourth season as head coach at Martin Luther King.
Spencer is a graduate of Martin Luther King and initially joined the football coaching staff in 2010. A perennial powerhouse and state championship contender, King has produced three recent NFL players in defensive tackles Kevin Vickerson (Michigan State) and Anthony Adams (Penn State) along with cornerback Avonte Maddox (Pittsburgh).
Michigan and Michigan State both recruited Boone, whose other Big Ten Conference offers came from Indiana, Iowa and Purdue. Boone said he’s never rooted for any one college football program and was not interested in Michigan or Michigan State.
“I wanted to get away from home and Maryland is in a good location between Baltimore and D.C.,” he said.
Maryland initially entered the picture during the previous coaching regime, but the mutual interest picked up after Locksley was hired as head coach. Spencer had an existing relationship with Cory Robinson and that helped the Terps in their pursuit of Boone.
“I’d always heard good things about Maryland as a school. It’s a very respected university with a diverse student body,” Spencer said. “Maryland has a lot to offer and I encouraged Peny to check it out.”
Boone met with Locksley, offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery and running backs coach Elijah Brooks during the day-long visit on June 16. He attended an invitation-only barbecue for recruits and liked the family atmosphere that existed.
“When I got up there, everyone was just keeping it 100 percent with me. I was impressed with Coach Locksley’s vision for the program and Coach Montgomery explained how I would be used within the offense,” Boone said. “Maryland just felt like home and I felt like I belonged there. I wanted to get this recruiting stuff out of the way so I could focus on my senior season so it just made sense to pull the trigger.”