Tony Boles

Boles was arrested in Ypsilanti, Michigan on September 9, 2007 and pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and concealing stolen property. He was sentenced to serve two to five years in prison for receiving and concealing stolen property in violation of his parole in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. He had previously served six months in prison for unarmed robbery before he was paroled in 2005. Boles' most recent infraction occurred when with an outstanding warrant, he provided a false name to officers investigating why he was blocking traffic with a car they would find out had been stolen from Detroit, Michigan. He had been attempting to converse with sidewalk pedestrians while purchasing drugs. Boles lost his son, Christopher, to a traffic accident at the age of 17 in February 2016.

Physically, in 2006, Boles was described as starting to gray, missing two top front teeth and suffering from an arthritic knee. He stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 190 pounds (86 kg; 14 st). He had a 21-year-old daughter and kept in touch with his mother. His stepfather had died in 1994.

Boles discovered at age 27 that he had not been reared by his biological father. He soon thereafter started using cocaine. After football ended, he worked various jobs such as construction and working at a grocery store. He then started selling drugs and then using his product. This led him to a series of arrests, prison stays, and homeless periods. In 2003, two former teammates tracked him down and set him up with a job at a car wash. However, Boles fell back into his criminal ways. Boles was convicted of robbing an elderly couple and was sentenced to three to fifteen years in prison. He was released into a work program. He also found himself at the Elmhurst Home, Inc. substance abuse treatment center in 2006. The residential treatment center has since 1972 been used to host about 100 recovering addicts at a time providing Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meeting places, military-style roll calls, daily tasks, and progress logs.

On November 11, 1994, Boles was arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and petty theft and wound up in jail in Naples, Florida.

In 1992, he played with the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football for most of the season until he got mixed up in criminal activity. At first, he mysteriously disappeared from practice on a day of random drug testing. Before the disappearance, his World League performance had enabled Boles to get signed as a free agent by the Cowboys in early April 1992, but by June the team released him. He finished with 13 carries for 41 yards.

Boles was represented by agent Thom Darden and had been projected as a first round draft pick before his injury. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the eleventh round (291st overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft as part of head coach Jimmy Johnson's rebuilding efforts. He was part of a Cowboy draft class that included three first round selections (Russell Maryland, Alvin Harper, and Kelvin Pritchett), eleven picks in the first four rounds and eighteen overall selections. Boles was assigned rookie initiation duties of washing Emmitt Smith's Pathfinder, but instead of washing the car disappeared with it for two days while bingeing. He eventually tested positive and was released by the Cowboys. The Cowboys placed him on the reserve non-football injury list on August 20.

In 1990, Boles attempted a comeback as a wide receiver to no avail and spent his senior season in rehabilitation. Jon Vaughn and Ricky Powers carried the load at tailback in his place. In retrospect, Boles sometimes regretted not having gone to one of the historically black colleges and universities. He dropped out of classes because he says "didn't want to be crutching around campus" and he eventually stopped rehabbing his knee and became irregular with his workouts. After the injury, he dropped out of school and fell onto hard times.

Boles starred for coach Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan where he was twice named All-Big Ten on repeat conference champions in 1988 and 1989 and named the team most valuable player for the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. These were Schembechler's final two seasons at Michigan. With Boles, the team won the January 1, 1989 Rose Bowl, but with him on the sidelines they lost the January 1, 1990 contest. Boles shared the 1988 Big Ten rushing title with Anthony Thompson. Boles won the title for conference games only, while Thompson won the title for all games played. After redshirting in 1986, he was limited to 4 games by a hand injury, while playing primarily as a kickoff returner.

During the 1989 season, his carries were somewhat limited due to a pinched nerve. Entering the final game he had accumulated 822 yards (752 m) rushing in nine games on 130 rushes, Schembechler was starting to support his Heisman Trophy candidacy:

As a sophomore in 1988, he rushed for 1,408 yards (1,287 m), finishing second in the Big 10 conference and fourth in the Nation in rushing, becoming the tenth player in Michigan history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single-season. He also finished second in the conference with a 25.2-yard kickoff return average. Against the University of Wisconsin, he rushed for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 10 carries. Against Wake Forest University, he had a career-high 213 rushing yards on 33 carries.

Tony Boles (born December 11, 1967) is a retired professional American football running back and kick returner who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). After starring for the Michigan Wolverines football, where he once led the Big Ten Conference in rushing, he went on to a scandal ridden life. His college football career was ended prematurely due to a knee injury. He has been sentenced to prison multiple times and placed in homes for addicts due to cocaine abuse.