EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Before Alex Boone ground his knuckles into NFL turf preparing to wrestle defensive linemen, he battled an opponent of an entirely different nature: alcohol addiction.
When Boone was just 14 years old, he had his first drink. It didn’t take long for things to escalate.
“It got out of control early,” said Boone, who turned 30 earlier this month.
Boone’s nearly decade-long struggle finally came to an end when the 49ers took a chance and signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2009. As he slipped through seven rounds of the draft, Boone realized that a career in the game he loved would slip through his fingers as well if he didn’t make a change.