Mother of ineligible Chicago QB files suit claiming he was banned out ‘of spite’

The mother of a former quarterback at a public high school in Chicago has filed suit against the school district claiming that her son was ruled ineligible out of pure spite, and that the district's insistence on keeping him out of action will likely ruin any opportunity he would have at earning a collegiate scholarship.

As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Beverly Boone has filed a suit in circuit court claiming that Chicago Public Schools acted maliciously in declaring her son, Darrien Boone, ineligible to compete for Chicago (Ill.) Hales Franciscan High for his senior season. The high school senior had played at Chicago (Ill.) Fenger High School during his prior three seasons, but was pulled out of the school immediately after the team's playoff game on Oct. 29, 2011 because her son had a firearm wielded at him at a McDonalds near the school following that playoff appearance.

The elder Boone insists it was purely those concerns about safety that led her to withdraw her talented son from the school in favor of a safer location. The star passer spent the remainder of the 2011-12 school year at Chicago (Ill.) Vocational Career Academy, but enrolled at Hales Franciscan for his final school year.

In theory, Boone is in an envious position, having committed to play collegiately for Central Michigan University. Still, his family told the Sun-Times that the very scholarship which should put them all at ease is in threat if the younger Boone is not allowed to compete during his final season.

With that in mind, the aim of the suit -- which claims that CPS declared him ineligible "as a matter of spite" -- is simply to grant an emergency injunction which would allow Boone to return to the field.

At the moment, Darrien Boone is still stuck on the sideline, waiting to return to the game he loves, and it appears he'll stay there unless a judge agrees with the case that Boone's mother is now desperate to make against the city of Chicago's school system.

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