SEATTLE — Dorson Boyce isn’t one of those guys who has a talent for remembering dates. He can’t tell you what day of the week Christmas will fall on this year, nor what the weather was like on Sept. 16, 2008.
But there are two dates that he can rattle off without hesitation.
One is June 20, 2009, the day he first arrived at the University of Washington campus. That’s when Boyce achieved his dream of playing Division I football and, in a way, started a new life.
The other date? May 2, 2008.
It’s a day Boyce could never possibly erase from his memory. It’s the day when Boyce watched his best friend die in his arms.
Of all the newcomers on the UW football team, Boyce might carry the heaviest load. The junior tight end from Queens, N.Y., by way of Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif., realizes just how lucky he is to be playing football at all.
His best friend and former teammate won’t get that chance.
“He had everything going for him,” Boyce said of Tau Sudlow, a roommate, friend and fellow New York native who played offensive line for the Hancock football team in 2006 and ’07. “He had worked so hard since he had come into the JC, and then he died.
“That changed me. I just didn’t want to take anything for granted.”
Weeks before earning his Associate’s Degree in the spring of 2007, Sudlow was attending a get-together to celebrate signing a letter-of-intent to play college football at Tennessee State University. Boyce was among a small group of people attending the party on May 2 of last year.
Boyce recalled sitting on a couch when he saw his best friend across the room, going outside to use his cell phone.
“From the living room, I could see him fighting with another guy, and I heard a pop,” Boyce said after Tuesday’s football practice at UW. “When it happened, I came to him.”
Helpless, Boyce knelt down and held his friend but could do nothing to save him.
“It was kind of a graphic scene,” said Boyce, who was 19 at the time, one year younger than Sudlow. “It was the kind of scene you’d see in a movie.”
A friendship that had lasted only a few years was cut short, but won’t soon be forgotten. The two first met when Boyce’s Bayside High team beat Sudlow’s South Shore team, and they eventually vowed to attend the same junior college while playing alongside each other in the annual Empire Challenge all-star game.
Every time Boyce scored a touchdown last fall, he honored his former roommate and teammate by doing a hand gesture to signify Sudlow’s No. 58. He also plans to get a tattoo in the likeness of his fallen friend across his back.
“It was basically one of those stories: wrong place, wrong time,” Boyce said. “He was a loving guy, cool with everyone else on the team and everyone. When he passed, it hit everyone hard — not just the team, but the administration at the school, the coaching staff, even the Tennessee State coaching staff.”
In April of this year, 20-year-old Tyrel Charles Jordan was to stand trial for murder in a California court. No record of the trial’s resolution was available via the internet.
For Boyce, all that is left is the nightmare that was May 2, 2008.
“Never forget the day,” Boyce said. “It changed my life.”
And never again will Boyce take anything for granted.
Of note
Defensive linemen Darrion Jones (bruised knee/ankle) and De’Shon Matthews (bruised knee) continued to sit out practice on Tuesday. Starting left guard Gregory Christine also has been sidelined this week, but coach Steve Sarkisian said earlier that the lineman is just getting routine rest. … Several Huskies, including running back Chris Polk and cornerback Quinton Richardson, will not be made available to the media this week. Both players made comments about USC earlier this week that did not sit well with the UW coaching staff. … Starting defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu did not attend Tuesday’s practice because of a death in the family, but he’s expected back today.
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