LaBoy brothers back on same team

[Scott]

http://www.marinij.com/sports/ci_3421018

LaBoy brothers back on same team
Dave Albee


When they were young, before they were even teenagers and Marin-boys-do-good success stories, C.J. and Travis LaBoy were already scheming their future together in football. It became apparent the direction that they were headed.
The brothers would tell their mother they were riding their bicycles to soccer practice, but discreetly take a detour and peddle off to Pop Warner football practice. It was their little secret until mom found out and inevitably caved in to their childhood wishes.

Soccer was their diversion. Their true destination, their destiny, was the football field. The LaBoy brothers never talked about being firemen, policemen or the next Pele. They wanted to be football players.

Now look at them. Travis, C.J.'s 24-year-old 6-foot-3, 253-pound "little" brother, just finished his second season in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans as a starting defensive end. And C.J. is just beginning a new career representing NFL players as a senior associate in the football division of Octagon Sports and Entertainment.

Now get this: C.J. is in the final process of paperwork that will make him Travis' agent and put him in charge of Travis' football career off the field.

Funny how that worked out. The family that bikes together, hikes together, if you will.

"He kind of went his way and I went my way and our roads met," Travis said recently from the family home in Larkspur.

"We've taken care of each other all our life," C.J. said. "It's not so much a big brother-little brother thing. It's kind of a partnership in life. We've been through everything."

They've been through a difficult family divorce. They've been through the awkward years when they were sometimes perceived to be neighborhood bullies though they were merely bigger than most of their friends their age. They've been through the pain of separation when Travis went off to college at Utah State then transferred to Hawaii while C.J. was trying to find his niche at St. Mary's.

"He always has kind of guided me and made sure I've stayed on track," said Travis, who's recovering from right shoulder surgery. "He's been really instrumental in my success."

It was C.J. who helped convince then Marin Catholic High football coach Mark Herring that Travis should be on the varsity team with him. The LaBoy brothers were great as a tandem, whether it was on the football field or in an impromptu wrestling ring.

Once, while attending a premiere water skiing event on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the LaBoy brothers provided the entertainment when the show was postponed by rain. They started wrestling in the mud to the delight to the spectators who came to see water skiing.

In real life, the LaBoys are from a football-oriented family. Their father, Cliff, was an All-American honorable mention


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defensive lineman for the University of Hawaii who spent a couple of years in the NFL. Their mother, Angela Curley, is now a board member for the Professional Football Players Mothers Association. Their step father, Art, helped coached the boys in Pop Warner and their step brother Preston played for the Southern Marin Chiefs Pop Warner team the past three seasons. In fact, benched during a practice last year, Preston argued with his coach afterward that he's a "third-generation defensive end" and has a "legacy" to fulfill.

Though Travis has bought a house in Nashville and is getting married in March, C.J. wants his brother to stay involved with the communities in which Travis evolved as a football player. Marin Catholic has plans to retire his No. 89 jersey in the near future.

Travis' No. 91 rookie jersey with the Titans has been retired, too. It hangs in C.J.'s office in Walnut Creek. C.J. also has every game Travis has played in college and in the NFL on tape. He tries to call Travis before every Titans game to wish him luck and tell him he loves him.

C.J., who's also a certified strength and conditioning specialist, started at Octagon as an intern out of St. Mary's. He was certified as an agent last fall and graduated from USF with a masters in sports management in December. But C.J. couldn't attend his graduation day on the Hilltop. He was on a client recruiting assignment for Octagon in Syracuse and didn't fly back to San Francisco until later that night.

"I didn't get to graduate but I got the graduation party," C.J. joked.

He will turn his undivided attention to his brother soon. Travis overcame a sports hernia surgery last off season to come on strong at the end of this season. He had a quarterback sack in three of his final four games to finish with 6.5 QB sacks, second most on the Titans defense.

It's C.J. job now to give Travis sound advice regarding his future in football. That's nothing new.

"I've probably given him way more advice than he's asked for," C.J. said.

Travis, though, has listened most of the time. He said he still adheres to the best advice C.J. has ever given him.

"Do what makes you happy," Travis said.

To the LaBoy brothers, that eventually and ultimately leads them to football. It's their destiny.

Contact Dave Albee by e-mail at dalbee@marinij.com

[BKWarrior]

They may be tight as bros, but I would never mix family and business.

[H20]

Yeah I can hear it now "If you don't ask for that extra 200 grand then I'm telling dad"

[lewpac]

Two responses, two not-so-flattering takes on this.
C'mon, what a gig. How many brothers get to partake in such an adventure. I wish myself and my younger or older brother could've done something in our adult years, give something a shot, something to tell tales about to our grandkids. Instead we went our vastly seperate ways and our only relationship is long distance phone calls a couple times a year.
Hawaii is and should be proud of T. LaBoy, he looks great as a starter in that #91 Titan uni. People here, who celebrate "Ohana" should also be supportive and proud that these two guys are knee-deep in the NFL and it's culture together. They'll be telling taller tales than me and my brothers will be telling years from now.

[BKWarrior]

Or we could be hearin that they have not sopken for years.
I hope that does not happen. I call my lil sister my lil Angel, and I couldn't bare not talkin to her anymore. She's a strong part of my life (though right now she's back in NewYork) Hope their Bonds stays strong. Not just bros, but like best friends.