SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers suspended wide receiver David Boston on Thursday for one game due to "conduct detrimental to the team."
"There were a number of different circumstances that have taken
place, and you all are aware of several of them," Schottenheimer
said during a news conference. "It was time. I'm a tolerant guy,
to a point."
Boston, who was sent home before practice Wednesday, will not practice with the team for the remainder of the week and will not be paid for Sunday's game in Oakland, the team announced.
"This one-game suspension is the result of a pattern of conduct in which David failed to comply with team policy," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "This series of recent incidents -- including some in which David has missed or been late to mandatory team activities -- needed to be addressed."
"We have certain standards that we set and we're going to have
our people, coaches and players alike adhere to those policies and
standards," Schottenheimer said. "The conduct is not acceptable.
This doesn't make David Boston a bad person. I think he's a good
person. But we do things differently here maybe than they do other
places."
The suspension will cost Boston at least $32,352, or one-seventeenth of his $550,000 base salary for 2003. His base is so low in the first year of the contract because Boston received a $4.55 million signing bonus. It is not known if the Chargers included contract language that would penalize Boston even further, or permit the franchise to attempt to recover a portion of his signing bonus, for such breaches of team policy.
Boston was one of the marquee free agents this offseason. He signed a seven-year, $47 million contract that includes $12 million of guarantees. The Chargers had hoped that Boston, who weighs 247 and runs a 4.3 40, could break big plays when defenses ganged up to stop halfback LaDainian Tomlinson.
However, he's made nearly as much news off the field as on it since joining the Chargers.
The relationship between the Boston and the team has been unraveling for weeks. His suspension could be considered an accumulation of incidents such as being late for meetings and not conforming to team rules and policies.
On Sunday, before the Chargers' 24-10 loss to Baltimore, Boston had a verbal exchange with an injured teammate, receiver Reche Caldwell, but the incident was not considered major. Then, in his return to action, Boston caught six passes for 91 yards. But on Tuesday, he had a run-in with strength coach Dave Redding.
The previous Sunday, when he sat out a 37-13 loss to Denver with a bruised heel, Boston was caught leaving the bench area before the end of the game. He also declined to join his teammates in the locker room for Schottenheimer's postgame speech. He declined to speak to reporters after the game.
Boston has proven an elusive figure who rarely spends time with teammates, preferring instead to meet with his personal trainer for hours every day. He has bulked up considerably in the last two seasons, making many speculate about his possible use of steroids, but he has repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
Information from ESPN.com senior writer Len Pasquarelli was used in this report.