Game time firsts
Dad’s influence kept LB Curtis Bolton fighting
Curtis Bolton is a first-time starter for OU and Big 12 defensive player of the week.
NORMAN — About a year ago, Oklahoma linebacker Curtis Bolton III was at his lowest.
Just when things were starting to finally turn his way — in the linebacker’s fourth season at Oklahoma — that promise crumbled. An ankle injury suffered at Baylor ended his season and nearly ended his time in Norman.
Bolton would lie in bed in the weeks after the injury and wonder, “Is it worth it anymore?”
“When you just get hammered with bad thing after bad thing, it’s hard to wake up, it’s hard to get out of bed,” Bolton said. “Nobody likes to talk about depression because everybody wants to be a macho man but at the end of the day, it makes it worse when you don’t address it.
“There are some days in the past three or four years where I just did not want to get out of bed but hit my snooze button and next thing I know I’m waking up and it’s just like I have this whole different mentality.”
That different mentality was often thanks to his thoughts turning to his dad, Curtis Bolton Jr.
“He taught me the values of life — that no one is going to give you anything in this life and it’s your job to take it,” Bolton III said. “No situation in life is ever going to be ideal. It’s never going to be exactly how you want it. You’ve just got to learn from that.”
It was those lessons that kept rolling over in Bolton’s head in the aftermath of the injury and kept him from leaving or getting into a destructive frame of mind.
Bolton Jr. died of cancer when his son was a freshman in high school in Murrieta, California.
“That was my superhero. That was my role model. He did a hell of a job when he was here and it extended into the afterlife,” Bolton said. “I know he’s looking down on me.”
Bolton Jr. was his son’s first football coach.
“My dad was a very giving guy,” Bolton’s older sister, Whitney Bolton, said. “He definitely saw the potential in Buzzy (Bolton’s nickname) and he always pushed him and my brothers.
“Once he passed away it definitely took a toll on him but just knowing that my dad’s there and he sees him, I think he’ll get through it.”
Now, Bolton remembers his father by the maroon bracelet he
It’s kind of weird how me, her, and my dad are like the same person. It’s a good thing for both of us. We can fall back on each other and it’s just like it’s all love.”
Curtis Bolton III
wears around his left wrist and with the way he tries to respond to circumstance in his life.
The bracelet is for multiple myeloma awareness and says “no one fights alone.”
“The kid’s overcame a lot in his life and had a lot of adversity here — some of it his fault, as he would admit, and he’s also had some tough luck too,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said. “But he’s just grown a lot.
“He’s just in so much of a better place. And maybe having it taken away and having to go through some of those frustrations led him back to being at a good point right now. He fought his way back.”
Sometimes, thoughts of his father aren’t quite enough. That’s when he turns to Whitney.
“She’s kind of my rock,” Bolton said. “She’s the person I call when I’m lost and I just don’t know what to do and I just can’t seem to get out of my head.
“It's kind of weird how me, her, and my dad are like the same person. It's a good thing for both of us. We can fall back on each other and it's just like it's all love.”
Not only did Bolton return for his senior season, he beat out Caleb Kelly to earn a start in the opener, recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown and earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“Curtis made some plays. That’s what he does,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “He runs around and plays with great effort. He’s made himself a better player here of late.”