Boston College ‘Runner’ Wasn’t Fast Enough

A student who says he placed bets for five Boston College football players had to be hospitalized last year after he was beaten by a New York bookmaker over a bad debt, his father said.

His father told the Boston Globe the student owed $4,000 when the bookie beat him with a two-by-four.

To save their son from further harm, the parents made four weekly payments of $1,000 to a man they met outside a Brighton bar that is off limits to Boston College athletes.

“I met a guy there every week for a month,” said the father, whom the Globe did not identify. “I had to pay him $4,000 to keep my son from getting killed.”

The Big East team has been embroiled in a gambling controversy that led to the suspension of 13 football players last week. Two of the players allegedly bet against Boston College in its Oct. 26 game against Syracuse.

The student wouldn’t name the bookmaker who beat him but described him as a “big version of a runner.” He also would not describe his connection to the bookmaker.

However, the student said he gave his gambling ledgers to authorities, showing he placed hundreds of dollars worth of bets with an off-campus bookmaker for several Boston College football players.

Boston College students were also running bets for students at other Boston area universities, the father said.