<p>some insight into the choice faced by top athletic recruits between full-ride scholarship offers to big programs and non-scholarship offers by the ivies. </p>
<p>He said all along that getting the best possible education was his priority, which isn't unusual for a student-athlete of Matt Boyer's caliber. </p>
<p>But the 6-4, 260-pound defensive end from Gov. Livingston High of Berkeley Heights took it a step further. </p>
<p>When the Division 1 scholarship offers started pouring in, the senior strongly considered Wake Forest and Northwestern because they were the top two schools academically of the 14 that offered scholarships to him. </p>
<p>But Boyer, a First Team All-State player, wasn't just paying lip service to education. He realized that if academics really were his top priority, then a better option was available to him. </p>
<p>So instead of choosing from a list that also included Michigan, Rutgers and Virginia, Boyer will sign a national letter of intent this morning to play -- and pay -- at Princeton. </p>
<p>"There really is societal pressure to play big-time football if you have a chance, and I definitely felt it," Boyer said. "People say, 'Why not take the free education?' You could argue that getting a degree from Northwestern or Wake Forest is as good as getting one from Princeton, but they're not. </p>
<p>"Some of the Division 1 coaches I talked to wondered whether football was important to me. I love football; it doesn't have to do with that. I kind of realized during the recruiting process that there is a lot of hype, but only so many guys go to the NFL and it's the degree that matters. If I am a good enough player, I still have a chance from Princeton, and if not, I will have the best degree possible." </p>
<p>Boyer, who has a 3.75 grade-point average and scored a 1,370 (old scale) on the SAT, didn't start playing football until the seventh grade, when his rapidly growing body finally caused his mother Carol to relent and allow it. </p>
<p>He showed some natural ability from the start, but his development took time. He did not see varsity action as a sophomore, which is a big reason his parents were so surprised by a phone call they received from Gov. Livingston coach Terry Hanratty about one year ago. </p>
<p>"When Coach Hanratty called me to tell me he was being recruited by Division 1 schools, it was definitely a surprise," Carol Boyer said. "Then things started coming out in the papers, and I said, 'He's that good?' I had no idea." </p>
<p>He proved worthy of the attention as a senior, recording 22 sacks and 80 tackles in 11 games for Gov. Livingston (8-3), which made it all the more difficult to choose between big-time college football and an expensive Ivy League education. </p>
<p>Knowing how important education was to their son, Carol Boyer, a nurse, and Peter Boyer, a district manager for a pharmaceutical company, took some of the pressure off him. </p>
<p>"We told him to take the financial part of it out of the mix. We thought he would make a better decision if he didn't think about how this affects us," Carol Boyer said. "It would have been the easy way out to encourage him to go Division 1. He will get some money, but we are going to be sucking wind paying for this." </p>
<p>The Boyers made lists of pros and cons and visited as many schools as they could, taking official visits to Wake Forest, Northwestern, Connecticut, Princeton and Harvard and unofficial trips to Rutgers, Syracuse, William & Mary and Virginia. </p>
<p>It's extremely rare for a player of Boyer's caliber to choose the Ivy League, which is why some schools didn't take his Ivy League talk seriously. In fact, Michigan and Virginia came on strong only after he verbally committed to Princeton in late December. </p>
<p>"You talk to Division 1 coaches and they make you feel like going to Princeton is like playing for a high school team," Carol Boyer said. "He really agonized and agonized over this and we did all of our homework to make sure we exposed him to all the information. He is very passionate about education and feels that the Ivy League education will open doors in the future."</p>