When he was in sixth grade, Miles Boykin pulled a fast one.

If he had been caught back then, Boykin would have gotten in a ton of trouble with his mother, Felicia. Intentional grounding might have been in his future at home but not on the football field.

Instead, the Tinley Park native and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver ended up being caught for the stunt in 2020 — 12 years later. But he more than made up for it — helping his mother make history in the process.

Back then, Boykin used his mother’s credit card for an Xbox Live subscription. She had been paying for it all these years.

Boykin, a Providence graduate who went on to star for Notre Dame and became famous for a one-handed catch against LSU in the 2018 Citrus Bowl, was caught red-handed this year and tweeted about it.

Xbox, Microsoft and EA Sports reached out to Miles, and on Sept. 9, Felicia was surprised by her older son, George, with a package that included a commemorative Madden NFL 21 video game with her photo on the cover.

She became the first woman featured on a Madden cover. She also received other goodies including an Xbox One controller, custom cleats worn by Miles painted with an image of her and a pair of Nike Air Zoom Pulses.

But the item that melted her heart was a video from Miles with a message to her.

“Mom, do you remember all the times you took me to practice? All the times that you were there for me when I was injured?” he said in the video. “You’ve always been there. You helped me become the man I am today. I’ll forever be grateful to you. I would give you the world if I could and you would still deserve better.”

It was hard for her to be mad at him after that.

“That was a wonderful surprise,” she said. “I was trying not to cry, but I ended up crying. I do cry over sentimental things.”

So how did Miles get away with it all of these years without Felicia, a longtime health care worker at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, knowing about the charges?

He got lucky.

“Unbeknownst to him, he used my credit union account,” Felicia said. “He didn’t use my regular account or I would have seen it. My credit union account was basically savings. So, I didn’t go month by month and look at that. I would just look at the amount in the account. I didn’t look at all the withdrawals.

“When the hospital changed credit unions, everything stopped.”

That was the end of the payments, but she also received a game pass from Xbox so there will be no more payments in her future.

Growing up, from playing football and basketball with the Tinley Park Bulldogs, the Orland Park-based Jayhawks and the Orland Magic, Miles has provided special moments for his mother. He’s in the midst of a budding NFL career.

But the one moment that stood out the most wasn’t on a field or court. It was in a car ride after a recruiting trip to Michigan State.

“He said he was going to Notre Dame because of the academics,” she said. “He said if he went to Notre Dame, he would get a very good education.

“And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh. He actually listens to me.’ That is the moment I realized that no matter how much I didn’t think the kids were listening, they do listen.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.