This preseason is going to be a big one for the Jacksonville Jaguars organization as they will be finally sending a player into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Tony Boselli. Jags fans were informed of the news three weeks ago during the NFL Honors show on Feb. 10 after Boselli’s patient wait came to an end.
Now, with his trip to Canton already set up, Boselli also announced who he’s chosen to be his presenter for the induction ceremony, and it’s a former teammate of his who Jags fans are well aware of. That former player’s name is Mark Brunell, the quarterback Boselli protected from 1995-2001.
Boselli broke the news that his long time friend would be the presenter on 1010XL sports radio Monday morning on “The Drill” with Dan Hicken and Jeff Prosser.
BREAKING: @TonyBoselli announces on #TheDrill this morning that @M_Brunell8 will induct him into the @ProFootballHOF.
Congratulations to both Tony and Mark! pic.twitter.com/Q0HqDtCqKw
— 1010 XL / 92.5 FM (@1010XL) March 7, 2022
Brunell, 51, is now entering his second season as the Detroit Lions’ quarterbacks coach under Dan Campbell. Before joining them, he also coached on the high school level and served as the head coach for Episcopal School of Jacksonville for eight seasons.
However, before becoming a coach, Brunell was a quarterback in the NFL for 17 seasons. Nine of them were with the Jaguar, and seven of those nine seasons involved Boselli protecting Brunell after the former Southern California Trojan was the Jags’ first-ever draft pick in the 1995 NFL Draft.
While with the Jags, Brunell started in 117 games and completed 60.4% of his passes (2,184-of-3,616) for 25,698 yards and 144 touchdowns. He also started in 117 games while acquiring a 63-54 record in Duval.
As for Boselli, he earned three All-Pro selections (1997-99) and five Pro Bowl (1996-2000) selections while with the Jags. That was good enough to get him in the Jags version of the Hall of Fame entitled the “Pride of the Jaguars” in 2006, but the NFL finally gave him the respect he deserves this offseason, and he’ll now be immortalized in the football community.
There was already a great deal of excitement surrounding the Jags between Boselli’s induction into the Hall of Fame and the Jags naming Doug Pederson its head coach. However, the news of Brunel adds to it as well as the news that recently broke about the Jags participating in the Hall of Fame Game.
