Ahead of the 2022 NFL season, Jacksonville Jaguars legend Tony Boselli will finally be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame after making it to the finalist stage six times. His induction will be significant to his former team’s history as he is the first Jaguars player to achieve such a feat.
Earlier this year, Boselli was informed that he’s headed to Canton — and the person who broke the news to him was his good friend and fellow Hall-of-Famer Anthony Muñoz. After keeping the distinction under wraps for a while, this weekend during the Super Bowl, NFL Network shared the moment that Boselli first learned he’d achieved football immortality.
“You know what, this is the sixth year [of being a finalist] and you get the phone call saying you’re not in and you’re like ‘OK, well maybe next year,’ and everyone else is crying and I’m going ‘Who is supposed to be sad here?,'” Boselli said to NFL Network.
“I’ll be honest with you, I wouldn’t trade this process and how this worked. There’s no one else I’d rather knock on the door than the guy I looked up to and who I think is the greatest to ever play the game at the position I played. We went to school together and I remember when people used to compare me to him and I’m like ‘Well, that’s nice but I think he’s better than I am.'”
Reflecting on the process to get in the Hall-of-Fame, Boselli added that he did have one regret: the fact that it didn’t happen a year earlier so his father, the late Tony Boselli Sr., could be a part of the process.
“My only regret, you know, my dad passed away last year,” Boselli said. “So I was really hoping last year would have been the year so he could’ve been a part of it, but I know he’s in heaven watching down smiling right now. That would be my only regret, and other than that, I wouldn’t change anything.”
Before his passing, Tony Sr., who had melanoma that had spread to his liver, lungs, and brain, and Boselli’s wife, Angie, planned a way to get his thoughts to his son for his future Hall-of-Fame induction. Angie was able to get Tony Sr. to record a video message where he expressed how proud he was as a father.
“I would like to share with him how proud I am of what he’s accomplished throughout his years in football, throughout his years of being a man,” Boselli Sr. said to the camera. “He is truly a great man.”
After a long wait, Jaguars fans, analysts, and players have echoed those sentiments, celebrating and recognizing Boselli’s contributions to the team and the league at large.
So happy for Tony Boselli being inducted into the @ProFootballHOF he will represent the @Jaguars in Bronze forever #MuchRespect 🙌🏾
— Calais Campbell (@CalaisCampbell) February 11, 2022
Congrats @TonyBoselli well deserved #HOF
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) February 11, 2022
First pick in franchise history ✔️
First Hall of Famer in franchise history ✔️
Congrats, @TonyBoselli! pic.twitter.com/zOVkG4WFGh
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 11, 2022
With Boselli’s induction, the door to the Hall of Fame has finally been opened for Jacksonville’s young franchise — and while Boselli is the first in the team’s nearly 30-year history, hopefully others will follow.
