Tony Boselli

Don Bosco Anthony Boselli Jr. (born April 17, 1972) is a former American football offensive tackle of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, becoming the team's first-ever draft pick. He played college football at USC, where he was honored as an All-American.

Tony Boselli
No. 71
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1972-04-17) April 17, 1972
Modesto, California
Height:6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight:324 lb (147 kg)
Career information
High school:Boulder (CO) Fairview
College:Southern California
NFL Draft:1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:91
Games started:90
Fumbles recovered:5
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Boselli played with the Jaguars until 2002, proving to be one of the franchise's most successful and popular players. He was then drafted by the Houston Texans as the first overall pick in the 2002 expansion draft, but was unable to play with them due to injuries.

Early years

Boselli was born in Modesto, California. He attended Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, and was a member of the Fairview Knights high school football team.

College career

Boselli accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Southern California, where he played for the USC Trojans football team from 1991 to 1994.[1] He was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and a first-team All-American in 1992, 1993 and 1994. In 1994, he also won the Morris Trophy. While he was an undergraduate, he was initiated as a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Boselli was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.[2]

Professional career

Boselli was selected as the second pick of the 1995 NFL Draft, the first-ever draft pick of the new Jacksonville Jaguars franchise. As a result of his professional success and local popularity, Jacksonville-area McDonald's restaurants offered the "Boselli Burger" in his honor for a period of time.[3]

He was selected by the Houston Texans in the 2002 expansion draft, but injuries prevented him from playing and he retired after the season. As a sign of his success in Jacksonville, on October 8, 2006, he was the first player inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars (the team's Hall of Fame) and signed a symbolic one-day contract allowing him to retire officially as a Jaguar. Boselli has been listed on the Pro Football Hall of Fame Preliminary Nominees list every year since 2009.[4] NFL Films has named Boselli the 6th greatest player not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Life after football

Boselli participated in numerous business ventures during and after his professional football career. He, plus former teammates Mark Brunell and Bryan Schwartz, invested in seven Mattress Firm bedding stores in Jacksonville. By the time Boselli left for Texas in 2002, he had sold his interest in the company.[5] Boselli and Brunell own all Whataburger franchise locations in the Jacksonville area.[6] He also works as the offensive Line coach at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, on the same coaching staff as Brunell.

Boselli is also a founding partner in IF Marketing with friends and former Jaguar teammates Jeff Novak and Will Furrer. The marketing and advertising firm, with offices in Georgetown, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida, was originally called Intra Focus marketing & advertising.[7]

Personal life

Since 2005, Boselli has lived in Ponte Vedra with his wife, Angi and their five children: Andrew, Adam, Ashli, Alexis, and Ansli. Boselli has lost a significant amount of weight and now participates in triathlons.

His son Andrew Boselli received an athletic scholarship to attend Florida State University, and plays for Florida State Seminoles football team.

On March 29, 2020, Boselli was hospitalized due to contracting the coronavirus.[8]

Sports broadcasting

In 2007, Boselli was hired as a color commentator on regional NFL telecasts for Fox, teaming with Ron Pitts. In his rookie season as a televised commentator, Boselli drew praise as one of the best in the business.[9] From 2009-2012, he worked as a game analyst and sideline reporter for Westwood One's coverage of the NFL. Beginning in 2013, he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars radio play by play team.

Boselli was a former co-host on 1010 XL with Dan Hicken and Jeff Prosser each morning from 6-10 am on Sports Final Radio.

Boselli was interviewed for an episode of NFL's Greatest Games which aired on ESPN2.

Charity

Tony and his wife, Angi (the former Miss California Teen USA 1987), created the Boselli Foundation during 1995 in Jacksonville to work with at-risk youth and help them to cultivate high self-esteem and to succeed at home, at school and at play. Beginning in 2007, Tony has spent substantial time working on projects with the foundation. He overcame opposition from local politicians when the Boselli Foundation proposed renovating and reopening a closed community center.[6]

Boselli and Mark Brunell helped found an Every Nation church in Jacksonville, Southpoint Community Church, and both are active in Champions for Christ.

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References
  1. "Tony Boselli". Nfl.com. April 17, 1972. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  2. National Football Foundation (May 22, 2014). "NFF Proudly Announces Impressive 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class". FootballFoundation.org. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  3. Times, The (August 16, 1998). "Jaguars: Advertising war games have definitely begun 08/16/98". Jacksonville.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  4. "Enshrinement » Class of 2009 Preliminary Nominees - alphabetical". Profootballhof.com. October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  5. Times-Union sports writer. "Warrior to minister". Jacksonville.com. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  6. "Brunell, Boselli and burgers". Jacksonville.bizjournals.com. April 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  7. "Briefs: Boselli marketing firm opens Jacksonville site". jacksonville.com. October 2, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  8. Botte, Peter (April 10, 2020). "Coronavirus devastated the Boselli football family". New York Post. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  9. "SI.com - Writers - Dr. Z: TV commentator rankings - Thursday February 7, 2008 10:17PM". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. February 7, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
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