Tony Boselli

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Tony Boselli
Date of birth April 17, 1972
Place of birth Flag of United States Boulder, Colorado
Position(s) OT
College USC
NFL Draft 1995 / Round 1/ Pick 2
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls 5
Honors NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
Stats
Statistics
Team(s)
1995-2001
2002
Jacksonville Jaguars
Houston Texans

Don Anthony "Tony" Boselli, Jr. (born April 17, 1972 in Boulder, Colorado) is a former NFL offensive tackle, who played the entirety of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, excluding a season with the Houston Texans in 2002 in which he never played a down.

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[edit] Early life

Boselli played quarterback while a freshman in high school in Boulder, but later switched to linebacker and tight end as a sophomore in order to receive more playing time.

[edit] College career

While at USC, Boselli was a first team All-American and All-Pac 10 choice in 1994 and 1995 and won the Morris Trophy. He was also a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

[edit] Professional career

He was the first player ever drafted by the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars and the second player taken in the 1995 NFL draft. He was an all pro tackle after his very first season. He quickly became recognized as one of the best left tackles in the game, and appeared in five Pro Bowls.

[edit] Expansion Draft/Injuries

Tony Boselli was selected as the first pick of the 2002 Houston Texans expansion draft. However, due to frequent injuries over the previous two years that were treated improperly by Jaguars team doctors and the surgeon to whom they sent him, he was placed on injured reserve and retired after the season having never played a single down for the Texans. It was later learned that the doctor who performed Boselli's shoulder surgery had attached a tendon to the wrong spot and in doing so had caused it to atrophy during rehabilitation exercises. The Texans decision to select Boselli in the expansion draft was highly questioned following his retirement and to this day there are those in Houston who feel that the Jacksonville Jaguars knew perfectly well that he was "damaged goods" before the draft. It's often speculated that the Texans selected Boselli first in the expansion draft with an understanding that the Jaguars would then allow the Texans to select both Seth Payne, who remains a starter for the Texans to this day, and Gary Walker. Even though Tony Boselli failed to play for the Texans his selection as the first player taken in the expansion draft was seen as a clear sign of the direction that the Houston Texans wished to go.

[edit] Retirement

On March 20, 2006, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Tony Boselli will be inducted as the first player to be in the Jaguars Ring of Honor, which is now named the "Pride of the Jaguars," and he will retire as a Jaguar after signing a one-day contract. [1]

Tony currently is a founding partner with Intra-Focus, Inc., a full-service marketing solutions company based in Georgetown, Texas with former Jaguar teammate Jeff Novak and former NFL quarterback Will Furrer. [2]

Tony is also one of the hosts of "The Frank Frangie Show" each morning from 7-10 am on Jacksonville's ESPN 1460.

National Football League | NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team

Brett Favre | John Elway | Barry Sanders | Emmitt Smith | Terrell Davis | Thurman Thomas | Cris Carter | Jerry Rice | Tim Brown | Michael Irvin | Shannon Sharpe | Ben Coates | Willie Roaf | Gary Zimmerman | Tony Boselli | Richmond Webb | Bruce Matthews | Randall McDaniel |
Larry Allen | Steve Wisniewski | Dermontti Dawson | Mark Stepnoski | Bruce Smith | Reggie White | Chris Doleman | Neil Smith |
Cortez Kennedy | John Randle | Warren Sapp | Bryant Young | Kevin Greene | Junior Seau | Derrick Thomas | Cornelius Bennett |
Hardy Nickerson | Levon Kirkland | Deion Sanders | Rod Woodson | Darrell Green | Aeneas Williams | Steve Atwater | LeRoy Butler |
Carnell Lake | Ronnie Lott | Darren Bennett | Sean Landeta | Morten Andersen | Gary Anderson | Mel Gray | Michael Bates |
Bill Parcells | Marv Levy