Tony Boselli: I 'Really Believed' This Was My Make-or-Break Year to Reach Canton

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to Tony Boselli, click on the following link: Ep 98: Hall of Famer Tony Boselli Joins The Show | Spreaker)

With no first-ballot cinches on the horizon, this was supposed to be the year the Pro Football Hall of Fame started clearing the queue of candidates waiting at the door.

And it was. Sam Mills was elected in his last year of eligibility, LeRoy Butler in his 16^th and Bryant Young in his 10^th.

Then there was former Jacksonville tackle Tony Boselli.

Like Butler, he was in his 16^th year, but, unlike everyone else on the ballot, he’d been on Canton's doorstep five consecutive years. Beginning in 2017, he made the first cut from 15 to 10 candidates five times, and five times he failed to make the final one from 10 to five. With the ballot wide-open for the Class of 2022, however, this was Boselli’s chance to move forward.

But it was more than that. Some voters – including Boselli’s presenter, Sam Kouvaris -- believed it might be his make-or-break year … and they weren’t alone.

So did Tony Boselli.

“Coming into this year,” he said on the latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast (fullpresscoverage.com), “I actually told my wife, ‘Listen, if it doesn’t happen this year, I’m not sure it ever will happen.’ And she said, ‘Oh, come on. That’s not true.' And I said, ‘No, I really believe that.’

“I actually got to the point where I had to, mentally, say I’m going to be all right if it didn’t happen. Because you can’t live life that way.”

Well, it did happen … and for the right reason: Tony Boselli was one of the game’s premier left tackles.

Unfortunately, his career was ended by a shoulder injury complicated by a failed surgery. So Boselli wound up with seven pro seasons, five Pro Bowls, three All-Pro nominations and all-decade status. I mention that because if there was an obstacle that stood between him and Canton it was longevity, with Boselli’s career cut short at 97 games, including the playoffs.

But that argument ended with the election of Terrell Davis and Kenny Easley to the Class of 2017. Davis played 86 games (including the playoffs); Easley played 95 (including the playoffs). So there had to be more keeping Boselli out of Canton.

And there was.

A glut of Hall-of-Fame worthy offensive linemen joined Boselli as finalists in the five years he waited in line – including center Kevin Mawae and guards Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson. All served as speed bumps on Boselli’s road to the Hall, with all elected – one by one – ahead of him.

“With my career being the shortest of everyone else’s,” Boselli said, “I think a number of voters thought I should be last of those four guys going in. You can argue either way. It doesn’t matter.”

He’s right. It doesn’t. This year only one other offensive lineman, Cincinnati tackle Willie Anderson, appeared on the ballot, while pass rusher DeMarcus Ware seemed the only possible first-ballot choice. So, if Boselli was going to make it, this was the year. And if he wasn’t …

“I don’t control this,” he said. “What I can control was when I played. It’s not my fault that I got hurt, and the surgery made it worse. It’s not like I walked away because I was tired of it or couldn’t throw the ball anymore or for whatever reason people leave their profession. It was taken away from me at some level.

“So I got to the point during the six years of this process of just being OK if it didn’t happen. And some people thought: ‘Are you saying it wouldn’t be that impactful?’ No, no, no. This is amazing, and, trust me: I wanted to be a Hall of Famer. Because it’s recognizing my career and what I did on the football field.

“And I love football. I love the history of the game. I think it’s the greatest sport ever. It’s given me more than I could ever give it: Relationships, experiences, life principles, what I’ve learned. But I had to get to that point where, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”

Well, it happened. Finally. Tony Boselli is where he belongs.

“I did think this was the year,” he said. “I was hoping it was the year. But you never know”

Now you do. Welcome to Canton.