Speakers Bio

Don Anthony "Tony" Boselli, Jr. (born April 17, 1972 in Boulder, Colorado) is a former American football offensive tackle in the NFL, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 and Gary Walker. Even though 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.

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." He signed a one-day contract with the Jaguars, allowing him to retire as a Jaguar. [1]

Tony currently is a principal partner of 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 and his brother Jim own a large number of McDonalds stores. He also owns all of the Whataburger locations in Jacksonville along with former teammate Mark Brunell

Boselli is an active member of Champions for Christ, the athletic outreach ministry of the Pentecostal/charismatic organization Every Nation. He and Brunell helped found an Every Nation church in Jacksonville.

Boselli now participates in triathlons. Boselli is significantly below his playing weight and is hardly recognizable.

Tony was also one of the hosts of "The Frank Frangie Show" each morning from 7-10 am on Jacksonville's ESPN 1460. However, the station eventually changed to 1010 XL and Tony did not join the new station.

On August 30, 2007, it was announced that Tony would be joining Ron Pitts in the broadcast booth for 4 NFL games for Fox Sports. [3]