Jaguars legend Tony Boselli makes list of best to ever wear the #71
There are tackles, and then there are transcendent players who played the position at the game's highest level. Jacksonville Jaguars legend Tony Boselli falls into the category of the latter. The first-ever pick by the Jags was finally enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022 in his sixteenth year of eligibility. Presented […]
There are tackles, and then there are transcendent players who played the position at the game's highest level. Jacksonville Jaguars legend Tony Boselli falls into the category of the latter.
The first-ever pick by the Jags was finally enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022 in his sixteenth year of eligibility. Presented by Mark Brunell, his enshrinement was one of the greatest moments in franchise history for Jaguars fans.
Naturally, the question persists: where does he rank among his peers in Canton? Where does he rank among the best tackles of all time?
And even further, where does he rank among all players who've ever worn the number 71? Elliott Kalb of the 33rd team addressed that question this week, and Boselli made the list alongside the very best of the best. For those who don't know, the 33rd team is made up of current and former players, coaches, executives, and media members, including Rich Gannon, Ronde Barber, Ed Reed, Joe Thomas, Rod Woodson, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, Bill Polian, Bill Cowher, Trey Wingo, and a slew of other accomplished and recognizable names.
As far as players to wear #71, Boselli was listed with Walter Jones, Jason Peters, and Trent Williams as the best. It was the only number with more than two players listed.
Despite a career shortened by injury, it was Boselli's level of unparalleled excellence during that span that earned him admission into Canton, and what makes him unique among the other candidates to wear the #71.
He was the first player ever drafted by the Jaguars, taken with the #2 overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft. That draft saw four players taken in the first round that ended up in the Hall of Fame, with six total players from the draft making it to Canton.
He earned Pro Bowl honors from 1997 to 2001. He earned first-team All-Pro honors from 1997 through 1999, the only player to ever wear #71 and earn three straight nods for the All-Pro first team.
Playing in only 91 games over 7 seasons is what held up Boselli's entrance into the Hall of Fame, and it's also what complicates the argument about his place among all-time greats to wear #71. Jason Peters has played 19 seasons, and both Trent Williams and Walter Jones have played 13. That's why Kalb slightly favors Jones over the rest, including Boselli.
It’s hard to put anyone above Jones as the greatest left tackle to wear No. 71. But man, this guy has some tough competition.
During his seven-year career, Tony Boselli was regarded as the premier left tackle in the NFL and persevered through numerous injuries. He led a Jacksonville Jaguars team that reached the AFC Championship Game in the franchise’s second season.
That year marked the first of four straight playoff appearances, as Jacksonville posted regular season records of 9-7, 11-5, 11-5 and 14-2 from 1996-99. Voted to five consecutive Pro Bowls (1997-2001), Boselli was named First-Team All-Pro three consecutive seasons (1997-99). Boselli doesn’t have the longevity that Jones had. – Elliott Kalb, the 33rd team
However, it was that pure dominance in that short of time that was the calling card for Boselli. Over his 7 seasons, he only allowed 15.5 sacks, which is an absolutely incredible feat. In the 1996 playoff game against Buffalo, he also shut down Bills Hall of Fame DE Bruce Smith, keeping him off Mark Brunell as the Jaguars upset the Bills and advanced to the AFC Championship Game. That feat still seems to irk Smith, who inexplicably denigrated the Jaguar great less than two months before his induction into Canton.
During his peak run in the late 1990s, perhaps nobody was ever better than the version of #71 that the Jaguars had. Boselli doesn't have ten Pro Bowls under his belt, or even ten seasons. But take his best and put it side by side against anyone else's, and he's – at the very least – on the same level as all of them.
For that reason, he deserves his place alongside the best to ever wear #71, as well as the best to ever line up at left tackle.
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Featured image via Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK
