Tony Boselli takes high road to Hall of Fame after Bruce Smith's unnecessary barb | Opinion

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Tony Boselli insisted with a straight face that he’s “good” with Bruce Smith.

In his prime, the first member of the Jacksonville Jaguars selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was rather good against Smith in the trenches, too. But that’s not really the issue here.

Smith’s lengthy social media post a few weeks ago – he slammed the efforts of supporters who campaigned for Boselli…then ultimately threw shade on Boselli’s worthiness as a Hall of Famer – marked an intriguing twist on Boselli’s path to Canton.

“Let me start with this: I have the utmost respect for Bruce Smith,” Boselli said during a Zoom conference on Tuesday. “We had some great battles. Top 100 player. One of the greatest to ever play the game. I respect him. And I respect every guy who ever played the game. It’s a tough game to play, and we battle each other. He was one of the greats of the game, and I played against several greats.

“And…the way I look at it, anyone wants to go and watch the tape, to go watch what I did on the field, my play, I think, speaks for itself.”

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The late, great Deacon Jones used to joke to incoming Hall of Famers that they need not get too comfortable with their new status because “we’ve been known to send some back.”

No, this isn’t that, despite the objections that Smith – the NFL’s all-time sack leader – expressed on Instagram. Smith contended that Boselli’s campaign was built on the left tackle’s dominant performance when matched against him during a 1996 AFC wild-card playoff upset. That game certainly was mentioned each year in the marathon selection committee meeting when Boselli’s case was discussed. It should have been; it was a signature game for Boselli. Yet as someone in the room as a member of the 49-member selection committee, it didn’t strike me as the foundation of the case for Boselli.

Smith missed it on that point, although it surely has irked him to be asked repeatedly over the years about his matchups against Boselli, including the playoff encounter when the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year was held without a sack. Smith, even years since retiring as one of the most decorated players ever, is a man of immense pride. But it was still unnecessary to slam Boselli’s selection.

The "Groundhog Day"-type debates didn’t revolve solely around Smith. They kept circling back to longevity, as Boselli lasted just seven seasons and played 91 games, his career derailed by shoulder injuries. 

Bottom line is that Boselli’s career was good enough to convince the committee to nab him for a 2022 class that includes LeRoy Butler, Richard Seymour, Cliff Branch, Bryant Young, Sam Mills, Art McNally and Dick Vermeil. The class will be officially enshrined on Aug. 6.

Finally. Boselli was chosen after advancing as a finalist six times.

“It was hard,” Boselli reflected. “The first year, I had no real expectations. I was just happy to be a finalist, kind of like a young team being happy to just be in the playoffs. But after that, especially after I found out I was in the top 10, I’m thinking if I’m in the top 10 and five guys get in, I should be in the next five. I was in the top 10 every year, and it kept going and going.

“I knew the big thing, the elephant in the room, was the length of my career.”

It probably helped that Terrell Davis was selected with the 2017 class. Like Boselli, Davis played just seven seasons (78 games) before his career was doomed by injuries. Davis had three dominating seasons, leading the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl crowns, winning a Super Bowl MVP award and leaving a mark with a 2,000-yard season. Boselli’s impact was tougher to measure, although he came out of USC as his franchise’s first draft pick (No. 2 overall, 1995). He was selected to the 1990s All-Decade team and earned three consecutive first-team All-Pro selections, before the injuries hit.

Yet Boselli’s wait for his Hall call gets only so much sympathy. Charles Haley, with five Super Bowls, was also a six-time finalist. John Lynch, John Stallworth and Andre Reed, Smith’s former teammate, were eight-time finalists. Lynn Swann was a finalist 14 times before getting in. And only in the past two years did star 70s-era receivers Drew Pearson and Harold Carmichael earn selections as senior finalists. 

“A lot of people talk about, ‘There must be a better process, this is wrong, that is wrong.’ I disagree,” Boselli said. “It should be hard. Obviously, it’s going to be subjective on some level, especially when you’re talking about an offensive lineman, because there’s no real stats. But...I respect the process.”

As for the drama ignited by Smith’s social media post, Boselli has been publicly low-key. He recalled how he was on the West Coast when the firestorm began, his phone blowing up with text messages from friends on the East Coast.

“I didn’t know what they were talking about,” he said. “When I read it, it was, ‘I’m going to call Bruce.’ So, Bruce and I had a conversation. I’m going to keep that private. We had a good conversation. We’re good. And I’m going to move forward and look forward to seeing him in Canton.”

Here’s to joining the fraternity – and with some extra spice for good measure.

Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.