GENE FRENETTE | Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli finally made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but his dad died before he could see it. But Big Tony still had a message for his son.
Tony thought he would see his father after returning home from Key West. But now every minute that passed was filled with anxiety.
“At the end, he was rabid with cancer and so sick, but there was a peace about him. As sad as it was that he died, there’s a peace that he’s not suffering any more. Nobody wants to see someone they love go through that, but I was so thankful I was there.” How does Boselli properly reconcile those two polar opposite emotions? Simply by cherishing the memories of an idyllic childhood, and how Dad’s influence shaped him into becoming the man that his own kids admire with equal reverence.Big Tony, a California native who lost his father at age 8, was always about family. Even after he and Boselli’s mother divorced when their first-born son was 11, there was no bitterness or awkward family dynamic after the couple went their separate ways.
But no matter what happened through the years, the family anchor when Tony was growing up, and even into adulthood, was always Tony Sr. His father, about 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, had a larger-than-life presence and a take-charge personality. “Being a Dad with five kids, I was always amazed how much energy he had after working all day. He’d say, ‘Give me 15 minutes.’ He’d have his one gin-and-tonic, then we’d go play. He was a very driven person and a really hard worker. That’s where I get that from. He had a big personality. Relationships were real important to him.”
“Being good at what you’re doing, he really instilled that work ethic. I’m glad he bottled it up and demanded that from me. He was never satisfied with where he was. It’s great that you win, but he wanted to win again.” Jaguars great Tony Boselli is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here's why he should be selected.Wright and younger brother Michael understood the benefits of Tony’s position on the family tree.
“It wasn’t like we were swimming in money, but Dad paid for it,” said Tony. “The rule was I had to do exactly what the guy told me, get there at 6 a.m. on weekdays, and abide by a diet. Andrew Boselli, 24, Little Tony’s oldest of five kids, and his siblings had a difficult time with the passing of “grandpa Tony” because it marked the first time in their lives they lost a close family member. They will never forget his impact on their dad.
But when it happened again before last year’s Super Bowl in Tampa, a disconsolate Angi Boselli couldn’t escape the feeling that it might be Big Tony’s last chance to see the joy of his son getting into the Hall of Fame. “We hoped Tony Sr.’s health would be turning the corner, but it kept getting more bleak. It took a while to figure out how to couch it.”
But this was far more nerve-racking. Besides tricking her father-in-law into doing the video, she had to pull Tony away from his father for a couple hours while Eric Murphy interviewed him at the condo and a couple employees from Jaguars Productions, Trent Padilla and Brent Reber, handled the filming and sound.
During the event, a video started playing that featured 30 people who were part of Boselli’s football journey — former Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin, former Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, Fred Taylor, former USC teammate Willie McGinest, Jaguars radio analyst Jeff Lageman and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell were among the speakers — offering congratulations on his HOF election or telling Tony stories.
“I mean, what stands out is him saying he was proud of me. What else as a son do you want to hear than your Dad loves you and is proud of you?” Boselli still hasn’t watched the entire video, but says he intends to before his HOF induction. Here’s the text of what his father, who was clearly weak from the melanoma fight and spoke in a lowered voice, said about Tony in those 90 seconds:
Not just the HOF celebration, but how much Tony and his siblings treasure the significance of that video. She understands more than anyone how crestfallen her husband remains about his Dad not being around. “I’m sure I’ll forget to thank somebody,” said Boselli, who serves as the chief growth officer for All Health, a digital health care company headquartered in San Francisco. “How do you tell your story and tell about all the people that crafted that story in eight minutes?”
Andrew is bracing himself for that moment, adding: “My Dad tells it like it is, and that’s very much like my grandfather. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. I know that one point in his [induction] speech will be difficult. I know not having his Dad around really, really hurts him.”
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