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Don Bosco Anthony Boselli Jr. (born April 17, 1972) is an American professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
executive and former player who is the executive vice president of football operations for the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). Boselli played seven seasons in the NFL as a tackle for the Jaguars. He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the
USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...
, winning the Morris Trophy in 1994. Boselli was the first player drafted by the Jaguars, who selected him second overall in the
1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...
. During his tenure in Jacksonville, Boselli established himself as one of the franchise's most productive and popular players. He was named to five
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
s and three first-team
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
s while appearing in two
AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...
s. In 2002, he was the first selection in the 2002 NFL expansion draft by the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
, but retired without playing for them due to injuries. His accomplishments with Jacksonville led to him becoming the first inductee of the Jaguars Hall of Fame, which he was named to in 2006. He was also the first player to have his number retired by the Jaguars in 2022. Boselli was inducted to the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 2014 and the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
in 2022, making him the first Jaguars player inducted to the latter. In 2025, Boselli was named the executive vice president of football operations for the Jaguars.


College career

Boselli accepted an
athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...
to attend the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, where he played for the Trojans from 1991 to 1994. He was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and a first-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
in
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
,
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
and
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
. In 1994, he also won the Morris Trophy. While he was an undergraduate, he was initiated as a member of the
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...
fraternity. Boselli was named to the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 2014.


Professional career

Boselli was selected as the second pick of the
1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...
, the first-ever draft pick of the new
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
franchise. As a result of his professional success and local popularity, Jacksonville-area McDonald's restaurants offered the "Boselli Burger" in his honor for a period of time. He was selected by the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
in the 2002 expansion draft. He spent the entire season on injured reserve and retired in July 2003. Boselli has blamed the end of his career on mistakes made during a surgery on his left shoulder. As a sign of his success in Jacksonville, on October 8, 2006, he was the first player inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars (the team's
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
) and signed a symbolic one-day contract allowing him to retire officially as a Jaguar. Boselli was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 10, 2022, becoming the first Jaguars player to receive the honor.


Life after football

Boselli participated in numerous business ventures during and after his professional football career. Along with former teammates Mark Brunell and Bryan Schwartz, he invested in seven
Mattress Firm Mattress Firm, Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas. History Founding Mattress Firm was founded by Steve Fendrich, Harry Roberts, and Paul Stork. The thr ...
bedding stores in Jacksonville. By the time Boselli left for Texas in 2002, he had sold his interest in the company. Boselli and Brunell own all
Whataburger Whataburger is an American regional fast food restaurant Chain store, chain, headquartered and based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers. Founded by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton, it opened its first restaurant in Corpus Chri ...
franchise locations in the Jacksonville area. He also works as the offensive line coach at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, on the same coaching staff as Brunell. Boselli is also a founding partner in ''IF Marketing'' with friends and former teammates Jeff Novak and Will Furrer. The marketing and advertising firm, with offices in
Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census, and according to 2024 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 101,344. It is no ...
and
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, was originally called ''Intra Focus marketing & advertising''.


Executive career


Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 3, 2025, Boselli was hired as the executive vice president of football operations for the Jaguars.


Personal life

Since 2005, Boselli has lived in
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy unincorporated community and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augu ...
with his wife, Angi and their five children, Andrew, Adam, Ashli, Alexis, and Ansli. Boselli has lost a significant amount of weight and now participates in
triathlons A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...
. Boselli's son Andrew received an athletic scholarship to attend
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
, and played for the
Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Florida State Seminoles, Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FB ...
team. While Adam played tight end collegiately for Florida Atlantic


Sports broadcasting

In 2007, Boselli was hired as a
color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
on regional NFL telecasts for Fox, teaming with Ron Pitts. In his rookie season as a televised commentator, Boselli drew praise as one of the best in the business. From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a game analyst and sideline reporter for
Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
's coverage of the NFL. Beginning in 2013, he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars radio play by play team. Boselli was a former co-host on 1010 XL with Dan Hicken and Jeff Prosser each morning from 6-10 am on ''Sports Final Radio''. He still appears part-time as a call-in guest. Boselli was interviewed for an episode of ''NFL's Greatest Games'' which aired on
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...
.


Charity

Boselli and his wife created the Boselli Foundation in 1995 in Jacksonville to work with at-risk youth, and help them to cultivate high self-esteem and to succeed at home, at school, and at play. Beginning in 2007, he has spent substantial time working on projects with the foundation. He overcame opposition from local politicians when the Boselli Foundation proposed renovating and reopening a closed community center.


References


External links


The Boselli Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boselli, Tony 1972 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football offensive tackles College football announcers College Football Hall of Fame inductees Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees USC Trojans football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Jacksonville Jaguars announcers Jacksonville Jaguars executives NFL announcers NFL executives Players of American football from Boulder, Colorado Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida NFL players with retired numbers Sigma Alpha Epsilon members Second overall NFL draft picks