Now this is a box Tony Boselli is anxious to open

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — “I couldn’t be more proud,”  Andrew Boselli says, talking about his dad’s invitation to join the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Andrew was at home when the box arrived in the mail. “I took a video of him opening it. Oh, yes, you can show it,” he says with a big grin. 

Andrew’s video shows his dad smiling and cutting carefully down the sides of a large cardboard box. He doesn’t rush. He seems to be enjoying every second of the process.

Finally, Tony lifts out the contents. And there it is. All wrapped in plastic.

His Hall of Fame gold jacket. That iconic gold jacket.

After enduring five years of not getting in the HOF, Boselli is ready to celebrate with his entire family in Canton, Ohio at the induction ceremony.

He will go down in history as the first Jacksonville Jaguar ever to be chosen for the elite honor.

His son says he believes his dad was such a great player because “he was relentless.”  He says, “He would not give up an inch. A guy could be quicker. And he would be stronger.”

Andrew, an accomplished athlete himself, talks about how his dad motivated him years ago. The training helped propel him to play football at FSU.

“In high school at six in the morning, dad would come in and wake me up…He’d rip the blankets off,” Andrew says, describing how his dad would get them to the gym before school.  

It wasn’t a picnic then, but it paid off dividends. Andrew says he and his brother, Adam, began to notice they were excelling in their sports at school.

But it wasn’t just having Tony Boselli as your own personal coach at home that sticks with Andrew, his brother, and their three sisters.

Ashli says, “Every night for sure he’d pray over us.”  

All five Boselli children talk about their dad’s integrity and his ability to “love big.” 

Alexis, a cheerleader now at the University of Florida says, “Dad, I never got to see you play. But you’ve always been a Hall of Famer to me.”