LOS ANGELES, Calif. – He hopes the wait is coming to an end.
He believes it should be coming to an end, too.
When it comes to former Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli's Pro Football Hall of Fame chances, that's how Anthony Munoz is feeling this week at Super Bowl LVI – that this should be the time.
"Hopefully, the wait is over for Tony," Munoz said.
Munoz, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is considered by many the NFL's all-time best-left tackle. Playing for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1980-1992, Munoz set a standard at the position that many observers believe Boselli approached playing for the Jaguars from 1995-2001.
"The guy was an amazing player," Munoz said. "The size, strength, speed and the technical part of it – and a little bit of a nasty streak, which I liked – or maybe a lot of a nasty streak …
"I'm a big Tony fan."
Boselli, the No. 2 overall selection by the Jaguars in the 1995 NFL Draft, was the first draft selection in the franchise's history. He made five Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro three times. This is his sixth consecutive year as a modern-era finalist for the Hall, with the five modern-era enshrinees to be announced Thursday on NFL Network.
"If he gets that call, that he's in, it's very deserving," Munoz said. "The deserving part is what you did on the field. People talk about, 'Well, his career wasn't long …' There are guys who have played and they were the best when they were playing. That's what it's all about."
"It's deserving if he gets in – very deserving."
Munoz was asked Wednesday where Boselli ranked among the NFL's all-time great left tackles.
"There's probably a handful of guys that when I watched I said, 'I love watching him; he's pretty impressive,'" Munoz said of Boselli.
Munoz, who like Boselli played collegiately at the University of Southern California, spoke Wednesday of Boselli's rare combination of skills for a left tackle.
"Not only was he 6-feet-7, 320 (pounds) – or whatever he weighed – but he had the ability to move out in space," Munoz said. "For a big guy, the leverage he played with, the hands. It's everything you like to see a lineman do, especially an offensive tackle – a left tackle.
"He was also a smart guy and you get a smart guy out there who knows how to change it up when you playing, that makes a big difference. Then, you throw in that nasty streak."
"To me, those are the ingredients for a Hall of Fame tackle."
Munoz and Boselli have been close for many years, with Munoz saying Wednesday he nearly took a position coaching the offensive line before Boselli's freshman season at Southern California. He also spoke Wednesday of spending a day in Jacksonville in the late 1990s working for ESPN while Boselli was playing with the Jaguars.
"They flew me down to Jacksonville," Munoz said. "We went out on the field and they just rolled the camera. We must have been out there for an hour. We talked about technique, the mental part of the game. I asked him questions and he asked me questions. We just got to know each other."
Munoz is among multiple former Southern California offensive linemen in Hall – a list that also includes Ron Mix, Ron Yary, Bruce Matthews.
"It would not only be exciting to hear that for him and his family, and it doesn't hurt that we're both Trojans," Munoz said. "To have another Trojan lineman in there would be pretty awesome."
