JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Daniel from Jersey City, NJ
O-man, how do you not lose faith in the credibility of the NFL Hall of Fame when Boselli is continually passed over? Former Jaguars running back Fred Taylor and former wide receiver Jimmy Smith should also be enshrined.
I don't lose faith in the Hall's credibility because I know many of the voters – and I know the seriousness with which they take the process. They spend huge parts of their work year researching and discussing candidates. They vote with the idea of getting the process right. The reality is they can't make every candidate happy, and there are 10 players – and fans of those players – who are fiercely disappointed each year to go with five similar groups who believe the voters got things right for a change. Choosing five players from 15 qualified candidates is impossible. I agree with Jaguars fans that left tackle Tony Boselli should be in the Hall, but all five players elected this year are worthy – and the fans of those players would have felt their favorite player woefully short-changed had that player not gotten elected. I also I agree that Taylor and Smith were Hall-worthy players who have been too-long overlooked. At the same time, Boselli and Taylor and Smith are by no measure Hall locks. Boselli's length of career is a difficult issue to overcome, and Taylor's lack of postseason honors hurt. Smith and Taylor were never quite considered the best player in the NFL at their position, which means they're not "no-brainer selections." When you're not a no-brainer, it's sometimes going to take time. That makes the process frustrating, but it doesn't mean it's not credible.
Adrian from Reading, UK
Every year when Tony Boselli is not elected to the Hall of Fame, I find time to breathe deeply and ask myself who should have failed to get in to make room for him. Sometimes, it's hard to find anyone you can definitively say should have been kept out in favor of him. This year, I ask myself the same question and the answer appears to be "any of them." Would you agree that this year TB shouldn't have been battling for the last available place, but should have been one of the first clear choices?
I thought Boselli was the most-deserving candidate this year. I haven't believed that before, but I absolutely believed it this time.
Christopher from St. Augustine, FL
Glad to see Kansas City Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne join the exclusive club of Jaguars quarterbacks to get a Super Bowl ring. Sure, Steve Beuerlein and Nick Foles showed up with theirs but Rob Johnson, Byron Leftwich, Mark Brunell, and now Henne got theirs after they went to other teams. Congrats to Chad.
Good point. Hey one fer Chad Henne.
Adrian from Reading, UK
Would it be reasonable to say that one thing holding Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II back from Offensive Rookie of the Year beyond lack of draft position would be the fact his own team decided in Week 11 that he was not the starter for them? The external perception is that he was benched to make way for Nick Foles, and that's got to be damaging.
It probably didn't help, though I don't care enough about Rookie of the Year awards to worry much about deciphering the requirements.
Wes from Green Cove Springs, FL
Seems like it would be a PR problem to cut the Walter Payton Man of The Year. How do you think that affects Jags thinking on bringing Calais back?
It won't – and it shouldn't. The Jaguars want defensive end Calais Campbell back next season. They understand he is good, and they understand his value to the community and the franchise. At the same time, he was not the player last season that he was the previous two. He played too many snaps, and the Jaguars must figure the right role for him moving forward. They also must figure how that new role works with Campbell's cap figure – if it indeed works. It's trickier than simply waiting to re-sign a beloved, classy player.
Wes from Jacksonville
Defensive tackle Sheldon Day starting in the Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers is the latest example that jumps out at me. We have had so many players drafted by the Jaguars, not measure up, then get picked up by other teams and make it to the Super Bowl. What makes it that these guys do not seem to measure up with Jaguars and then go on to prosper with other teams? Is it our system or atmosphere that doesn't seem the place many of our drafted players thrive?
Football is a team sport, and every player needs role players. The fact that Day started for the 49ers means he can help them, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the Jaguars would have been better had he been with them. The Jaguars have made some personnel mistakes in recent offseasons and have had some personnel losses that still sting. I don't consider Day one of those situations.
Scott from Jacksonville
Hey, why did you get to hang out with Boselli all day? You didn't play football, and I'm pretty sure from what I've read here you guys don't even like each other!
"Get" is a tricky word here. I indeed hung out with Boselli Saturday. His family and friends are class people, and I always enjoy my time with them. How and why they tolerate Tony … well, I can't speak to that.
Leon from Austin, TX
Zone: Witnessing the 49ers not being aggressive before the end of the first half of the Super Bowl reminds me of the Jaguars in the 2017 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots … hopefully, new Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden will not shy away from that. What are your thoughts on this? GO JAGS!
My thoughts are it has become vogue to criticize coaches whenever they do something that defies conventional wisdom. The Jaguars didn't pass a lot in the second half of the AFC Championship Game following the 2017 season because the offensive line wasn't protecting quarterback Blake Bortles, and because the staff thought the best chance to win was to drain clock rather than risk a turnover or a sack. They believed that based on their personnel. San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to get to halftime Sunday without giving the Chiefs an extra possession. The 49ers had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, so the end of the first half hardly cost them the game. If Gruden has the personnel to be aggressive, I'm sure he will be aggressive. If not, he and Head Coach Doug Marrone will probably call plays they believe give them the best chance to win.
Terry from Jacksonville
John: I believe that Jags do not want to win anymore and that the ownership wants to show no support from the fans. This way they have an excuse to move to England also by not signing players and getting themselves in a bind with cap space for their top players that they will have to let them go.
You believe wrong. It's so categorically wrong as to be ridiculous enough that I really don't know where to begin in explaining why.
Garrett from Edgewater
O, I'm gonna ask it since nobody else is. Is Tony Boselli having a harder time finding his way to the Hall of Fame because he played for the Jags? The shorter career issue is becoming less of a problem, but he's still getting passed over.
Actually, many people are asking this. Had Boselli played in New York or Dallas or Chicago, he's probably in. But Jacksonville isn't the only team that gets overlooked in this way.
Al from Orange Park, FL
John, I'm not pushing to try to trade quarterback Nick Foles, but I'm confused about the options. What scenario best resolves the salary cap hit? What do you think would be required to get another team to bite on that scenario?
A trade is the best scenario to ease Foles' cap hit. And I would guess you would need to offer a mid-round selection to convince a team to take him. I don't think Foles is terrible the way some Jaguars observers do, but considering how he played last season it's hard to imagine the Jaguars wouldn't have to give up something significant to get a team to take on his cap number.
Bob from Sumter, SC
If Boselli played for the Cowboys, Packers, Giants he'd be in the HOF
Probably.
Patrick from Missouri
Zone, rumor has it that because of your past Culligan experience, you were the behind the scenes choreographer for Shakira and J-Lo, can you confirm or deny these rumors please?
I have no idea what you're talking about, though I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that these hips don't lie.
