Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Ep. 2: Mark Brunell on what Tony’s induction means for the legacy of the early Jaguars | Boselli: A Podcast Series

Transcript

Ep. 2: Mark Brunell on what Tony’s induction means for the legacy of the early Jaguars | Boselli: A Podcast Series · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: The Hall of Fame will would truly be the high
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: speed of little armor I can have as a as
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a football player. Welcome to a celebration of Jacksonville Jaguars
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: left tackle Tony b Selling's induction into the Pro Football
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: all of failure. What makes it even more special for
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: me is I want to represent this organization and this
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: fan base because I know it's important to them as well.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: For them to care that much means a tongue to me,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: joined Jaguars dot Com senior writer John Hosier as he
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: sits down with the people who know Tony both professionally
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and personally. Ride of the Jaguars, Mark Brunnell, I can
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: remember the day I met you. Was day you arrived
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: for the trade and you walked through the sort of
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a there's a bunch of US media and uh, we
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: didn't know you, you you didn't know us, and I having
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: sure you had met Tony at that point, and uh,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: it isn't amazing that here we are talking about Tony
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Sally going into hall. Now. It's incredible. I mean, when
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: he gets inducted, it will be one of the best
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: days in Jaguar history, and without a doubt. Interestingly enough,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: you know. Uh, another incredible day was the day we
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: drafted him and uh like like you mentioned, um he
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: uh in my opinion, he is and uh may always
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: be the best Jaguar ever. And uh so I'm really excited,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and I know Jaguar fans are all very excited. Everyone
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: who was a part of those early years. And UM,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I'm sure it's thrilled about Tony getting inducted. It's going
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to be a special, special time. And it's interesting you
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: mentioned that because you know that people know doing a
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: series of these. I'm talking to to to Leon Searcy
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: as well, and I talked to Leon this morning a
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, and Mark, he said and emphasized the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: thing thing, the same thing you just did. Did anybody
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: associated with it? Um, there is a feeling it's obviously
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Tony's moment, but there's a collective pride among you guys
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: about this one, Isn't there? There? Really is? Because those
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: early years were very special and it was it was
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: unexpected or early success. Um. We were able to accomplish
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: some things early that you know kind of came as
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a surprise to a lot of us. But a lot
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: of that happened, um because of really the relationships, a
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: lot of young guys getting together, Tony Boselli, you know,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Jamie Smith, myself, a lot of guys getting together that
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: UM formed I think a pretty incredible bond. We worked
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: well together, we got along real well. We won early
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and it had much more to do with than just
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: the exs and oaths, and it was a big part
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of it. And obviously confident and us all together too,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: uh to go win some football games. And it happened
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: pretty quick, and it became a special time, UM, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: not just the football, but things that were happening in
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the community, and UM a lot of the relationships that
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: were being build off the field and in the community,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: all this stuff, and then it was just a great moment.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: There's a reason a lot of former Jaguars still living Jacksonville.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: There's a reason a lot of former Jaguars still get
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: together and talk to one another and spend time with
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: each other's families. And what are we talking about. We
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: talked about those old days and uh so for for
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: us to celebrate this with Tony, it's something that we
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: all are taking part in because we were there in
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: those in those early days when and and really, John,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: the word is the word is special. It was a
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: pretty exciting time and it was a great time to
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: be a Jaguar. It's a great time to be a
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Jaguar fan, a great time to cover you guys, which
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: I was fortunate enough to do. Um, I'm wondering, Mark,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody was surprised that Tony's going to
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: have you do the speech presenting him. I'm sure you
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: weren't surprised either. But um, that's gotta be uh just
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: an unreal feeling. And well, yeah, you know, it's it's funny.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: It's that you know, you think that you know something
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: like that that you know, Tony would asked me, John
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: asked me to do it. He was Actually it was
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: more like he told me that I was doing it.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: You know. Um, but if you know Tony, that's not
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: gonna surprise you. You know, you just called me up
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: and I think I was up here, and he says, hey, hey,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: oh yeah, by the way, before I go, you're you're up.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: You're gonna present me at the Hall of Fame. And uhum,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I said, okay, but can you at least say please
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: or or at least ask me? Says no, no no, no,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: you're gonna do it, But I mean, I'm just I'm kidding,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: but I'm kind of not kidding. He just told told
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: me how it was gonna go. And you know, Tony,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: it doesn't surprise you, of course, but it really is
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: john and honor and uh to be a part of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: that ceremony and to be a part of that whole
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: weekend and that celebration, just to get up there and
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: talk about my friend and present for him, it's, uh,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: it's a privilege, and it's it's I'm very honored, I'm
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: very grateful, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: sure I've ever asked you this before. And again, we've
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: known each other almost three decades now, which you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I'm sure it's been awesome three decades for you on
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: that front. But it's Uh, I was around you guys
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a little bit as a reporter, and I knew you
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: guys were close. Why do you think the friendship between
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: you guys? The bond has meant so much over the
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: years and lasted and it's clearly still strong. This is
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: a lifelong friendship that I'm sure it's helped to find
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: your life. Yeah, let's Johnny's my best friend. And uh um,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: and it has uh, it has a lot to do
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: with football. I don't want to downplay the football side
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: of it. We worked together again, getting back to that,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: those early years were special. We want a lot of
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: games together, had some great moments on the field together. Um.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: But I think the fact that our wives, you know,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: my wife Stacy, his wife Angie, are very very close.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Our kids grew up together. Um, we early years, we
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: were part of the same Bible study with the same church.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: We vacation together. You know, there's a lot of great
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: moments that we had on the field, a lot of
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: great memories. But John, I'm I'm telling you about of
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: our friendship or the memories of our friendship going back,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: those were the football memories. Um. When we get together
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: and we think about the old times, we're not talking
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: about beating Miami on Monday Night. We're talking about, you know,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: when Andrew was born, and the vacation we took to Tacabo,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: when we went hunting in Texas. All these these memories
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: that you share with with friends, right. Um, That's what
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: we talked about, and those are some special moments. Again,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: not to take away from the football, because that was
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: incredible that's essentially what brought us to Jacksonville and brought
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: our families to Jacksonville. And um so that's that's kind
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: of how it started. Our our wives became friends before
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: we did. We were just teammates and then we went
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: on a vacation together and kind of and kind of
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: hit it off. And we still joke about that to
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: this day. Fantastic any Uh, you know, I won't ask
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: you to reveal much, but have you given much thought
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: to your speech yet and any hints about the themes? No?
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I have no idea, um, no idea. Um no, that's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: not gonna happen either. I just haven't put the time in.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: But you know, and I think it will be along
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the lines of really kind of what I talked about,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: you know, and and uh yeah, I was his teammate
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: and and another you know, Jaguar. But but I was
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: thinking about this a couple of days ago. Is like
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: every one of those guys that wears a gold jacket,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: they're leaving a legacy, you know. And and obviously we're
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: familiar with the legacy that they leave on leave on
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the football field. But for me, Tony is my friend
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: and what I've seen him a comper is off the field,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: in the community, the dad he is, the husband he is,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and and uh, you know he's he's leaving that legacy
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: to um uh specifically you know, with his foundation. Jackson
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Phille is a much better community, much better place. So
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: many people have been affected, so many lives have been
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: changed because of Tony and Angie BISSELLI um and to me,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: that's that's an incredible legacy. And so I'm sure that
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: will come up. But I guess there's you know, there's
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: so much more to Tony Bissell than you know, being
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: that left tackle and being up on Bruce Smith and
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Jason Taylor and all these guys that that he played against.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: So it'll be along those lines, I'm guessing because that's
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: when I think of him. That's who he is to me.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: In the city Jacksonville, he's much more than just a
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: football player, if you if you follow him closely at all,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: when you think of him, I know, he's so much
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: more just football player to you. Uh. But the years
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: that he was great and obviously was blessed with the
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: left tackles, body and incredible skill set. But and and
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I see Mark Lapping here at the body comment but sorry,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: blessed with that body. Okay, well okay, but well to
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: play left tackle. So, uh, tell me about him in
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: terms of you were probably around him as much as
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: anybody when he played. There was a desire and a
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: love for this game. It maybe people who don't know
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: him don't grasp yes, he he was obviously to your point, Yeah,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: he was a left tackle. Um. He had the size,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: um he had, he had the feet, um, he had
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: the strength, the technique, all of that stuff. But it
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: was what got him to the Hall of Fame. Was
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: that and a lot more. Uh. He did love football.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: He loved he loved winning. He loved not only the games,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: he loved to He didn't want to just block you, John,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: He wanted to beat you. He wanted to crush you.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: He wanted to dominate. Um, just doing his job for
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Tony wasn't enough. And and that was the He was competitor.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Here was a fierce competitor. He took a lot of
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: pride in in his um and how he played the game,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: and we fed off of that. He was and it
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: was much more than him just doing his job. He
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: was he is a leader and he made people around
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: him better. He said a very high standard, and he
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: demanded that the people around him uh aimed for that
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: same standard. He worked hard, he put the time in,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: he worked on his body. You know, he had to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: spend a lot of a lot of time because he
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: was he was injured early and so there was a lot,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: there was a lot that he had to do there.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: But man, when he was when he was playing, he
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: just was absolutely amazing. The trash talking um, the competing.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, he would he would get after his opponents,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: he would get after us. He'd get after me if
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I ever took a sack that was unnecessary that just
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: happened to be at his side. I mean he would
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: he would get he would get after me. Um. We
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: still talked about it to this day. You know, scrambling
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: to the left and stepping out of bounds behind the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Well, John, as you know, that's a sack.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Well he didn't like that because it was a sack
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: to his side. And he was always afraid that the
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: statistics would show that uh Mark Burnell got sacked you know,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: to his side. So he would just he would scream
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: and yell at me. But but he was great to
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: play with and um, it was just it was awesome.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: He was absolutely amazing on the field, and he made
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: us all that much better. I don't know if this uh,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm I'm gonna assume this will resonate with
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: you a little bit. I've got a not Tony a
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: lot better after he out playing, because as a reporter's
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: a limit how much he gets to know a guy.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: And I consider him a friend now and just from
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: talking to him a little bit. Uh, I was glad
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: for him when he made the Hall because I'm not
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: sure I've been around any player, uh, Peyton Manning maybe
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: falls into this category that loved the game like he did,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: and to have it taken away from him so early
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: making the Hall, to me was you know, I was
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: so glad that happened for him because he was obviously
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: made it much sooner. If it hadn't been for the
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: career being cut short. It would have been if he
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: had not gotten in, you know, it would have been
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: it would have been a tough one because he clearly
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: was good enough. But you know, when you get injured,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: it's and you have multiple injuries like that, those are
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: out of your control. And it would have been it
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: would have been heartbreaking and for for a few years
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: in a row Man, it was it was tough. It
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: was tough, um, just being denied, you know, not getting
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: that knocked on the door. I know, it was hard
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: for him and his family and all of us that
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: were around John, You're around in It was just those
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: were tough, tough years. But to finally get in and
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: while as tough as it was, the timing was just
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: you know, incredible. Um. The only hard part I know
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: for Tony and his family and for all of us
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: was the fact that his dad just isn't going to
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: be there, you know, losing his father and him not
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: be able to experience that. But that's that's a tough one.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And uh, but listen, i've i've you mentioned the love
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: of the game, you know, and i've i've I've been
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: fortunate enough to play around, play with some some other
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Hall of famers, Reggie White, Brett Farve, uh, Drew Brees
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: and now Tony Basselli, and they all share that common
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: thing is that their competitors and they loved the game,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: They loved the competition Sundays, they just they were just
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: they were great, you know, And it's fun to be
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: able to say that Tony Basselli is in that court
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: of category now, a great player and something all of
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Jackson book can be excited about. Final question before I
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: let you go. Um, you know again, as as you mentioned,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: I was in the room I think with Tony three
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: or four times when he got the wrong call, and
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I think you were there me for all of them,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and we talked during it. Um, how did did he
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: call you this time? Is that that event isn't there
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: anymore the way they uh do the presentation? Did he
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: call you? What was that conversation like? If you don't
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: mind sharing that? Well, actually, uh, I think I can
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: tell the story now. But I knew before he knew. Um,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Angie told me and Stacy that he was in and
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: kind of how it was gonna go and how they
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: were going to do the surprise, and and so she
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: had said, Hey, you gotta be you gotta be quiet.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: We're gonna do it this way and this is how
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: it's gonna happen. So we didn't we weren't allowed to
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: say a word at all, and it just killed me
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: because I wanted to touch him so bad. And uh
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: so I actually talked to him before that, before that
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: you know when he found out and I actually played
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: it really cool and we're talking about the Hall and
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: it had come up something like, uh, you know, he
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: actually said and made the comics is Mark. I don't
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: know if it's gonna happen this year. I said, listen, buddy,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, there will be
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: another shot. And listen, just like you haven't. You're gonna
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: be fine. You're gonna be fine. I believe it's gonna happen, Tony,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: but hey, you just keep being strong for your family
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and you just keep persevering, buddy, and and that your
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: time is gonna come. Anybody. If it's not this year,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: it's not this year. And I think the next day
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: or something like was was the was when he found out.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: So he laid it on Thick. Oh, I laid it
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: on Thick. I said, brother, listen, man, you've been through
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: this before, and it's a weird year, and you just
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: don't know what's gonna happen, you know. I mean just
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: I said something like, hey, just because you don't go,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: you don't get in, you know, it doesn't mean you're
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: not worthy. I'm just just piling it on he called,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: he calls me and after he found out, and I
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: don't think he's ever cussed me out like like he
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: did at that time. But it was it was a
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: good it was it was. It was a good one though,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: but got just a just a great moment. And to
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: be able to celebrate that, it's it's a it's really exciting.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: It's really exciting, as you know, you know how I
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: feel about you and Tony, and I've loved covering you
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: all story over the years, and uh, this is a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: fun one in it. I mean, it's fun to be
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: talking about this, it's fun to be a part of it,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: and it's it's gonna be truly once in a lifetime
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: for you. Yeah, it really is my best friends getting
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: into the Hall of Fame and uh so deserving and
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: it's happening to a yeah, good, we're celebrating the great
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: football player, but like we talked about earlier, we were
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: also going to celebrate a great man, great husband, um,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: great father and someone who's just had an incredible impact
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: on the community and so a great man. So that's
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: who's getting in the Hall of Fame, and and uh,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I'm really I'm really honored to be able to present
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: him and uh so it'll be fun. Mark has always
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: that I can't thank you enough for taking the time
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: to uh chure these sauce was uh Jaguars fans, it
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: means a lot. I know they're gonna enjoy it. Thank you, Mark,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: all right. Thanks John,