The Waiting Game: As Saturday Drags On, So Does Hall of Fame Anticipation for Tony Boselli and Jaguars

Saturday will be a long, long wait for Tony Boselli, the Jaguars' organization, and Jaguars fans everywhere.

Tick tock.

The hands of watches and clocks throughout the football world will be moving at a plodding pace as dozens of players, their families, the football organizations they belong to, and their thousands and thousands of fans wait to hear the news on the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The inductees, which will include five modern-era players, will be announced during NFL Honors, a two-hour award special which will air Saturday at 8 p.m. But it will be earlier in the day as representatives hope their pleads for candidates fall upon responsive ears as cases for the players will be made to the 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

Tick tock.

This leaves an agonizing wait for the countless number of people who hang onto every second of the Hall of Fame process each year. Whether it is a veteran player who has been shut out of Canton for too long who are broken down by the wait and the yearly disappointment, or a fan of a small market team hoping one of their favorites will finally earn football immortality, time will be moving at a snail's pace for all involved.

For the fourth consecutive year, former Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli will be one of the numerous players staring at the clock and hoping for a knock at his door. And for the fourth consecutive year, Jaguars fans throughout the world are going to hold out hope that Boselli's career finally gets recognized at the highest level.

Tick tock.

Boselli's case for the Hall of Fame is obvious, just as it has been every other year he has been a finalist. Boselli was the Jags’ first-ever draft selection in the 1995 NFL Draft and played with the team until 2001, five times. He was a first-team All-Pro three times (1997-99) and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame second-team All-1990s Team. There has been little debate about the quality of his career, but the lack of longevity in his career has been what has kept him out of Canton thus far.

The shoulder injuries that derailed Boselli's career are the only thing that has stood between him and the hall. Or at least the only thing voters, the ones really keeping Boselli out, have clung onto.

Tick tock.

Because of the shortness of Boselli's otherwise exceptional career, Boselli and the entire Jaguars organization will have to watch the clocks with patient eyes throughout the entire day. While Boselli earning a gold jacket would no doubt be a special moment for the legendary lineman, giving him gratification for the years he has had to fight to earn his place in Canton, it would be even more special to the Jaguars as a franchise. And this is what makes Saturday's wait so excruciating for so many.

Boselli being accepted into Canton would mean the Jaguars themselves would be accepted. He'd be the first Jaguar ever elected to the Hall of Fame and would serve as a symbol of the impact the Jaguars have made on the league since their first season in 1995. It would scream "we belong" in a collective voice so loudly that even the most steadfast of naysayers wouldn't be able to disagree. It would mean the Jaguars are in NFL lore forever, and even beyond that.

Tick tock.

It isn't necessarily fair to Boselli or the Jaguars that the wait has already been this long, but the longest wait will be in the hours leading up to tonight's announcement. The waiting game is a strange one, after all. We have known for months that Boselli was a finalist, but it was only recently that time began to slow down for even analysis and reporters.

This pales in comparison to how monotonous time is moving for Boselli and the Jaguars organization, but it is all the same waiting game that engulfs players, teams, and fans every year. But sooner than later it will be over and we will know if Boselli is a legitimate Hall of Famer. Boselli will get either the best news of his post-playing career or yet another sentence of dissapointment. 

But until then, the clocks will be taking their sweet time. After all, it is what they do.

Tick tock.