Shoulder the blame: Boselli hopes he can still play
Two weeks ago the Houston Texans finished their offseason minicamp with glaring hope surrounding one mountain of a man in particular.
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| Tony Boselli is tired of standing around and wants to prove his worth to the Texans.(Getty Images) |
Boselli, who missed all of last season and most of the 2001 campaign, strapped on a helmet and was finally able to accomplish a feat that has eluded him for more than a year. It may have been nothing to the untrained eye, but every eye in central Texas was locked in on Boselli's left shoulder.
For the first time in over a year, what magical feat could you do with that shoulder Mr. Boselli?
"Move it," proclaimed the 6-foot-7, 322-pound Boselli. "I now have range of motion and I can put my arm so it's parallel to the ground. I can raise the arm in front of me. Last year I could do very little. I was coming off of having my third shoulder surgery. They had to fix the labrum and the shoulder was loose coming out of the back."
The mere sight of him on the same field as Carr this past month is enough to warrant at least cautious optimism. Very cautious.
"I got through minicamp and I got through a lot more than I planned on getting through," he said via cell phone before teeing off Friday afternoon. "It was a very good step. I was able to do everything and we went pretty well out there. I did all the team stuff. I knew I couldn't put the pads on in camp until I passed this test.
"But as anyone knows it's a whole different story when you put the pads on. The shoulder feels really good right now but we have to see how it responds in pads. That's a whole different feel. There is nothing else we can do medically for the shoulder so we'll see what happens in camp."
The Tony Boselli Mystery began more than a year ago. After taking in his massive salary in order to use their first draft pick on the 1990s All-Decade second-teamer, the Texans envisioned him patrolling Carr's blind spot. The dream never happened and Boselli's medical nightmare was in full swing.
The former USC Trojan, while cleared by the NFL to be included in the expansion draft, was unable to take a single practice snap last year. Fellow injured tackle Willie Roaf was stricken from the expansion list for physical concerns yet was able to play at a Pro Bowl level for the Chiefs.
When the Texans selected Boselli they were confident he had healed and would return to rare form. When Boselli was healthy, he was considered the best tackle in the game. Former Ravens pass rusher Michael McCrary said Boselli was the only tackle he faced he could never read nor fool at the line of scrimmage. The Texans, however, have never seen such brilliance.
While Boselli insisted he holds no ill will toward his former team in Jacksonville, he believes his injury was marred by a surgery performed while he was with the Jaguars.
"I was told in Jacksonville after the surgery that I would be ready to roll in June of last year," he said. "I got to Houston and my shoulder was not responding the way we thought it would. They went back in and cleaned it out and found severe arthritic changes to the joint and biceps tendon. My biceps tendon had withered to next to nothing.
"I played hurt on my shoulders for two years, which was my choice, and beat them up more than I should have. But I was always led to believe that I had to be ready to play by June in order to be cleared in the expansion list. No one ever told me anything of the chances of complications or that it could be career threatening."
The frustration boiled for Boselli last year, a season in which he helplessly watched young Carr get sacked at a furious pace. At times he sensed the glares and heard the whispers from those who had no idea of the extent of his injuries or the events that led to his current state.
His lack of progress became so frustrating the thought of hanging up the cleats crept into his mind.
"Those thought go across your mind," he admitted. "You push and press as hard as you can and when you aren't getting the results you need to play, it starts to come into your mind. It never got to the point where I went in and talked about it with Coach Capers and told him I was thinking about retiring but when you are hurt like this those things cross your mind."
According to the second overall selection of the 1995 draft, the right shoulder, which also required surgery, has healed. The left shoulder? Different story.
"My right shoulder has full range of motion again and it's strong," he said. "Of course there will always be some wear and tear but nothing like the left. Ironically, in Jacksonville they thought I had more arthritic shoulder problems in my right not my left."
Boselli will continue to rest, rehab and strengthen the left shoulder over the next month. That final week of July may be the biggest week of work of Tony Boselli's impressive pro career. That week will cause the entire organization to hold their collective breaths when camp begins in late July.
It is Boselli's final test to see if 2003 remains a possibility or retirement becomes his next career move. At least he'll be one step ahead of last year's pace -- he plans to practice the first day of camp.
"I plan to practice during two-a-days and be ready for the opener against Miami," he said. "But until I get the pads on and get out there I won't know. I have faith in God, in myself and my work ethic. It's not like I haven't worked as hard as I can to get healthy. I feel I owe it to the people of Houston, they've been great to me. I appreciate what Coach Capers and Charley Casserly and Mr. McNair have done for me. Believe me, I'll exhaust every possibility I can to get back out there."
They'll know the answer in exactly one month.
