Bruce Smith goes on campaign against Tony Boselli’s Hall-of-Fame credentials

Still strangely salty after more than two decades, Bruce Smith decided to go after Tony Boselli’s Pro Football Hall of Fame credentials.

Bruce Smith needs a nap.

That’s the only explanation for his cranky and childish Instagram rant against Tony Boselli’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

Literally out of nowhere, months after Boselli was voted in and weeks before he’ll be officially enshrined, Smith decided to disparage his credentials in a show of extreme saltiness.

Bruce Smith disrespected Tony Boselli and the NFL Hall of Fame

https://www.instagram.com/p/CexK-QouZlB/

Smith opened his head-scratching statement against Boselli with a bizarre set of claims.

“A large part of the campaign to promote Tony Boselli into the Hall of Fame seems to hyper-focus on a single successful performance he had against me in a 1996 playoff game,” Smith wrote.

First and foremost, that’s just inaccurate. Sure, Boselli’s performance against Smith has been brought up, but far more often the focus has been on what a dominant player he was for the bulk of his career.

He was a three-time All-Pro first-teamer and five-time Pro Bowler for the Jaguars. He was the best left tackle in the game for a stretch of years. That one playoff performance was an example of his exceptional ability, not a singular instance of it.

Worse still, he didn’t claim Boselli himself used these imaginary arguments. He referred only to “Tony’s advocates” as though their alleged influence gives him the right to attack the credentials of the man himself.

What followed in Smith’s rant was hypocritical and silly.

“The HOF is an exclusive fraternity that follows a tacit code of conduct which fosters respect and brotherhood between its members,” Smith wrote. “Given the opportunity, any Hall of Famer could use his credentials to boast about his dominance over another member, but such behavior is deemed inappropriate because of the friction and discord it could create within the group.”

In one sentence, Smith talked about the code of conduct adopted by HOF members, brotherhood and respect. In the next, he set out to diminish Boselli’s accomplishments and claimed he is undeserving of entering the brotherhood he has already been elected into.

“Tony was a formidable opponent during his brief career, but I find it difficult to compare the totality of his body of work with those of the NFL’s greatest Left Tackles,” he wrote, arguing that Boselli “benefited” from protecting Mark Brunnel, a mobile, left-handed quarterback.

The Hall of Fame didn’t take Boselli’s candidacy lightly. He waited years beyond his first eligibility to get in mostly because his career was so short. Injuries forced his retirement after just six seasons. It was a significant barrier to his case but ultimately the voters sided with his excellence over his lack of longevity.

Smith brought up Bruce Armstrong, Richmond Ebb and Will Wilford as other offensive linemen who could be compared against Boselli for the HOF. If he’s so concerned about their candidacy, he could advocate for them on merit instead of using their names to scorn a fellow pro.

This is all just embarrassing for Smith and the Hall of Fame.