Competitive James Gladstone Won’t Back Down on Hardwood, Either

Forget about Tyrese Haliburton against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA Finals. How about Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Boselli against the NFL’s youngest general manager, James Gladstone, in a fierce battle of 1-on-1?

The rumors are true. Boselli confirmed on Friday afternoon that the former left tackle in fact played, and lost to, the 34-year-old Gladstone in a recent pickup hoops game. The 6-7 Boselli, who was drafted second overall 30 years before the Jaguars took Travis Hunter in the same slot this past spring, came away from the basketball contest with one primary revelation.

“Number one, I'm old,” Boselli said Friday on The Drill, aired on 1010 XL 92.5 radio. “Playing a 34-year-old who's much quicker, who can move like a 34-year-old, and has all his joints that work.

“Basketball is different. It’s different. I woke up the next morning, my knees, ankles, and ... I thought, ‘What the heck just happened to me?’”

Gladstone happened to him. The former starting point guard at Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Mo., he’s deadly from long range, according to the 53-year-old Boselli. And in a game of attrition, Gladstone apparently wore down the team’s new executive vice president of football operations, and lulled him into making a bad decision.

In a first-to-11 contest, Boselli was up 9-7 in the final moments, needing only a basket to secure Miller Electric Center bragging rights. That’s when Gladstone played his hand just like he executed the monumental trade for Hunter in April.

“He said, ‘I'll give you an uncontested two-pointer and end it right here, OK?’” recalled Boselli. “Because I've been backing him down and just...sure. And I was tired. I knew it was the wrong decision, and I knew I could back him down two more times and probably win the game.

“I shot it, it was an airball.”

That’s fine, though. Boselli didn’t get a gold jacket for playing power forward. And now, he’s paid to work closely with Gladstone, new head coach Liam Coen and the organization to collaborate and align on critical football decisions, just as he did with the draft-day trade to select Hunter.

Boselli explained that discussions between the three don’t always go well and they don’t always agree, but at the end of the day they walk away with respect for each other. That’s probably because Boselli understands the common thread in the backgrounds of Gladstone and Coen.

“They both grew up in households where their dads were high school coaches and ultimately became a college coach,” Boselli explained. “So, they grew up around the game and they have a perspective. They're heavily influenced, shaped by their dads, who were high school and college coaches. Both of them are very competitive, extremely competitive. And I've never been accused of not being competitive.

“So, it's three really competitive individuals that are aligned on a goal and ready to work hard to get there, to compete. That makes it fun, and they're good people.”

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