(cid:42)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:39)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:86) I n the early 1990s there were 26 cities in the United States that could say they were part of the National Football League NFL Plenty more wanted to join The league decided to add two more teams for the 1995 season Among the cities that wanted one was Jacksonville Many doubted whether the people there would support a professional football team because college football was already very popular in the area A businessman named Wayne Weaver convinced the NFL to take a chance The fans showed their appreciation by buying 55,000 season tickets In their early years the Jaguars were led by coach Tom Coughlin The first player taken by the team in the draft was offensive lineman Tony Boselli Jacksonville also drafted a running back (cid:25)
named James Stewart traded for quarterback Mark Brunell and signed receiver Jimmy Smith Although they won only four games in their first year the Jaguars had a good foundation for the future That future arrived sooner than anyone expected The Jags gained confidence early in the 1996 season and then began winning on a consistent basis Brunell led the NFL with 4,367 passing yards Smith and newcomer Keenan McCardell both caught more than 80 passes Running back Natrone Means was unstoppable in the final two months of the year Jacksonville fans watched in amazement as their team won its last five games and made the playoffs The Jaguars kept on winning and advanced all the way to the championship game of the American Football Conference AFC They lost to the New England Patriots but the game was very close until the end The Jaguars almost made it to the Super Bowl in just their second season LEFT Tony Boselli ABOVE Mark Brunell (cid:26)
The team returned to the playoffs the next three years in a row In 1999 the Jaguars had the NFL’s best record at 14 2 Their only losses were to the Tennessee Titans In the postseason the Jags faced the Titans in the AFC Championship Game Unfortunately Jacksonville lost to Tennessee again It was a painful defeat for many reasons The Jags led in the game but let their advantage slip away in the second half Despite the loss to Tennessee Jacksonville remained a confident team The Jaguars had an excellent defense thanks to Kevin Hardy Tony Brackens Carnell Lake Marcus Stroud Bryce Paup and Donovin Darius Meanwhile running back Fred Taylor had joined the offense He was a shifty runner with tremendous power and speed Taylor would become the greatest player in team history LEFT Fred Taylor looks for an opening in the defense ABOVE Kevin Hardy celebrates a good defensive play (cid:28)
