Forged by FAU - John Rizzo
Wajih AlBaroudi
9/6/2020
Gallery: John Rizzo Forged by FAU
Family has always been paramount to John Rizzo. So much so it affected where the Parkland, Florida native attended college.
After a standout high school career at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Rizzo held football and wrestling scholarship offers from numerous universities. But as Rizzo weighed his options late in the recruiting process, a family member fell ill. Rizzo wanted to stay close to home to support them. However, his scholarship offers were primarily from northern institutions, rendering that an impossibility.
If Rizzo accepted one of those scholarships, that is. And he didn’t. Rizzo turned them all down to walk on as an offensive lineman at Florida Atlantic University in 2005.
“It kind of just worked out that I had a connection with [then-FAU coach Howard] Schnellenberger,” Rizzo said, “and I was able to get into the program, even though it was late.”
Rizzo was a walk-on by name but “knew” he had the “talent to play” as much as any of the squad’s scholarship players. That confidence translated to his performance. Rizzo earned playing time early his freshman season, and he rewarded the coaching staff’s trust by excelling against Minnesota and ULM (Louisiana Monroe).
In Week 5, Schnellenberger named Rizzo a starter. The freshman’s first test: A bout with No. 24 Louisville, in Cardinal Stadium, with over 40,000 fans screaming from the stands.
“To make it even more entertaining, I had probably the best defensive pass rusher in college football that I was going one-on-one with,” said Rizzo, who battled future multi-time NFL All-Pro Elvis Dumervil his first start.
Rizzo didn’t let the team, crowd or individual matchup phase him. He impressed and earned five more starts after the Louisville game, eventually earning the team’s non-scholarship MVP award.
His non-scholarship status didn’t last long, though. Midway through the season Schnellenberger called Rizzo into his office and awarded him an athletic scholarship.
“I know they do big [scholarship] reveal parties, coaches surprise players on the field nowadays,” Rizzo said. “That was never Howard’s way of doing it, and it was fine with me. It didn’t really matter to me how I got it. I was just excited to have it and knowing that I actually earned it on the field.”
From his freshman year forward, Rizzo played an integral role on what became a dominant Owls offensive line. Rizzo, Nick Paris, Jarrid Smith and others gave quarterback Rusty Smith the time and protection to become FAU’s all-time passing leader. The group also became savvy enough to make certain line calls for Smith.
With Rizzo and the line boosting FAU’s offense, the team reached and won the 2007 New Orleans Bowl, the first bowl game in program history.
“The bowl game was one of the best times of my life,” Rizzo said.
Rizzo’s time as an FAU student-athlete was as educational as it was enjoyable. During his career, Schnellenberger took him to university events to teach him about the business of college football and how a team runs. Those experiences “definitely” taught Rizzo how to interact with people and were key networking opportunities.
The scholarship Rizzo earned helped him become a successful professional as well.
“The scholarship made all the difference in me being able to go to the next level,” Rizzo said. “Me being able to improve my life on a financial basis but also a personal basis, not having to worry about what I was going to do the next day to make money and stay playing at the school. It’s helped my career more so than anything, being able to get my degree, move on to the finance world. I had a lot of offers coming out of school to go work at other firms, and I think the networking and scholarship and everything that went along with being a student-athlete at FAU was just huge for my career path and everything in my life.”
Since graduating from FAU’s College of Business in 2009, Rizzo has worked in financial planning and wealth management for the SecureVest Financial Group.
Rizzo is also the director of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, a charity his younger brother – Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo – established in 2012. The foundation raises money for cancer research and families affected by cancer.
The cancer cause is a personal one to Rizzo. In 2008, his final season at FAU, both his brother and grandmother battled the disease.
Anthony Rizzo, then a member of the Boston Red Sox organization, grappled with but eventually overcame Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Rizzo’s grandmother, though, did not share Anthony’s fate. She died a “few days” before FAU played Minnesota, Rizzo says, breaking the streak of her having attended “every single game” the brothers participated in.
“It’s very important,” Rizzo said of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation’s efforts. “My brother has the platform to be able to use his name, and he’s allowed me, my mom, my wife (and) our executive director Abby [Suarez] to help families specifically. We’re more interested in helping the families during the process because we know hard it is, and it just means a lot to us to be able to help a lot of people.”
Rizzo’s family experience inspired him to help others, and he extended his family at FAU. He met his wife – a former Owls cheerleader – at the university, and they now have two children together. Rizzo also describes some of his teammates as “brothers” and talks to them daily.
Every FAU football season, Rizzo brings his “brothers” together. He’s part of a player alumni group that coordinates tailgates at home games throughout the year, hoping to capture the family atmosphere and locker room camaraderie they had years ago.
“There’s a lot of guys at FAU – I don’t know about the newer guys – but FAU changed their thinking, changed what their life path would have been,” said Rizzo, who has had FAU season tickets every year since graduation. “For me, it’s a great way to see my buddies on a weekly basis during football season. Playing football, you see them every day – you feel like every minute of every day – but now you only see guys maybe once a year, hopefully.
“We want to show our pride in the school,” Rizzo added. “It’s not always the easiest thing, but we keep pushing.”