JOHNSTOWN —
During his senior year of high school, John Rizzo faced repeated questions about what he would do after he graduated from Richland.
All along the standout football player and three-time state wrestling champion said he was in no rush to make a decision.
Now that he has finally made a decision, Rizzo is still taking things slow.
The 220-pound running back said he will attend Temple and play football as a “grayshirt.” That means that Rizzo won’t be on scholarship or a part of the football team in the fall semester. In fact, he probably won’t even attend the Philadelphia school until the spring semester begins in January, at which point he’ll receive a full scholarship and be allowed to join the team.
“The reason I like grayshirting, I see myself continuing competing in something (after college),” Rizzo said. “There’s no reason to rush it right away. There’s no reason to rush it and be done when I’m 22 or 23 years old.”
Ideally, Rizzo would love to play in the NFL after college, but he’s realistic enough to know that the odds are not in his favor.
“Maybe 1 percent of Division I football players make it to the NFL,” he said.
Rizzo said he did not choose football over wrestling because there is a potential to go pro after college in the former sport.
“I wouldn’t say that’s that deciding factor,” he said. “That’s definitely a small, small factor. It’s about going up there and having fun. Even if you do make the NFL, the (college) education is more important because you’ll be doing the job a lot longer than you’d be playing football.”
Rizzo was recruited by a number of schools for wrestling – including two-time defending national champion Penn State – but in the end, he had to make the difficult decision.
“I love wrestling to death,” he said. “It’s just that I can’t do both in college. Right now, football I love more than wrestling.”
Rizzo was named The Tribune-Democrat’s All-Area first team as a running back after rushing for 1,769 yards as a senior and scoring 20 touchdowns. He played in the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association’s East-West Game along with Greater Johnstown’s Alkwan Williams. Like Rizzo, Williams plans to grayshirt and join the Temple team in January.
“I know him a little bit,” Rizzo said. “I think it will be cool. It’ll be nice to have someone back home to talk about what’s going on back there and get rides with or whatever.”
Some coaches talked to Rizzo about playing linebacker in college, but he said Temple coach Steve Addazio will allow him to choose what position he wants to play.
The Owls often use two running backs and Rizzo likely would play fullback. He said he has run a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and that his size and quickness could be a key asset for someone who rarely was called upon to block in high school.
“I didn’t do that much blocking, they just saw me on film, a 225-pound player that can outrun people, catch the ball,” he said. “To block a linebacker you need to be able to go run.”
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Related Photos
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Richland’s John Rizzo carries the ball against Johnstown on Sept. 23 at Trojan Stadium. Todd Berkey
Discussion
Richland’s Rizzo plans to play football at Temple
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