NY Times:As Jets Focus on Sanchez, Harvard?s Pizzotti Hopes for Second Look

As Jets Focus on Sanchez, Harvard?s Pizzotti Hopes for Second Look

BRIAN HEYMAN
Published: May 3, 2009

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. ? Chris Pizzotti dropped back to pass, just as he had on so many Ivy League Saturdays. But now his mind was cloudy with indecision during his second practice at the Jets? rookie minicamp.
?Hey, Harvard,? Coach Rex Ryan said to Pizzotti, ?don?t overthink it too much.?

(?I was waiting for that opportunity to get that dig in that way,? Ryan said the next day, laughing.)

Most of the eyes here Friday had a 20/20 focus on Mark Sanchez, Pizzotti?s roommate for the three-day camp that ended Sunday. The Jets drafted Sanchez with the fifth overall pick to be the long-term answer to their quarterback question. But Pizzotti, a Harvard man and boyhood New England Patriots fan from Reading, Mass., got his chance to help fill out the depth chart.

Pizzotti, who signed as an undrafted free agent after finishing No. 2 in Crimson history in completions, percentage and yards, needed to make a strong first impression to prove to the Jets he was worth a further look. He hopes to be around come training camp to fight on the undercard for a roster spot while Sanchez and Kellen Clemens vie to start out No. 1 behind center.

?I?m definitely looking to compete for the third spot with Erik Ainge and whoever else they bring in,? said Pizzotti, the 2008 Ivy League player of the year. ?I just have to do whatever it takes to make the team.

?I always wanted to get to this step. To have an opportunity to keep playing football is a great thing.?

The vital statistics are there for Pizzotti, who is 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds. ?He certainly looks the part,? Ryan said.

The other statistics were certainly there for him, too, playing at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

Pizzotti?s record as a starter over the last three seasons was 20-2, and he tossed only four interceptions each of the last two years, as Harvard won one Ivy title and shared another. As a fifth-year senior last season, he threw for 2,490 yards and 17 touchdowns, both the second most in a season at Harvard.

?I know where to go with the football, and I make good decisions,? Pizzotti said. ?I don?t throw too many interceptions. I bring good leadership to the team. I think I have a good arm. I don?t have the bazooka that Matt Stafford or Sanchez might have.?

The Pizzotti family tree is filled with football-playing branches. The Boston Yanks made his grandfather Frank Dancewicz the top overall pick in the 1946 N.F.L. draft as an all-American quarterback out of Notre Dame. Dancewicz played three years for Boston. He died in 1985, the year before Pizzotti was born.

?Me getting here was always something I wanted to do just because it?s almost come full circle from him to me,? Pizzotti said.

Then there is Pizzotti?s father, Steve, who played linebacker at Northeastern. Pizzotti?s older brothers also played quarterback in college: Dave at Boston University and Steve at Tufts.

?Ever since I was young, I was always playing quarterback, whether it was Pop Warner or any street game,? Pizzotti said. ?Just watching my brothers play in high school ? they both won state championships their senior year ? pushed me to be as good as them, if not better.?

There was even more inspiration around, being a quarterback from the Boston suburbs. Pizzotti became a fan of the Patriots? Tom Brady and even studied film of him, marveling at his technique.

?I?ve always tried to strive to be someone like him,? Pizzotti said.

With a degree in economics, Pizzotti has thoughts of becoming a general manager or a coach one day. But for now, he just wants to be a Jet.

?Pizzotti?s done really well,? Sanchez said. ?Sharp kid, obviously. Harvard.?