Rebel with a Cause
Walpole's Ryan Izzo has starred on the lacrosse and football fields throughout an illustrious high school career. (Photo courtesy Ron Izzo)
WALPOLE — This summer, Ryan Izzo was firmly on the fence between which sport he would play in college. He even thought about playing both football and lacrosse before he attended The Shootout by Brine lacrosse camp at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Playing in the prestigious camp was nothing new for the highly-heralded Walpole High running back and midfielder. He’d competed there since he was in middle school. But coming off a spring season in which Izzo scored 58 goals to lead the Rebels to the Division II state title, the atmosphere of the hottest lacrosse hotbed in the world was more poignant than ever.
“Everywhere you go games are going on, you go from one field to the next and if you don’t want to watch that game you walk to another field,” said Izzo, who shocked local high school football circles by verbally committing to the University of Massachusetts’ lacrosse team, potentially leaving football in his wake forever.
“The atmosphere is just amazing; constant games, constant motion.”
Izzo’s decision hit the streets shortly after he returned from the lacrosse Mecca around mid July to the football-mad South Shore.
“I knew people would be uneasy about it, it would be a big shock,” Izzo said of breaking the news. “A lot of people were surprised. A lot of people said they weren’t surprised and they saw it coming; that was from people around town who see me all the time.
“Out-of-town people were shocked, like they saw a ghost or something crazy.”
The bombshell that a player growing up in the shadow of Gillette Stadium (where Walpole won the Division II Super Bowl last fall), would choose lacrosse over football set off immediate skepticism among high school football insiders.
The fact that Izzo is only 1,666 yards shy of Cedric Washington’s state record of 6,688 career rushing yards and 60 points short of Nathan Sherr’s points record (682 points), has only added fuel to the fire.
Izzo’s father, Ron, wasn’t surprised his son chose lacrosse and wasn’t surprised by the reaction folks had to the decision either.
“I kind of figured that would be the reaction,” Ron said. “He has a lot of potential (at football). Ryan is a big boy. He’s an adult and I’m glad he put as much thought into it as he has. A lot of people think ‘Oh he’s such a good football player and I agree with that. I think I he could have a really good time playing football.”
But Izzo’s father said his son is realistic about how much playing time he could get at schools reported to be recruiting him for football, such as Boston College, Syracuse and New Hampshire. That point was driven home even harder when they learned that Sherr recently transferred from the University of Connecticut to Mass. Maritime Academy.
Ryan Izzo hopes to propel Walpole two another Division II Super Bowl title this season.
“He didn’t grow those three or four inches the last three years everyone hopes they do, I know I wish I had when I was in high school,” Ron said. “There are just so many factors. I just try to be supportive.”
Nevertheless, speculating if Izzo really will give up football has become a favorite parlor game amongst, coaches, players and parents.
Even Izzo’s coach Barry Greener is willing to speculate.
“I don’t think that’s definite, I don’t regard that as a definite,” he said of Izzo’s verbal commitment to play lacrosse. “I think some football offers will come in. It’s up to him. I don’t favor one over the other. It’s his life. He should do what he wants to do. Whatever he wants to do I certainly support.”
In the run up to the Nov. 1 lacrosse National Signing Day, Izzo himself has left open a window that he could still end up playing football.
“It’s not 100 percent definite but when Nov. 1 rolls around it will be,” he said of playing lacrosse for UMass. “That’s the thing, I don’t even know what’s going to happen. My mind could change, some freak thing could happen. That’s why I keep my options open and am still talking to some football schools.
“Ultimately, I still want to play lacrosse.”
Izzo says he is about 80 to 90 percent sure he will honor his verbal commitment to UMass, where his sister will be a senior when he’s a freshman.
“The fact that she’s there and it’s close to home is just a bonus,” he said. “It’s like whenever people say that a lot of people pick a school because it feels good when they first get on campus, they have a smile on their face and everything. I go up there and that’s the feeling I get. It’s a great feeling.”
Another consideration for his decision was that football tends to take a bigger toll on a player’s body than lacrosse. Although Izzo isn’t so sure about that anymore after he separated his shoulder at the Champ Camp in Baltimore shortly after attending the Brine camp.
“It obviously came to my mind that football definitely puts more stress on your body,” Izzo said. “But based on the fact that my (recent) injury happened in lacrosse and didn’t happen from football, that ruled that out of my head.”
Because of the injury Izzo wasn’t able to take part in full-contact drills through August and didn’t see real-time until just before the Sept. 11 season opener, a 20-6 victory against Framingham. Just three days after Izzo was cleared to play, he rushed for three touchdowns and gathered 163 yards.
He followed that performance up with two TDs in a 21-0 victory at Milton. When the Rebels finally returned home to beat Newton North 28-14 on Saturday, Izzo logged three more touchdowns, including a 35-yard, over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone and a 60-yard run to the end zone.
“That 60-yard run, there wasn’t one block anywhere,” Greener said. “It was one of worst block plays I’ve seen. That’s what he can do.”
Izzo has been a mainstay on defense for the Rebels as well, serving as their top linebacker. (Photo courtesy Ron Izzo)
Finishing the game with 225 yards, Izzo surpassed 5,000 career rushing yards, leaving his coach speculating once again.
“He probably can do both,” Greener, who is in his 39th season coaching but first as Walpole head coach, said of Izzo breaking the state rushing and scoring records. “I think he’s got a chance absolutely but there’s so much it depends on. If we’re beating a team 40-0 I’m not leaving him in there.
“It just depends. Any kid, even as tough as he is, is only one hit away from his last play. I hate to make predictions, it just jinxes everything. He’s a hell of a player. I’ve been at it a long time and we won’t see anyone like him at Walpole for at least another generation. He’s one of those guys.”
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