47 pages • 1 hour read
Playing For Pizza
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Chapters 7-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
The next morning, Rick wakes up hungover on his couch to the sound of his door buzzer. He tries to reconstruct the previous night: After dinner, he and Sam had gone to a bar for beers, and he doesn’t remember arriving home. After a few moments, the door buzzes again. A police officer introducing himself as Signor Romo tells Rick that he needs to come to the police station to address complaints made against him. Although he can’t remember offending anyone, Rick leaves with the police and walks to a nearby station. Rick calls Sam, but he doesn’t answer. He suspects Arnie won’t answer either. The police assure Rick that he’s not under arrest, and he recalls being arrested after a drunken fight in college.
At the station, Rick is brought to see Judge Giuseppe “Franco” Lazzarino, the Parma Panthers’ fullback. Franco greets Rick enthusiastically and plays him clips of his favorite player, Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris. Rick is openly unimpressed with the tape, which offends Franco. He tells Rick that he is confident the Panthers can win the Super Bowl now that he’s on the team. Shortly after, Franco receives a call and dismisses Rick, who realizes there were never any complaints made against him.
Chapter 8 Summary
Sam helps Rick set up an Italian bank account. He also gives Rick a tiny car, which is on loan from the team’s owner as part of his salary package. Rick assures Sam that he can drive a manual car, though he isn’t sure he can. Sam asks Rick to memorize the team’s playbook as quickly as he can, and Rick recalls all the playbooks he’s had to memorize in his career.
Rick arrives early to practice and is greeted by Sly Turner, the team’s running back. Sly explains that he was drafted into the NFL but cut from the team pre-season. He played in the Canadian football league and arena football before coming to Italy last year. Like Rick, he is unwilling to give up the game; unlike Rick, he has a wife and child relying on him. Sly plans to leave Italy at the end of the season and return to Colorado.
When Rick asks about Italian women, Sly reveals that, despite what Arnie promised, there are no cheerleaders in Parma. The pair are joined by the team’s other American, the safety Trey Colby. The three Americans play catch and talk about their mutual friends.
Chapter 9 Summary
The Italian players arrive in a raucous group, arguing over locker placement, jokingly insulting each other, and bragging about their athletic abilities. Rick tries not to compare his former teammates to the Italians, who are much smaller. Nino and Judge Franco translate as each player is introduced to Rick. Sam gives an introductory speech in Italian and then translates as Rick introduces himself. He admits that he has never started in an NFL game and has never played in a Super Bowl, but vows to help bring a championship to Parma.
Practice begins with a grueling series of drills led by the assistant coach Alex Olivetto. Rick feels that, as quarterback, he shouldn’t have to participate. When he realizes his teammates are watching, he tries hard to impress them. The sprints end only when a player vomits. Rick practices throwing to the wide receiver, Fabrizio, a young player with a big ego. The practice ends with more sprints.
Afterward, the team gathers for a raucous dinner of pizza and beer. Rick enjoys himself, although he can’t understand everything. That night, he sends an email to Arnie cautiously praising Parma and the team.
Chapter 10 Summary
Rick wakes early. He is sore in every part of his body, having not practiced since his last disastrous game with the Browns. Rick walks five minutes to where his new car, a tiny manual Fiat, is parked. After several minutes and a few bumps to the cars around him, he drives away from the curb toward a wide street on the edge of town to practice driving. He practices for an hour on the empty street as the sun rises.
Energized by his new driving skills, Rick decides to stop for a coffee. He tries to order, but the barista ignores him. He watches a local pay for the coffee at a counter before ordering and does the same. Feeling confident, he walks to another coffee bar to order a pastry.
On the drive home, Rick is stopped by police when the car repeatedly stalls. The police do not speak English and tow his car when he doesn’t have paperwork. Rick invokes Judge Franco’s name, and the police reluctantly take Rick to him. Franco apologizes and assures Rick that the car will be returned to him. He invites Rick to dinner at his home the following night.
Chapter 11 Summary
Rick arrives early for a massage from the team’s trainer Matteo, and to discuss the playbook with Sam. Sam explains that limited practice time prohibits complicated plays, and encourages him to throw to Sly whenever possible. Sam seems relieved when Fabrizio arrives, describing him as a prima donna. Rick is shocked that nearly the entire team arrives over an hour before practice begins to warm up and socialize.
The next night, Rick attends dinner at the home of Franco and his wife Antonella along with Sam and his wife Anna. Rick devotes his attention to Antonella and Anna, grateful to be around women after spending so much time with men. Franco’s home is lush and well-decorated, and Rick is overwhelmed by the food and atmosphere. Normally in March he would be desperately waiting for a team to pick him up; now he’s eating prosciutto with a judge.
When Franco learns Rick has never been to the opera, he promises to take him, insisting that the Parma opera is the best in the world. Sam objects, and the conversation lapses into Italian. Rick considers learning Italian to talk to women.
Chapters 7-11 Analysis
This section of Playing for Pizza contains important character development for Rick as he slowly begins to immerse himself in the world of the Parma Panthers and begins to learn The Value of Forging Meaningful Connections. At the beginning of the section, in Chapter 7, Rick displays arrogance and a lack of respect in his first meeting with his teammate Judge Giuseppe “Franco” Lazzarino. Judge Franco is so excited to meet Rick that he summons him with a police escort, greeting him with a hug as fierce “as though they had not seen each other in years” (62). Rick meets his enthusiasm with judgment, thinking that “Franco was too young to be a seasoned judge and too old to be a useful fullback” (62). Rick’s immediate judgment in the face of his new teammate’s enthusiasm demonstrates his negative attitude and sense of superiority, emphasizing his resistance to forming connections or belonging to a community.
Later, Rick displays outright cruelty when Franco shows him his “greatest hits” tape. Sensing “a glimpse of his future” (64) as he watches Franco’s “few sluggish runs through and around linemen and linebackers even slower than himself,” Rick asks Franco if the tape is “in slow motion” (64). Franco is visibly “wounded” and although Rick attempts to apologize, Franco ends the meeting abruptly. This episode once again demonstrates Rick’s thoughtless arrogance and judgment as he insults a new teammate. Despite his initial rudeness to Franco, Rick later invokes his name and position as a judge to defend himself when he is taken by police who believe he has stolen a car, calling Franco “[his] friend.” Rick’s willingness to claim Franco as a friend shortly after insulting him at their first meeting further emphasizes that his perspective is still self-centered as he adjusts to his new life.
However, Rick also demonstrates a willingness to change in these chapters which points to significant character growth. Chapter 9 details the Panthers’ first official practice, which includes a “grueling” conditioning session with “bruising exercises,” including wind sprints and jumping jacks. Rick’s first instinct is to “pull Sam aside and explain a few things,” namely that, “quarterbacks, at the professional level, are not subjected to the same drills and boot camp banalities required of the regular players” (77). The use of the contrasting terms “professional” and “regular” in this passage points to Rick’s sense that he is better than, and separate from, the rest of his teammates. However, once Rick realizes that his teammates are “checking to see if a real pro quarterback could grind it out with them,” he immediately begins trying harder “to impress them” (77). This is the first moment in which Rick values his teammates’ opinions and understands the importance of earning their respect. Rick’s desire to impress his teammates and be a part of the team is an important factor in his character development across the novel.
Rick’s attempts to master driving his tiny manual Fiat also point to his desire to immerse himself in his new home. When Sam first gives him the car, Rick is “afraid to drive” it and leaves it in its cramped parking spot (68). Later, he spends “an hour of diligent work” practicing driving on a wide, quiet street chosen because it was “perfect for practice” (88). The intentional use of “work” and “practice” in this scene draws a parallel between Rick’s desire to learn to drive an Italian car and his job as a football player in an Italian team, suggesting that Rick might also begin to take his career with the Panthers more seriously.
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