Iannuzzi talks about life after football
National receiver ‘excited’ to spend more family time
Marco Iannuzzi will play his final Canadian Football League game Saturday after the B.C. Lions’ veteran national receiver announced his retirement last month. Selected sixth overall in the 2011 draft, the now 30-year-old Iannuzzi has played 115 regular season games with the Lions with 141 catches and eight touchdowns. He goes one-on-one with Cam Tucker in the B.C. Lions Blitz Q&A, where they discuss what went into his decision, what’s next for the Harvard graduate and a little golf, too.
Q What went into your decision to retire?
A There are a lot of things. About eight weeks ago, my wife and
I — I just woke up one day and I said, ‘What happens if I were to retire this year instead of after my contract is up next year?’ It was kind of a shock to my wife because her mindset was that we were going to play for another year. There is no one specific moment. I just started feeling that maybe it might be time. We woke up every morning, just saying, ‘OK, I’m going to retire. I’m going to retire,’ and see how the day played out.
I’m looking forward to not feeling like I got hit by a car every weekend. Looking forward to spending more time with my family. My eldest daughter had made a few comments to me regarding some kids get to go on holidays at certain times of the year in the summer and it kind of made me realize that we really haven’t had a true family summer together at all. Everything just sort of played together and … obviously I’ve been lucky not being too injured through my whole career. Seen lots of guys go down with head injuries and I wanted to get out while I still could … before I had to be forced out. Another important part is I wanted to do it on my own time instead of having the organization call me up to tell me they were going to release me. I wanted to leave when I wanted to and not when I was forced out the door. As far as it goes, I think about 95 per cent of guys are forced out and only five per cent get to go out on their own time and I wanted to make sure it was my decision.
Q Was it a difficult decision?
A I’ll say it wasn’t difficult because that’s how I know it’s right. I’m excited to retire. Every
person I’m talking to is, ‘Oh, is this bittersweet?’ It’s really not bittersweet. It’s just sweet. I’ve enjoyed my career. I’ve put everything I could into football, my whole life into football. Football gave me a lot. But why, at the end, should I give so much back to football … why do I have to go out when I’m too slow to run anymore, you know what I mean? I’d say we’re even right now. Football gave a lot to me. I gave a lot to football and we’re even. To be honest, it wasn’t a difficult decision because I gave it so long. I didn’t put it on one single day. I just started thinking what if I retired and woke up that way, went to practice and made a checklist. OK, I’m going to miss laughing around with the guys in the locker-room. I’m definitely not going to miss when this happens. I’m definitely not going to miss when this happens. I’m going to miss here. And you just tally up all those things.
There’s other times when you just lose a love for it. To get yourself ran over by a truck every week, you’ve definitely got to love what you’re doing. I still love it now, but I know I won’t love it next year, so I decided it’s time to move on.
Q: Will you remain in the business of football in any way?
A Definitely not on the football operations side. I’m ready to move on from football operations. But I’m quite interested in the business side and I’ve made that aware to the various parties that are looking to buy the team. Would I love to come in and be the next president of the Lions? Absolutely, I’d love to. Would definitely want to go that direction. I just see there’s so much potential here with the organization, with the city being out in the community as much as I have been. The fans out here and the support system out here is so huge and so great. Not only do we, as an organization, owe it to the fans to put together a better product on the field, but we owe it to create a better atmosphere, whether it’s family areas, whether it’s for young people to come and have fun. I just think we can be more of a hub to get people together to have a good time and I just see so much potential in this city.
Q What is your favourite memory from playing football?
A I don’t think it’s a memory. I think it’s a confidence I’ve got from football and it’s just being put in so many situations … whether it be you come off an injury, you get put on the starting lineup, you get put down off the starting lineup, you’re winning lots of games, you’re losing lots of games. So, just been in so many situations that I feel like I have a confidence in everything else I’ve done in life.
Q: How much will retirement help your golf game? Or is it beyond salvation?
A My golf game, here is the thing about it. I play a ton of charity events and … you’re just having a good time. Now that I’m retired, I’ll probably be able to play more charity events, so I’ll definitely have a lot more fun on the golf course. I think at some point here — it won’t be in these next couple of years, but maybe a little bit later on — I’m going to take golf seriously here and I’m going to put in true practice hours. I might have a secret goal of trying to make it just out to one of the tours. I’m not saying I’m going to make it onto the PGA Tour, but I wouldn’t mind trying to qualify or maybe get to a (Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event). That’s a challenge down the road. I love golf, so it will be a part of my life and maybe I’ll get some of my competitiveness out in golf, but I’ll also definitely enjoy the community aspect of it.