Where are they now? Steve Bellisari
Steve Bellisari is happy to talk about how grateful he is for his time quarterbacking Ohio State. He just needs to call back in two minutes because he’s taking his son to basketball practice.
Bellisari is someone who has never had much luck with timing.
Two minutes later...
“This is Steve Bellisari.”
He pronounces the last four letters like “sorry,” and when it’s pointed out that he once told reporters it’s actually pronounced like “airy” with an s, he chuckles.
“You know, it is,” he said. “... It’s just kind of always stuck that way, so instead of fighting people on it, I just go with it.”
Being able to roll with it is a talent Bellisari has needed.
He was recruited by John Cooper, who had him playing defensive back and contributing on special teams. Bellisari, though, possessed the athleticism to eventually move to quarterback, if an unconventional one for the era.
“I felt like my timing in college football was really off,” Bellisari said. “These offenses today are set up for someone like me. And they were set up back then for (pocket passers) like Craig Krenzel and Joe Germaine.”
He still took over as starting quarterback two games into his sophomore season, replacing Austin Moherman. The Buckeyes were 1-1 at that point and finished the year 6-6, failing to reach a bowl game. A seasonopening loss to the Miami Hurricanes was part of what kept Ohio State from the postseason. Could the result of that game have been different if Bellisari had started? Because of when he stepped in, he’ll never know.
Regardless, disappointed fans made him the target of their ire, naturally focusing on the three-game slide that ended OSU’S 1999 season.
“One of the things I learned very early on is that a lot of times I got a lot of credit when I probably didn’t deserve it, and I got a lot of criticism when I didn’t deserve it,” Bellisari said. “That’s the nature of the position.”
The next year, Bellisari and the Buckeyes lost to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. It was Cooper’s last game.
Bellisari played for Jim Tressel in 2001. In an Outback Bowl rematch with the Gamecocks, OSU fell behind 28-0 before Bellisari rallied the Buckeyes with 320 yards and two touchdowns. But an interception at, naturally, the worst possible time, allowed South Carolina to hit a 42-yard field goal as the game ended. Bellisari’s mistakes always seemed to be magnified by when they happened.
Tressel won a national title the following season, prompting Bellisari to observe one more way his timing was off.
“You know, candidly, if I’m going to be really honest about my years there, we weren’t as good as they’ve been the last 20 years, right?” he said. “Essentially, I left and they won a national championship, and they’ve been on a run of 10-win seasons, 11 win-seasons every year. Pretty impressive.”
He was taken by the Rams in the sixth round of the NFL draft.
“Timing was really interesting with the Rams,” Bellisari said, before explaining that they didn’t want him to play quarterback, and they were set at defensive back, so they asked him to consider being a fullback.
“Mike Martz goes, ‘We’ll find ways to get you the ball,’ “said Bellisari. “And I kind of laugh about it now because you think about it, they had Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce. I didn’t really fit in with that group as someone who should be getting the ball.”
After he was cut, he worked out for a few teams, and typical of his knack for bad timing, ended up tearing ligaments in a knee at the worst possible moment.
“The next day the Bears called and said ‘Hey we’re going to sign you and send you to Europe,’ “Bellisari said.
When he told them about his ACL, MCL and PCL, they responded, “Good luck with that.”
It was the last he heard from an NFL team. Bellisari played some arena league football and joined the coaching staff at Ohio Dominican. He figured his future was in coaching, and he was pursuing a position as a grad assistant, when a remarkable thing happened.
Things fell into place at just the right time. He chatted with fellow former Buckeye Tony Locke, and that led to a job with Striker Medical, where Bellisari worked for 12 years. Now he works for Intuitive Surgical.
Medical sales were decidedly not where the “goofy kid from Florida with a lisp” predicted he would have ended up, but it’s been good for him and his family.
Bellisari’s family includes brothers Greg, a former Ohio State captain and now an orthopedic surgeon; and Andy, a boat captain and plumber in Florida. He has three sisters as well. Amy is the softball coach at the University of Delaware. Annette runs Bellisari’s Gourmet Convenience, which sells spreads, sauces and baked goods. Gina is in IT and healthcare.
Bellisari has three kids: Carter, 12, Blake, 10, and Gwen 8. Because of that, Steve is now involved in football again.
“My middle son played his first year of tackle football in Dublin, Ohio, and I actually coached with Fred Pagac Jr., A.J. Hawk and Fred Pagac Sr. So the four of us coached and had a lot of fun,” Bellisari said. “The funniest thing was I think the league on purpose made us the Clemson Tigers just to give us a hard time.”
But he’s not upset about that. He feels incredibly grateful. He says he has “nothing but fond memories” of his time with the Buckeyes. He still goes to OSU games, where every now and then a fan will stop and tell him how much they appreciate how he played. (”The people that were unfavorable toward me, I don’t think would ever be willing to say anything to my face.”) And he’s used what he learned playing in a high-pressure role at Ohio State to succeed in business. “Perspective has been really good for me,” said Bellisari.
And with that kind of perspective, the former quarterback has learned you can have the time of your life, even if your timing isn’t always the best.