Marco Iannuzzi won the Tom Pate Memorial Award on Thursday night, joining Most Outstanding Defensive Player Solomon Elimimian as one of two BC Lions to wrap up 2016 with some hardware. The award is given annually to the CFL player who best represents sportsmanship, dedication to the league and community service.
“It’s special to my family and me primarily because the sacrifice and time,” Iannuzzi says of the honour. “Every time I go to an event I am taken away from my family. To be recognized is not what I am doing it for, but to see the community recognize the sacrifice and time I’ve put in means a lot to me, my wife and kids.”
Iannuzzi has long been a proponent of giving back to the community by way of hospital visits, speaking to young kids at schools or football practice and donating to various charities.
“I think 50 percent of what it means to be a pro athlete is doing community service,” he says. “We’re given a platform and people listen to what we say and if we can have a strong message, it’s going to go a lot further than the common man. We only play for so long, so it’s definitely a platform we should use.”
Iannuzzi joins Tyrone Crews (1986), Matt Dunigan (1989) Danny Barrett (1992), current Director of Community Relations Jamie Taras (1999), Steve Hardin (2003) and Defensive Coordinator Mark Washington (2006) as members of the Lions to win the award.
“It was a great honour for me. My son William was one year old and I took him up on stage with me for the presentation, ” Taras recalls with a laugh. ”
“It is indeed a special award. It’s good because you’re being recognized for giving back to your community and it goes beyond your play on the field. What’s great about Marco is he goes out and does stuff on his own. There has been times we’ve called Marco and asked him to do events for us and he has, but that’s what the Tom Pate Award is all about, actively responsding to your community on your own merit and that’s what Marco does.”
During his six years with the club, Iannuzzi has supplanted himself as a pillar in communities across Greater Vancouver and in other parts of British Columbia, something he was determined to do since a school visit from one of his hometown Calgary Stampeders.
“Back in second grade Greg Frers (a defensive back who also played for the Lions) brought the Grey Cup to our school,” Iannuzzi recalls. “I always remembered him holding the trophy up in front of me and the other kids. From that point on whenever I was posed with the challenge of making the right or wrong decision I, thought if I ever want to hold that Grey Cup one day that I am going to have to make the right decision. It really moulded my childhood.”
Flash forward to 2011 when Iannuzzi finally got his hands on Lord Earl Grey’s trophy and brought it out to a community football practice in White Rock. He told the wide-eyed kids his story from second grade and when Frers’ name came up the kids all turned around and looked back with glee at their head coach, who was none other than Frers himself.
“It was the coolest thing that I was speaking my story and it was full circle to see the guy that made me believe I could be a pro athlete helped mould the way I grew up. Greg and I now coach our sons and daughters side-by-side in White Rock.”
Another avenue he uses to give back is by way of hospital visits, something that has been near and dear to his heart since his mother Cathy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
“When I started helping out the MS society I felt a little bit selfish because I realized the same way I feel for my mother, everyone out there has someone in their life with some disease or something that has happened in their life. I felt I should start helping out with other events so I started visiting cancer patients, kids with autism, you name it. It just feels good to give back.”
Being a father of three youngsters has also changed the Harvard grad’s overall outlook on life and he has already begun passing down some of these same attributes and values he has learned about giving back.
“I think it’s important for them to know that if Daddy’s not home he’s out helping other people,” the 2011 first round pick says. “We also have a rule in our house that if you get something new, like a birthday gift, you have to donate something else to charity. At some of our birthdays, our kids, instead of gifts, ask for a toonie from each of the people that show up so they can put it towards a charity donation.”
He has won a Grey Cup, two Ivy League championships and enjoyed three undefeated high school seasons with the St. Francis Browns.
The payoff that comes with winning the Tom Pate Award could rival any of those accomplishments.
Matt Baker:mbaker@bclions.com