The B.C. Lions receiver and punt returner is mature well beyond his 24 years. He’s in a construction consulting business with his father, which puts his Harvard architecture degree to good use, as the two map out construction projects from the ground up. As well, Iannuzzi is looking to set out on a career in the financial industry.
Should he so choose, he could give up football today, put on a suit and pack a briefcase and never put his body in harm’s way again.
“There’s a million other things I could do, and people ask me all the time, ‘Hey, you went to Harvard, why are you playing football?’ Well, because I want to play football,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
Iannuzzi made eight catches as a rookie this season, and averaged just over eight yards on his 16 punt returns.
“I’ve been really fortunate,” he said. “In my 12 some-odd years of football, I think I’ve won a championship in 10 of those years. So when I look around at these guys, it feels just like it’s felt for me the rest of my career. It feels like a winning group of guys.”
Garrett feels bad for fallen teammates
Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Chris Garrett benefited from injuries to Fred Reid and Carl Volny, but he wasn’t happy to see his teammates go down with knee injuries in the same game on Sept. 24.
When the team’s first- and second-string backs got hurt, Garrett was promoted from the practice roster and has put in a series of great performances ever since.
“I wasn’t happy (when Reid and Volny got hurt),” admitted Garrett. “I was thinking more about them because they were lost for the season. But at the same time, it was an opportunity, and no matter how an opportunity is presented, you have to take it. I’m sad about what happened to them, but an opportunity comes once in a lifetime, and I just took it and ran with it.”
Garrett started the Bombers’ final six regular-season games, and averaged 96 yards a game while scoring four touchdowns.
“As soon as he sees the hole, he gets his shoulders going north-south and he’s got that extra burst to get through the line,” said offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte. “And rarely do you see the first tackle bring him down.”
Dinos’ Nill grooms great pros
It’s no coincidence that Blake Nill-coached players make an impact in the CFL ranks according to Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman Steve Morley.
“He’s a great football mind, right? He knows what he’s doing and he runs a professional practice,” said Morley, who played for the university coach at St. Mary’s. “He knows how to get guys ready for the next level, he knows how to make guys better.”
Nill, now the Calgary Dinos head coach, also has ties to Winnipeg kicker Justin Palardy, fullback James Green, offensive lineman Paul Swiston, defensive lineman Deji Oduwole and receiver Cassidy Doneff.
“You want to see your guys succeed,” said Nill. “I look at those guys — Green has fought for every inch he’s got. Morley’s paid his dues, Swiston is an up-and-comer, you want to see him do well, and the same thing with Deji, a guy who’s clawing his way, trying to become a regular in the CFL. That what it’s about, right? The experience they’re having right now is something they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives.”
Braley has two teams to root for
Could things have worked out any more fortuitously this weekend for B.C. Lions owner David Braley?
Not only does the Hamilton businessman see his CFL club advance to play in the Grey Cup game at BC Place, but the former tight end’s alma mater and the school to which he’s the largest patron, McMaster University, won its way into Friday night’s Vanier Cup.
“Yeah, I’m a pretty lucky guy,” Braley, a Marauder from 1960-63, said in an interview on Thursday.
The only thing better would have been if the other CFL team he owns, the Toronto Argonauts, was representing the East in the Grey Cup instead of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Toronto will host both the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup in 2012.
“Maybe we can do that next year,” he said of a Toronto-B.C. title game, before adding with the hint of a chuckle that “we have to get (the Argos) out of the basement first.”
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