Fabrizio Scaccia "Specialist's Path"

James Wilhoit's On 'A Specialist's Path'

When I started writing this column in April, I was thinking of the different paths people can take to become kicking specialists. Sometimes these paths are straight like when a kicker goes from high school to college and then to the NFL. Well, this is not one of those stories.

Fabrizio Scaccia's story is one of twists and turns and sometimes even dead ends. If it were not for his unbelievable talent, and the generous intervention of one man, he might just be a local hero that never left his hometown of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

I met Fabrizio a few months ago, and I have rarely heard of a specialist who has had to deal with so much adversity-in life and in football-upon his journey to make a professional football team.

This is Fabrizio Scaccia On 'A Specialist's Path'.

Fabrizio grew up in Port St. Lucie, Florida and focused on playing soccer up until his freshman year at St. Lucie West Centennial High School. And as is the case in so many high schools, the football coaches were always on the lookout for a good soccer player they could recruit to be a kicking specialist.

"As a freshman, our head coach, Coach O'Neal, came over to the soccer field and ask all the players who might be interested to try and kick a field goal, "Fabrizio said, adding the teams was looking for a kicker for the team. "I kicked a 45 yard field goal off the ground for him and Coach O'Neal said "the spot is yours if you want it."

Fabrizio definitely wanted to be the kicker but his soccer teammates were a little reluctant for him to kick because he was so small in stature.

"My whole soccer team was really worried about me playing football because they thought I would get killed", Fabrizio said.

As it turned out, his teammates had little to worry about as he became second team All Area during 2001 & 2002. This led to a scholarship offer from the University of South Carolina directly after his junior season.

With this offer in his pocket, Fabrizio was riding high his senior year and set his school's record for longest field goal with a 51 yarder. However, the ride did not last long as all plans for college were put on hold when his mother was involved in a car accident.

Unfortunately, this was his mother's second car accident, and it compounded the injuries from the first.

The first accident happened when Fabrizio was 5 years old. This accident cause injuries to her neck. It was quite a scare to the family, but she was able to make a steady recovery until Fabrizio's senior year. Then, a second, and more serious accident.

"When my mom got in the second accident, I knew I needed to stay with her. My brother was in college in Missouri and my father lived in New York. My mother needed me." Fabrizio said.

Fabrizio passed on his opportunities to play College Football and focused on his schooling at a local community college while taking care of his mom.

As the weeks and months passed, his dreams of being a kicker started to fade. However, unexpectedly, a semi professional team called the Ft. Pierce Fire was created in a nearby city.

Fabrizio paid the $250 registration fee required to sign up and he continued his kicking career.

In a way, Fabrizio now had the best of both worlds. He was able to be a good son and take care of his mother, while at the same time he was able to continue doing the thing he loved most; playing football.

In the back of his mind, Fabrizio always believed he was destined for bigger things.

“During my time with the Ft. Pierce Fire, I always received the Florida Bowl MVP,” Fabrizio said. “People were always coming up to me and saying “you are too good to be here.”

He played for the Ft. Pierce Fire for four years, and then this past year he played for his newly formed hometown team, the St. Lucie Bobcats.

He started out the year with a bang when he hit a 62 yard field goal in a preseason scrimmage. He then continued his long range success with a 66 yard field goal in one of the first games of the season.

I believe the old phrase is ‘if a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, did it make a sound’? Well the same could be said for kicking as well. Because if a kicker makes 62 and 66 yard field goals and no one sees it, did it actually happen?

Fabrizio’s field goals were going unnoticed until he hit a 68 yard field goal. It was then Doug Bercu, a former USFL football star and real estate developer in Atlanta, GA, took an interest.

You Tube Video of Fabrizio's 68 yard field goal

Upon discovering Fabrizio’s kicking success –and learning about the difficulties he faced in his personal life- Doug decided to assist him on his path to playing professional football.

“Doug was instrumental in any success I have had,” said Fabrizio. “He got me the necessary exposure I could not get on my own. I don’t know where I would right now if it were not for Doug.”

Doug is a no nonsense type guy and one of his first phone calls was to Sports Illustrated. He let them know of Fabrizio’s kicking exploits and they decided to put him the magazine last April’s issue in the ‘Faces in the Crowd’ section.

Doug’s work for Fabrizio didn’t end there. He continued by contacting teams like Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio State to inquire about him playing College Football.

Fabrizio caught the attention of Ohio State and they were looking to bring him to the ‘Horse Shoe’ and possibly offer him a scholarship. But, as seemed to always be the case, there was one hiccup in this whole process.

“I filed paperwork with the NCAA in regards to my eligibility and when I got the paperwork back they decided I was ineligible,” Fabrizio said. Something he was –and is still- upset about.

The NCAA ruling was for every year he played semi professional football, Fabrizo lost a year of eligibility. Fabrizio he played 5 years, which completely exhausted his college eligibility.

Fabrizio’s was quite upset at this ruling, as he felt it was totally unjustified, however, he and Doug were not giving up. They looked at other avenues for Fabrizio to pursue, including a visit to Division II North Alabama, but the NCAA ruling was the same as in Division 1 football.





As they exhausted one avenue after another, Doug –never one to give up on any task he had started, had one more rabbit up his sleeve; Coach Zauner.

Doug had met Coach Zauner –who is considered to be one of the best kicking coaches in the country- years ago at the River Falls Kicking Camp. He decided this was the next step for Fabrizio.

Fabrizio flew to Arizona earlier this year and worked out for Coach Zauner for three days. After getting out some of the nervousness out of the way on the first day, Fabrizio started to show him his potential.

“I believe that Coach Zauner was a little skeptical of me at first because I had never played College Football,” said Fabrizio. “But after watching me for three days of kicking, he told me he thought I had potential.”

Fabrizio knew of Coach Zauner’s reputation, so he was quite encouraged by this.

“Coach Zauner told me one of the biggest things he was impressed by, was my ability to adapt to his technique for kicking.” Fabrizio said.

Fabrizio was then invited to Coach Zauner’s Free Agent Specialists Combine. This was a chance to impress numerous NFL teams in attendance.

Knowing the importance of the workout, Fabrizio came back out to Arizona about a week prior to the combine to train and acclimate to his surroundings.

During this time Fabrizio stayed at my condo and I got to meet Fabrizio and talk with him about competing at Coach Zauner’s Combine.

I competed at the event last year and had seen most of his competition in person either through kicking against them last year or by meeting them while working with Coach Zauner over the past two years. So I was able to help Fabrizio mentally prepare for what he was about to face.

Fabrizio did very well at the combine, but he also recognized the level of talent that was at the event was very high.

“In the past, I always had the biggest leg wherever I kicked, but this was a reality check,” said Fabrizio. “There are a lot of good kickers out there.”

Now that he had his first taste of a professional workout, he said that the next workout was much easier.

“I got a workout with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL, and I was really happy with how I performed,” said Fabrizo. “It was the first time I really knew I had the chance to make it.”

His workout with the Las Vegas Locomotives was so successful they invited him back for a private workout this past weekend.

When you think about it, there is a bit of irony here. Las Vegas is known for it’s ‘luck’, which is something that has been missing in much of Fabrizio’s life. However, it now seems his luck might be changing!

Every kicker has a ‘path’ that they must travel. And the path to professional football requires both talent and opportunity.

With the help of Doug Bercu, combined with Fabrizio’s overwhelming talent, his path –once filled with so many twists and turns- may now become a much straighter journey to his dream of playing professional football.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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