Richard Anthony Razzano (born November 15, 1955) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

who played five seasons with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. He was also a member of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL).

Early years

Razzano played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

at New Castle High School in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Censu ...

. He was named the

WPIAL The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...

's Most Valuable Player in 1973 as the Hurricanes won the WPIAL Class AAA championship.

College career

Razzano played for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 v ...

from 1974 to 1977. He earned First Team All-South honors in 1976 and 1977. He set school records for most tackles in a game with 30 in 1977, most tackles in a season with 177 in 1975 and holds the NCAA record in College Football for the most career tackles with 634. Razzano was inducted into the

Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1982 to honor and preserve the memory of athletes, coaches, administrators and staff members who have made outstanding contributions to athletics at Virginia Tech. A total of 211 individuals ...

in 1997.

Professional career

Razzano played in 23 games for the

from 1978 to 1979. He played in 65 games, starting ten, for the

from 1980 to 1984. He played an important role in the 1981 AFC Championship Game, where he forced a fumble on a kickoff return in the first quarter with Cincinnati up 3-0. Cincinnati scored a quick touchdown and rolled to a 27-7 victory. Razzano played in the Bengals’ loss in Super Bowl XVI and recorded three solo tackles.

Personal life

Razzano's son Rick Razzano, Jr. also played in the

while his son Joey played for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,47 ...

. Rick lives in Sarasota, Florida with his wife, Jill Razzano. He ran a wholesale ice cream distribution business for sixteen years. He has also worked as an education assistant at Sycamore High School in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

and Sycamore Junior High School in

Montgomery, Ohio Montgomery is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, settled in 1795. The town was a coach stop on the Cincinnati- Zanesville Road, later known as the Montgomery Pike, with an inn, two taverns, a grist mill and a carding mill to proce ...

Coaching career

Razzano had a ten-year stint as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

of the Milford High School Eagles of

Milford, Ohio Milford is a city in Clermont and Hamilton counties founded in 1796, in the U.S. state of Ohio, along the Little Miami River and its East Fork in the southwestern part of the state. It is a part of the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. The po ...

. He later served as linebackers coach of the Sycamore High School Aviators of Cincinnati, Ohio from 2006 to 2010. He has also been basketball coach at Sycamore Junior High School in Montgomery, Ohio. Razzano was

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

of the

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tierne ...

New Castle Thunder of New Castle, Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2007.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razzano, Rick Living people 1955 births American players of Canadian football American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Cincinnati Bengals players Toronto Argonauts players Virginia Tech Hokies football players High school football coaches in Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American educators American food industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Pennsylvania Educators from Pennsylvania People from New Castle, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania