PARMA, Italy - At a time when the majority of the world's eyes are focused on the World Cup in South Africa, it is fitting that a former Illinois State football player will be drawing moderate attention in a 4,000-seat stadium in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, Saturday.
Andrew Papoccia, a 2003 Second Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection, left the United States six years ago to pursue a professional American football career in Italy in the Italian Football League. Relatively obscure, the IFL and Papoccia's team, the Parma Panthers, gained notoriety thanks to John Grisham's short novel "Playing for Pizza," which was released in 2007. It's a fictional story about a former NFL player who signs with Parma as a last resort to rejuvenate his career.
For the last four years, Papoccia has served as the Panthers' head coach and this season he has guided Parma to the 2010 Italian Super Bowl. Prior to the Sterling, Ill., native's arrival in Parma, the Panthers had never been in the IFL championship game, but this will mark the third trip in five seasons for Papoccia and the Panthers.
"The team has been around for approximately 30 years, but has never won the title," Papoccia said. "It's not quite as bad as the (Chicago) Cubs, but Parma fans are ready to end the drought."
The overlap of the Italian Super Bowl with the World Cup is timely because, in a way, Papoccia, who is nicknamed "Papo," is sort of like the Italian Pelé, an athlete bringing a foreign game to another land. When Pelé came out of his semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) prior to the 1975 season, he was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest in soccer in the United States.
Papoccia has seen the same kind of progress in Italy with American football.
"There is a big youth movement in the league and there are some really good young players on their way up," Papoccia said. "Our team has a great group of young players mixed with a solid group of veterans and they have gelled well all season. The league has improved dramatically since my first year, and I believe it will continue to improve in the years to come."
Papoccia has led the Panthers to a 7-1 record this season, which included a 21-20 win over the Bolzano Giants last weekend in the semifinals.
"We got down early after missing some tackles and gave up two touchdowns in the first quarter," Papoccia said. "We had a few fumbles and dropped passes on offense, but I think we always felt we could control the game if given the chance in the fourth quarter. And that's what happened. We took advantage of a missed PAT and came away with the win."
In order to bring the championship to Parma, the Panthers will have to avenge their only loss of the season. In the IFL, each team is allowed three American players and with home-field advantage locked up for the playoffs, Papoccia opted to sit out his American players in the regular-season finale against Catania.
"At that point, we had sealed home field in the playoffs," Papoccia said. "We had a big game in our European league the following week, so we chose to avoid injuries. Despite not having the Americans, we had our chances to win the game. But we made several uncharacteristic mental errors, like getting lined up incorrectly on defense and poor tackling. Offensively, we need to pick up Catania's pressure (on Saturday) and execute our passing game.
"We know that to win big games, we will need to avoid costly mistakes like penalties and turnovers. We need to control our focus and operation, and let the rest happen by itself."
So having seen the NFL's version of the Super Bowl growing up, how does the Italian Super Bowl compare?
"It is a great football environment," Papoccia said. "The venue usually fills in 4,000 fans and you can feel the excitement in the air. I would compare it to a real big high school playoff game with some European flair, including bullhorns, smoke flairs and etcetera. It's a great environment to play in."
Papoccia will have the Panthers ready for Saturday's big game, and he even reached out to Illinois State's former offensive coordinator Justin Fuente this week for some tips against the Cataina defense.
"Offensively, we've used more of a spread offense (this season) and mixed in several quick-hitter run plays or screens," Papoccia said. "On defense, we are flexible and adjust to whatever the offense gives us, but we are best against the pass."
While playing for Brazil, Pelé was a part of three World Cup titles. This weekend, "Papo" is forgetting about the cup and focusing on the bowl instead.
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