Former Montclair player still kicking, for kids
| Marco Capozzoli ends up donating 15 percent of
his game checks to the Ronald McDonald House. |
Former Montclair State kicker Marco Capozzoli provided plenty of joyful moments for Red Hawk fans during his career at Montclair State helping his team to the 2009 NJAC championship and NCAA playoffs.
Two years later, Capozzoli, now a member of the Arena Football League’s Jacksonville Sharks, it still at it although this time his clutch kicks through the uprights are doing more than just helping the Sharks to victory.
Capozzoli had founded Kick for Kids. For the remainder of the 2011 season - including playoffs - Capozzoli is donating $10 for every point he kicks. Each extra point will garner $10 and $30 for each field goal will be donated directly to the Ronald McDonald House. Since the inception of Kick for Kids, Capozzoli has donated 15 percent of his game checks.
Kick for Kids came about after the former D3football.com All-Region and NJAC Special Teams Player of the Year was introduced to Chevan, a 3-year-old from England who was diagnosed with a tumor behind his eye on Christmas Eve of 2010. Shortly after, he arrived in Jacksonville to receive treatment at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute located at Shands of Jacksonville. The youngster and his mother left behind two siblings, including his twin sister, to undergo intensive treatment in hopes of irradiating the life-threatening tumor.
The outreach is nothing new for Capozzoli. During his senior year at MSU, he helped spearhead Montclair State’s Breast Cancer Awareness Drive which helped raise several hundred dollars. In addition, he was a part of the many community service projects done by Montclair State’s TALON (Teaching Athletes Leadership Opportunities Now).
Capozzoli is currently in his first year with Jacksonville and has helped the Sharks to the American Conference South Division title. Jacksonville is currently 14-4, which included a 13-game winning streak. He is third on the team in scoring with 133 points, including 112 extra points and seven field goals. The Sharks have one more regular-season game remaining before beginning the playoffs on July 29.
Capozzoli led the New Jersey Athletic Conference in PAT percentage (.972) in 2009, while ranking third in kick scoring per game (5.7 points). He connected on 10-of-15 field goal attempts, and a league-best 35-of-36 PATs. Included in his 10 field goals was a three-field goal performance in MSU's 16-13 win against New Jersey on Oct. 24. In that game Capozzoli - one of only three kickers in Montclair history to make 30 career field goals - became the first Montclair State kicker to connect on three 40-yard attempts in a game as he hit from 42, 44 and career-best 47 yards in the rain.
The left-footed Capozzoli was 31-of-49 in field goals for his career and successfully converted 92-of-99 point-after chances for a total of 185 points. He ranks third on the all-time field goal list at Montclair State and he is second in career extra points and ninth in points scored.
Off the field, Capozzoli was even more successful. A six-time Dean’s List member at Montclair State, he graduated magna cum laude from the University in January 2010 with his degree in Political Science while also earning a minor in Psychology and Public Administration. He was a First-Team NJAC All-Academic Team selection and was named the Male Scholar Athlete Award winner at Montclair State. Capozzoli was a member of the National Student-Athlete Honor Society and was named to the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society.
He was also named the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey Division III Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year.
