“When the coach recruits you, it’s ‘Oh, you’re the guy, you’re the guy,’” Mazza says wryly, recounting stories of being put up in five-star penthouse suites and taken out to steak dinners. “And then as soon as I come in I’ll be stuck in the dorm, eating dorm food, getting up at four in the morning and running.”

“It’s their job, it’s what they have to do. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just the way it is.”

Murphy sticks to his statement about Mazza’s potential role on the team.

“We said from day one, when The Crimson asked us about recruits, when his parents asked us where does he fit in…we really felt like this was a kid who was gonna be a major player in our offense someday,” he says.

But even if the promise of being the hot new thing was taken with a grain of salt, somehow Harvard’s courtship won out over Division I suitors like Hawaii, Boise State and Colorado State—even though those schools provided full scholarships.

“It wasn’t a one-day decision,” Mazza says.

He weighed the advantages of the football program, the academics and the location against his other offers and Harvard came up “three-for-three” for excellence in all categories.

The Crimson got what could be its new highlight-reel receiver and Mazza got, he says “everything I’m looking for.”

And any regrets about forgoing the national exposure of Division I for humble Ivy League venues?

Speculations, maybe, but not regrets.

“For every player, in the back of their mind, there’s that ‘could I have played at that level, could I have gotten by?’ Seeing guys that I’ve played with dominating at that level makes me wonder, maybe I could have,” Mazza admits. “But I don’t know, I think being a good high school player and being a good college player are completely different things.”

He Can Be Taught

Now, near the end of his first season as a member of the Crimson, Mazza seems to be well on his way to fitting into that second category. He credits offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini with helping him make the shift.

“It’s so much more of a science [in college],” Mazza says. “The way [Cecchini’s] taught it, it’s really helped me catch on quick, and that’s why I think I’ve been able to be put into [game] situations.”

“He certainly has a lot of things he has to work on,” Murphy says of the newest addition to his lineup of talented receivers, “but he’s one of those kids who’s very poised, he’s got great hands. He doesn’t run great routes yet, but he’s gonna get a lot faster and stronger.”