With so much time on his hands back home, Joe Gaziano tries to stay as regimented as possible.
The Scituate native and former Xaverian standout starts every day with a six-egg omelet, two packets of oatmeal, a banana and a large cup of coffee for breakfast to fuel the two separate workouts he will conduct later by himself.
Gaziano will have virtual meetings with teams throughout the day and have a family dinner at night, but for the 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end out of Northwestern, this wasn’t always the plan for his preparation leading up to Thursday’s NFL draft.
The COVID-19 pandemic threw what he had envisioned off-kilter and Gaziano has tried to adjust to the change in circumstances to give himself the best chance to be selected by one of the 32 NFL organizations from April 23-25.
“At this point with the coronavirus, it’s all uncharted water,” Gaziano said. “No one really knows what’s going on completely. The pre-draft process is just so different for everybody, especially the prospects this year.”
Gaziano expected to conduct workouts in front of NFL general managers and coaches at Northwestern and have in-person meetings, none of which came to fruition. He’s instead settled on lifting weights in a makeshift gym in the breezeway between his house and garage and breaking down film with coaches over his computer.
There’s certainly plenty of tape of the disruptive defensive lineman, whose collegiate career culminated with him becoming Northwestern’s all-time sack leader with 30 and also the program’s career leader with 10 forced fumbles. After redshirting his freshman year, Gaziano excelled by receiving All-Big Ten Conference honors in his final three seasons, including a First Team nod as a senior when he accumulated nine sacks.
Former Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson witnessed the potential first-hand when Gaziano led the Hawks to a Div. 1 Super Bowl title in 2014, the same season he was named the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year. But according to Stevenson, it’s Gaziano’s immeasurable skills that separate him.
“For him, it was all about team,” Stevenson said. “It wasn’t about self. He was a great family guy. He has a lot of great intangibles going for him.”
For Gaziano’s defensive coordinator at Xaverian Al Fornaro, he sees Gaziano’s work ethic, discipline and focus, qualities derived from his parents – his father a Massachusetts Supreme Court justice and his mother a schoolteacher – still at the forefront of his immense talent.
“He had great intensity as far as whatever the task at hand was, he was going to do it, and that stayed all the way throughout his high school career and just got better,” Fornaro said.
Fornaro also lauded Gaziano’s innate ability to be self-motivated. But Gaziano had plenty of fuel thrown on his fire in late February when 337 prospects, Gaziano not among them, were invited to participate at the NFL draft combine.
“I was mad when it happened and wished I would have had the opportunity to showcase my abilities and athleticism at the combine,” said Gaziano, who played in the East-West Shrine Bowl. “But at the end of the day, it’s just a bump in the road and this whole thing is a journey.”
Gaziano’s now focused on marketing himself to NFL teams looking to take a chance on a versatile player best suited to play on the edge of the defensive line. Fornaro, who was contacted by the Las Vegas Raiders and Green Bay Packers in the fall, describes Gaziano as a “do your job type” player.
Gaziano could see himself fitting in well with the organization that made the catchphrase famous. The Patriots, who have made “brief” contact with Gaziano, hold six draft picks combined in the final two rounds and Gaziano is projected as a late-round choice.
“That would be an ideal situation,” Gaziano said. “It would be a lot of fun playing for the team I grew up rooting for.”
Joining the Patriots would be a fairy tale destination for Gaziano, but he isn’t fixated on that being his only landing spot.
“Any team that’s willing to take a chance on me, I’m willing to go to battle for them,” Gaziano said. “At the end of the day, I just love playing the game of football.”
While the pre-draft process hasn’t gone as imagined, Gaziano has a plan once the draft commences. He’ll start with that same hearty breakfast and a workout before watching how his future unfolds with his family beside him.
“It’ll definitely be a nervous weekend,” Gaziano said. “I’d be lying if I said I’d be calm, cool and collected the entire time.”
