MONTCLAIR--Montclair State placekicker Marco Capozzoli was signed by the Tulsa Talons of the Arena Football League on June 10. Capozzoli, the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Year and a First-Team All-Region selection by D3Football.com, began his professional career by connecting on all nine of his extra points in a 69-51 victory over the Dallas Vigilantes on June 11.
Capozzoli helped Montclair State captured its 18th New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. MSU finished the season at 10-2, tying the school record for victories. After opening the season with aloss at Wilkes, Montclair posted 10 consecutive wins, including all nine NJAC contests before adding one more in a 38-22 win against Maine Maritime in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.
Capozzoli led the conference in PAT percentage (.972), 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 over The College ofNew Jersey on October 24. In that game Capozzoli - one of only three kickers in Montclair history to make 30 career field goals - became the first MSU placekicker 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 extrapoints 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 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 MSU in May. Capozzoli was a member of the National Student-Athlete Honor Society and was named to the National Football Foundation’s HampshireHonor Society.
Capozzoli also organized the Red Hawk football team’s “Breast Cancer Awareness” drive last October and was a part of the many community service projects done by Montclair State’s TALON (Teaching Athletes Leadership OpportunitiesNow).