WR: The Next Generation

From a distance, you can see a slight resemblance. They’re both a sturdy 6’3, weigh in at around 200 pounds, and have “athlete”—more specifically “wide receiver”—written all over them. They even share the same initials.

But don’t confuse the promise of the future with the legend of the past. Freshman wide receiver Corey Mazza, though tapped to be the successor to record-holder Carl Morris ’03, is making inroads for himself on his own name. He has already been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week—twice. He is third on the team in receiving yards, with 336. He leads the squad in average yards-per-catch with 17.7. He has three touchdowns—not too shabby when you consider that he wasn’t supposed to be seeing much playing time this fall.

Even Harvard coach Tim Murphy couldn’t predict Mazza’s unlikely rise to premature glory.

“I honestly didn’t think, with the number of veterans we had, that he would get much of a shot as a true freshman,” Murphy says, “just because you’d think he’d make too many mistakes to be an asset.”

But when the No. 1 player on the receiving depth chart—senior Kyle Cremarosa—broke his ankle in a pre-season scrimmage, the young man from the West Coast was forced to face his destiny ahead of schedule.

“I wanted the chance to play early,” Mazza says. “I didn’t want Creme to get hurt; he’s one of my friends, but due to circumstances, my chance came earlier than I expected.”

He may not have expected the responsibility to come so soon, but when it did he made sure that he was able to take full advantage of it, picking up Murphy’s complex offense with astonishing swiftness.

“It was tough,” Mazza admits after spending several weeks learning one wide receiver position and then having to rapidly switch to another. He arrived in Cambridge three weeks early and lived with Cremarosa as well as junior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick while he adjusted to the ins and outs of the new program.

“It really made me feel a lot more comfortable when camp started, knowing where everything was, being close to some of the guys, so it wasn’t like a hundred new strangers,” Mazza says.

“It helped give him a jump-start,” Fitzpatrick says of his counseling, adding that he has been amazed with how quickly Mazza has improved over the course of the season.

California Dreamin’

Fitzpatrick is not the first high-caliber quarterback to teach Mazza a thing or two—he spent two of his years at Thousand Oaks High School in California playing with the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country, Ben Olson. He’s quick to acknowledge, however, that college is a whole new ballgame.

“I played with Ben my sophomore and junior years in high school and he seemed amazing then,” Mazza says. “Playing with Ryan and [junior quarterback] Garrett [Schires], two years older, they seem two more years advanced than he was.”

Though Ivy League opponents know him as an offensive threat, in high school, Mazza did double-duty as a defensive back. He was no slouch on defense, nabbing a conference record 14 interceptions his senior year. But his heart is in the role of wide receiver, and that’s how most colleges recruited him.

This is part of the reason why, despite his talent, Mazza is reluctant to lay claim to the title of heir to Morris’ legacy. He has seen the same recruiting song-and-dance enough times to be wary of any guarantees of glory.

“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.”

Aside from the camaraderie of the other wide receivers on the team—juniors James Harvey and Brian Edwards and fellow freshman Danny Brown—Mazza has gotten support from a slightly surprising source—Morris himself.

“He’ll give me some pointers during the games,” Mazza reveals. “Anyone who’s been there, done it, those are the people you listen to…Ivy League Player of the Year twice, that’s enough to sell me.”

And even if the freshman is determined to be his own man, he’s aware of the history.

“It would definitely be an honor to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like him,” Mazza says.

“It’s too early,” Fitzpatrick says, to tell what will be Mazza’s place in the canon of notable Crimson players. “Obviously he’s off to a great start, and there’s no telling how talented he could be.”

“I figure at a point in the next couple years to really be a key facet, to really contribute,” Mazza says. “Athletically, I don’t know how [things will change]. I could get two tenths of a second faster in the next three years or I could get two tenths of a second slower, you know?”

Then he checks himself, unable to even admit the possibility that he won’t fulfill any challenge that the Harvard, the Ivy League, or even destiny sets before him.

“Well, I’m not going to get slower.”

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.