Cups of coffee: Ron Fazio played one game for the Eagles, then became the Toxic Avenger
Fazio got his chance to play in the NFL, though it cost him his day job.
Inspired by Pro Football Reference’s “Cups of Coffee” database, The Inquirer identified more than two dozen living players who appeared in just one NFL game — and played that game as an Eagle. We’re seeking to tell some of those stories in our semiregular Cups of Coffee series.
Ron Fazio was working at a racquetball club and serving as a substitute teacher in Willingboro in 1987, trying to make ends meet and decide what to do with his future. The New Jersey native certainly didn’t think it would include suiting up in the NFL.
Fazio had been in training camp with the Cowboys and Eagles, but the former University of Maryland tight end had not made an active roster in three attempts. While with Dallas in the summer of ’85, he suffered a hand injury that erased any chance he had to make the team. Fazio was connected with the Eagles a year later, when the athletic director of the Willingboro School District where he worked called Eagles general manager Harry Gamble as a favor to him.
» READ MORE: Cups of Coffee: Quarterback Marty Horn remembers his single NFL game... when he suited up for the Eagles
Gamble invited Fazio to a team workout, where he got to catch passes from Randall Cunningham and Ron Jaworski, while working alongside Mike Quick and John Spagnola. Fazio was invited to training camp and got cut again, but he remembered that experience fondly.
“They didn’t treat me like a rookie. They treated me like a free agent, so it was kind of cool,” Fazio said.
His return to the NFL didn’t include similar sentiments from his would-be teammates.
When Gamble called in the fall of 1987 to see if Fazio was interested in playing for the replacement team amid the NFL player strike, his employers at the racquetball club — Jaworski, Quick, Spagnola, and former Eagle Joe Pisarcik — were not pleased by the prospect. Spagnola, the Eagles’ union rep and starting tight end, took Fazio aside.
“He goes, ‘You shouldn’t do this. You shouldn’t cross the picket line.’ And I said, ‘It’s an opportunity.’ I said, ‘You have every right to strike; I have every right to try to play.’”
Fazio promptly was fired from his day job. The general public supported his stint in the NFL about as much.
“You know that a lot of the unions are upset that there’s these replacement players and … you just kind of knew that things [were] probably gonna get nasty,” he said.
Growing up just a half hour from Veterans Stadium, the Oct. 4, 1987, game against the Chicago Bears should have been a true homecoming for Fazio. It was the Eagles’ only home game during the strike. But Fazio specifically told his family not to attend, out of concerns for their safety.
The controversy surrounding the game also necessitated significant logistical planning. The team was well-aware of the many pro-union protests planned to block anyone from entering Veterans Stadium. So the team buses arrived at the stadium at 5 a.m.
“That was unheard of,” Fazio said. “It was crazy.”
The game day environment ended up being tense, including for the 4,000 fans who showed up to one of the least-attended NFL games on record. Well before kickoff, unions coordinated the presence of trucks and tractor-trailers surrounding the perimeter of the Vet. Many of the fans who persisted were met by hostility from protesters.
“They had it very well-planned, and they were just circling the streets,” Fazio said.
Inside the stadium, Fazio earned his first and only game appearance as an Eagle. He played on the kickoff return team and was even on the field for a few offensive sets. While he didn’t see much time, getting a chance to play was extremely meaningful to him.
“It’s kind of cool, and I’m thinking, ‘That’s my pride and joy,’” said Fazio, whose NFL whirlwind came to an end just weeks later when the strike was settled.
As he sought a new career, Fazio bizarrely ended up starring in a sequel to a cult classic low-budget movie less than two years after his football career ended. He’d been working as a bouncer in New York City when a coworker signed up to be an extra in The Toxic Avenger, Part II. Out of curiosity, Fazio joined her. On the first day of filming, Fazio was asked to stay behind.
“Because I was 6-3, 6-4, 240 [pounds] at the time, they said they wanted to see if I could be the Toxic Avenger second-string guy, and I was like, ‘Oh, sounds great,’” Fazio said.
Fazio was hired primarily as the stuntman, while John Altamura was set to reprise his role as the lead. But the producers quickly grew tired of Altamura and his attitude toward those on set. So they got rid of him, and Fazio became the replacement Toxic Avenger. He’d never held an acting job and hadn’t acted in school — or ever. The way he got the gig was awfully similar to the way he made it to the NFL.
“When they came to me, I was like, ‘Oh, thank you. Yes of course I would do this. This is great. I’ll step right in and do whatever you need me to do,’” Fazio said.
The promotion also came with a significant pay raise, from $50 a day as an extra … to $70.
“They kind of had [me] by the good ones there … it’s like, ‘If you don’t want to do it, we’ll get someone else,’” Fazio said.
What nobody knew at the time was that Fazio actually would star in two movies. Once filming wrapped, the producers realized they had overshot significantly. They decided to use the extra footage to create The Toxic Avenger Part III, which was released at the same time.
Neither film came close to the success of the original. And while they have provided Fazio the opportunity to sign autographs at conventions to this day, he couldn’t land much more acting work.
Ever since, Fazio has lived a life more removed from the spotlight. After a hospital visit, he was inspired to work in the medical field and has worked as a cardiovascular physician assistant for the past 36 years.
“You help people, that’s the bottom line,” Fazio said. “That’s what I like about it.”
