47 pages • 1 hour read
John GrishamPlaying For Pizza
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 18-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary
Rick spends the night in the hospital with Trey, whose leg is covered in a massive cast. The next morning, he tells Sam that the Panthers need to get Fabrizio back on the team to replace Trey if they want to win again. Sam reveals that Fabrizio wants to be paid, and Rick offers to take the money out of his salary. Bruncardo negotiates a salary of €800 per month for Fabrizio; Rick keeps his full salary.
When the Panthers read a translation of Charley Cray’s article, they feel sorry for Rick, who can’t escape his past even in Italy. The team travels to Rome to face the Lazio Marines, and Rick and Fabrizio lead the team to victory. Charley Cray is in the stands and writes an article praising the win and wishing that Rick had come to the Italian league sooner.
Chapter 19 Summary
Arnie calls the next morning with news about Charley Cray’s second article on him, which has spread widely in Cleveland. Rick visits Trey, who has been released from the hospital. Trey’s carefree attitude is gone, and his apartment is dark and messy. Trey reveals that he is leaving Parma in a few days to return home to Mississippi. He suggests that Rick is responsible for his injury, and Rick leaves.
Shortly after, he receives a call from Arnie with good news. Rat Mullins, a Canadian Football League coach Rick once played for, has offered him a position with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for $80,000. Arnie encourages Rick to take the job and leave Parma immediately. Rick insists that he has a contract but tells Arnie that he’ll sleep on the decision.
Chapter 20 Summary
Rick considers how easy it would be for him to leave Parma. Early the next morning, he travels by train to Florence and repeatedly calls Gabriella. When she finally answers, he asks her to meet him for a drink that evening. Arnie calls and insists that Rick take the job in Saskatchewan. When Rick refuses, citing his loyalty to the team, Arnie threatens to drop him as a client. A few hours later, Arnie calls again: The team has increased their offer to $100,000 per year and is willing to fly him out to Saskatchewan to discuss the offer in person.
Gabriella does not show up for their date. While waiting for her, Rick meets Livvy Galloway, a junior at the University of Georgia doing a year of study abroad. They enjoy a long dinner together and end the night with a kiss.
Chapter 21 Summary
Saskatchewan coach Rat Mullins calls Rick personally and enthusiastically encourages him to accept the team’s offer. Rick is touched by the call, remembering Rat as one of the only coaches who truly believed in him. Rat convinces Rick to fly to Saskatchewan to discuss the offer. While delayed in Toronto, Rick reads a newspaper report claiming that the Saskatchewan Roughriders are pursuing multiple quarterbacks, and that Rat denied recruiting Rick.
Rick decides to fly to Cleveland, rather than Saskatchewan. He takes a cab directly to the headquarters of the Cleveland Post and pretends to be a new pitcher on the Cleveland baseball team to gain access to the building. He finds Charley Cray, introduces himself, and punches him in the face before flying back to Toronto and then to Rome.
Chapter 22 Summary
Livvy arrives from Florence to spend a weekend with Rick. Although Rick had hoped they’d spend most of the weekend in bed, Livvy is eager to explore Parma’s architectural treasures and historical sites, such as the central duomo and small neighborhood churches. Rick is less interested in Parma’s history than Livvy but gamely follows her around the city as long as she allows him to take breaks for lunch and drinking. She attends the Panthers' after-practice pizza party, where Rick’s teammates celebrate his attack on Charley Cray. Privately, Rick is grateful that they don’t know his true reason for returning to North America.
Livvy attends a rainy game against the Gladiators of Rome, which the Panthers win decisively. Arnie emails mixed news: There is a warrant out for his arrest in Cleveland, but he appears to not be the father of Tiffany’s baby.
Chapter 23 Summary
The Panthers travel to the town of Bolzano, in northeastern Italy, to play the Giants. Livvy prepares a lengthy history of the region for Rick, who skims it and then leaves it at home, preferring to focus on football. The Bolzano Giants’ only loss is to the Bergamo Lions, the league’s long-undefeated perennial champions. The Giants' star player is an American named Quincy, who has been in the league for 10 years.
At halftime, the game is tied 14-14. Sam harangues the team in English and Italian, impressing Rick. In the third quarter of the game, the Giants take a quick lead, but Quincy tires early and the Panthers are able to clinch the win. After the game, Sam congratulates the team on the win but warns them that their next game, against Bergamo, will be a true battle. Rick feels as if he has finally found a home in the Panthers.
Chapter 24 Summary
Rick and the Panthers spend Monday night watching footage of the Bergamo Lions’ most recent games. Unlike most teams in the league, Bergamo has an Italian star player, a linebacker named Maschi. The Italian players vow to practice every day until the game, regardless of their work schedules. Nico promises to quit smoking until the game, and assures the players that his brother Carlo is already working on the menu for their victory dinner.
On Thursday, Livvy arrives with a lot of luggage, explaining that she is not planning to return to Florence and that her parents’ divorce is growing so contentious she might not return to America. Although not ready for a live-in girlfriend, Rick is excited to see her. Livvy drags Rick on a road trip to visit local churches, leading to their first fight.
Chapters 18-24 Analysis
This section of Playing for Pizza reflects the novel’s thematic interest in The Importance of Loyalty. Rick’s evolving relationships with his teammates explore the ways loyalties shift and grow under pressure.
In Chapter 18, Rick learns that the Italian wide receiver Fabrizio is demanding to be paid, a radical departure from the league’s traditional practice of only paying American players. Although Sam worries that paying Fabrizio will set an inconvenient precedent, Rick assures him that if Fabrizio is “under contract,” he will “act like a pro” (158). Rick believes that Fabrizio will see the formal act of signing a contract as a sign of respect, and that offering him a salary will earn his loyalty. Ultimately, he is correct: Upon his return, Fabrizio makes it clear that he “would do anything for his beloved Panthers” (160), and helps lead the Panthers to a decisive victory, “earning his April salary in the first quarter” of the game (161).
Rick’s loyalty to the Panthers is tested when Rat Mullins, coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, attempts to recruit Rick to his team. Although Rick initially resists Arnie’s attempts to get him on the team, he agrees to meet with Rat after Rat calls personally. The sound of Rat’s voice makes him smile, as it “brought back fond memories of one of the few coaches who had believed in him” (177). Rat’s enthusiasm about Rick’s potential in their conversation convinces Rick to visit Saskatchewan. The novel suggests that Rick maintains a certain degree of loyalty because of Rat’s history of supporting him. Rick’s loyalty to Rat briefly overpowers his commitment to the Panthers. However, when Rat “refuse[s] to confirm or deny that the team was talking to Rick” (180), Rick’s own loyalty is negated, and he decides to return to Rome. Rick feels unable to remain loyal to Rat once he begins doubting Rat’s loyalty to him.
Rick’s loyalty to his teammates on the Panthers is cemented after their victory against the Bolzano Giants. In the locker room after the game, his teammates “hugged and celebrated, and a few seemed on the verge of tears” upon recognizing that “they were suddenly close to a great season” (198). This emotional celebration is followed by a rousing speech by Sam. The Panthers “hung on his every word, their anticipation already building,” while “a slight wave of nervous energy swept over Rick” (199). The emphasis in these passages is on the unifying nature of the player’s emotional response to the game. The shared emotional experience of saving the season leads Rick to an epiphany: “[H]e was no longer a hired gun, a ringer brought in from the Wild West to run offense and win games […] he was who he was, a Panther” (199). At the end of this section of the novel, Rick’s loyalty toward his teammates is cemented. Rick’s relationship with the other Panthers suggests that he is now beginning to recognize The Value of Forging Meaningful Connections in his new home.
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