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 25-31Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 25 Summary
The undefeated Bergamo Lions arrive at the Stadio Lanfranchi with a large, noisy entourage of fans. They also have cheerleaders, making Rick jealous. The Panthers have recruited all their fans and ex-players to fill out the stadium and offer support against the Lions. As the game begins, the Lions’ American players taunt Rick with references to the articles of Charley Cray.
The game is violent, and Rick, Franco, and Fabrizio all take hard hits. Multiple players, including Rick, are involved in fights. The Panthers lead 14-7 at halftime, and although the Lions make a brief comeback, the Panthers ultimately win the game. The Lions are good-natured after their loss, cheerfully promising to beat the Panthers in their inevitable Super Bowl matchup. Rick, who has been feeling dizzy since the fourth quarter, decides to skip dinner. As he leaves, a painful headache sets in.
Chapter 26 Summary
Rick and Livvy visit the beach town of Sirolo for a romantic getaway before the Panthers’ next match. Livvy receives multiple phone calls from various members of her family desperate for her return. It has been 10 days since Livvy was supposed to return to America, and both of her parents are hoping she will testify on their behalf in their contentious divorce. Livvy’s mother, a prominent Savannah socialite, is claiming that her husband had multiple affairs, and needs Livvy to testify to his cheating. Livvy’s father, a respected doctor, is hoping he can pay her not to testify. Livvy hopes to remain neutral by staying in Italy, but her visa has expired, and Rick is unsure of the legality of her plans. The Panthers win the final game of their regular season, sending them to the playoffs.
Chapter 27 Summary
Rick and Livvy have dinner with Tommy, the oldest player on the Panthers. Tommy has vowed not to leave the team until they win a Super Bowl and asks Rick to promise him that they’ll win. Rick won’t promise but says he feels confident that they can win.
As they leave, Livvy complains that Tommy made inappropriate advances with her. When Rick jokes that he did the same with Tommy’s girlfriend, Livvy tells him she’s very jealous, and was watching him all night. Without discussing it, the couple mutually agree to be monogamous.
The following Sunday, the Panthers travel to Bologna to face the Warriors. After a fiercely contested first half, the Panthers rally together in the second half to defeat the Warriors 51-27, sending them to the Super Bowl. Privately, Sam thinks that the team is working together perfectly.
Chapter 28 Summary
Livvy decides that she and Rick should take a trip to Venice during the two-week break before the Super Bowl. As they drive, she gives Rick a history of the region and its architecture. Rick suspects that she is pouring herself into Italian history to avoid thinking about her family.
In Venice, Rick sets a limit of two cathedrals or palaces per day, leaving Livvy to explore on her own while he drinks in cafes. Sam calls to ask for Rick’s help developing an offensive plan for the Super Bowl. He seems to disapprove of Rick’s relationship with Livvy. When Rick tells Livvy he has to return to Parma, she decides to stay on her own in Venice. She asks Rick to consider staying in Italy with her after his season ends, and he agrees to think about it.
Chapter 29 Summary
Rick is visited at 3 am by Lee Bryson, an American private investigator claiming to have been hired by Livvy’s parents. Bryson explains that Livvy’s parents have resolved her visa issue and bought her a one-way ticket home. If she rejects the ticket, she will be left to deal with her visa alone. Rick replies that Livvy is not with him and that he doesn’t make decisions for her, and the investigator leaves.
Rick tries for hours to reach Livvy; when she finally answers, he encourages her to take the ticket and return once her visa issues are resolved. Livvy replies that she would never take money from her father, and asks him if Franco can pull strings to help her extend her visa so she can remain in Italy with him.
Chapter 30 Summary
The Italian Super Bowl is held at a small arena in Milan used by the local soccer league. Both teams are aggressive and energetic as the game begins, leading to hard hits on the field and squabbles after the whistle. Neither team scores in the first quarter, then Bergamo has one field goal for 3 points just as the first half ends. Unbeknownst to the players, Charley Cray is watching from the stands: In his notes, he grudgingly admits that Italian football is played with skill and heart.
At half time, Rick gives a speech (translated by Franco) expressing his gratitude toward the Panthers and his pride in being a part of the team. In the final minutes of the game, Rick throws a winning touchdown pass but suffers a brutal hit that causes him to briefly forget where he is.
Chapter 31 Summary
The Panthers celebrate their win with a raucous celebration at a restaurant rented out by Signor Bruncardo. Rick, who has taken several painkillers, doesn’t drink and leaves early. A few days later, Sam tells Rick that Bruncardo has offered to increase his contract if he returns to the Panthers. Rick reveals that he has no memory of leaving the field after he was hit, and that his first memory is of celebrating the win in the locker room. He tells Sam that he has plans to travel with Livvy, whose visa issues are being sorted by Franco. Rick promises Sam an answer when he returns.
Soon after, Livvy and Rick board a train for Apulia in southern Italy. They have no plans beyond August, but Livvy hints that she might delay her senior year of college. Rick smiles as the train passes the Stadio Lanfranchi.
Chapters 25-31 Analysis
In the final section of Playing for Pizza, Rick’s character arc comes to its conclusion as he learns The Value of Forging Meaningful Connections and realizes there is more to life than football. At the beginning of the novel, Rick is a self-centered and uncurious quarterback who believes that he is better than his teammates, despite his tumultuous history playing professional football in the United States and Canada. At the end of the novel, he recognizes the intrinsic value of his teammates as people and as players. In his Super Bowl halftime speech, Rick thanks his teammates “for allowing [him] to play on [the] team this season […] for accepting [him]” (247). The use of the verbs “allow” and “accept” in this passage indicates that Rick sees his teammates as individuals with agency, rather than background characters in the story of his life.
Rick’s remarks suggest that he understands that he began his career with the Parma Panthers as a guest, and that he is grateful for the opportunity he has been given. Rick also reminds his teammates that, “win or lose, I consider all of you to be not just my friends but my brothers” (248). This passage identifies three levels of relationship: Teammates (indicated by “win or lose”), friends, and family. Rick’s speech highlights his character growth, as the teammates he was once forced to play with become his chosen family beyond the soccer field.
Rick also acknowledges the literal value of his teammates, and this too shows his maturity. At the beginning of the novel, Rick worries that if his Italian teammates aren’t paid, they won’t risk their bodies to protect his. Having just suffered a brutal hit, “he wanted linemen” who were well paid so that they were incentivized to protect him (26). At the end of the novel, Rick recognizes that his teammates deserve to be paid in their own right. When Sam offers to increase Rick’s salary if he renews his contract, Rick “thought about Silvio, who worked on the family farm, and Filippo, who drove a cement truck” (255). Rick recognizes that his teammates “would kill for such a deal, and they practice and played as hard as Rick” (256). Rick now recognizes both the value his teammates bring to the Panthers organization and the way they blame for the pure love of the game. Rick’s newfound attention to the skills and needs of his teammates is evidence of his character growth over the course of the novel.
The novel’s ending is ambiguous, leaving it unresolved as to whether Rick will renew his contract with the Panthers. This ambiguous ending reflects Grisham’s thematic interest in The Pressures of Fame. Rick reveals that although he “stayed on [his] feet, walked off the field […] celebrated with everybody else,” he has no memory of leaving the field after the Super Bowl—he simply “woke up in the dressing room” (256). In this passage, the juxtaposition of the active verbs “walked off” and “celebrated” with the passive “woke up” emphasizes that Rick is once again experiencing injuries the way he did at the novel’s opening. Rick expresses serious concerns about his health if he continues to play football, telling Sam that he’s been knocked out in four football games and that he doesn’t “know how many more [he] can survive” (256). This revelation complicates the happy ending of the Super Bowl win, suggesting that Rick’s future in football may not be as bright as it seems even though he has found some personal contentment.
Related Titles
By John Grisham
