On Sundays in the fall, Larry Izzo straps on his Patriots helmet and leads the Patriots' special teams coverage units down the field in top speed pursuit of enemy ball carriers. On Friday, June 23, Izzo will strap on a different kind of Patriots helmet and reach speeds he has never imagined. Friday morning, Izzo will join Lt. Kevin Davis in the cockpit of an F/A-18 Hornet for a flight demonstration with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels.
This will not be the first time Izzo has teamed up with our armed forces. In April of 2005, the Patriots' special teams captain spent seven days visiting soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq during an NFL sanctioned USO Tour. In addition to opening the Pat Tillman USO Center at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, he also visited several military hospitals and camps throughout the region, meeting thousands of soldiers in the field. Shortly after his return to the states, Izzo visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Last fall, Izzo hosted a celebrity fundraiser for charities that support American servicemen and women and their families. Dozens of Patriots players attended and participated in the "Larry-oke" karaoke event, which raised over $200,000.