Rick Dockery is a professional football player whose failing career is at the heart of Playing for Pizza. He is 28 years old, and at the beginning of the novel he is characterized as a fish out of water in his new Italian surroundings. When he first arrives in Parma, he is described as a stereotypical American “fresh from south Florida with a ridiculous tan and dressed for summer drinks at the country club,” wearing a “lemon shirt with a tropical motif [and] white slacks that stopped at bronze sockless ankles” despite the cool weather (30). Rick’s early status as a stereotypical American tourist contrasts with his later adoption of Italian culture through Gabriella and Livvy.

Rick is also characterized by his inconsistent performance on the football field. Although “he could throw long and hard with a lightning-quick release,” Rick is “too erratic to be trusted” (13), and often makes crucial errors. Even his coach Sam Russo is forced to admit that “never in his memory had he watched one player so completely engineer a defeat and lose a game that was so clearly won” like Rick did in his final game for the Cleveland Browns (18). Although Rick occasionally makes mistakes with the Panthers, the support he finds from his teammates makes him a more consistent player in the Italian league than in the United States.