Joe Fitzgerald will bring several chapters of his life together Saturday: priest, Olympic athlete and quarterback on Ithaca College’s 1991 national championship football team.
The 1993 Ithaca graduate will celebrate a 9 a.m. Catholic Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Nov. 14 before joining his former teammates at Yankee Stadium for the Cortaca Jug. A choir and string quartet from Ithaca’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance will participate in the service, details included in a new college profile of Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, who prefers “Father Joe,” serves in the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island. The Cortaca weekend gathering follows a career that has taken him from college football to international handball, teaching, corporate training and the priesthood.
From Ithaca football to Olympic handball
A Long Island native, Fitzgerald entered Ithaca as a physical education major. His interest in history and the humanities led him to switch to the program then called Social Studies 7-12, preparing him to teach after graduation.
His older brother, Tom, introduced him to handball through the Empire State Games. The indoor team sport involves passing, dribbling and throwing a ball toward a floor-level goal.
Both brothers went on to play in the men’s handball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Fitzgerald then spent a year playing professionally in Sweden before returning to Atlanta to teach and coach high school football while continuing with the national handball team.
He was named USA Team Handball Athlete of the Year in 2001 and helped the United States win bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Teaching also led him into corporate training, with work for companies including Home Depot, UPS and Coca-Cola. With more free time than he had during full-time athletics and classroom teaching, he began volunteering with young adults and youth at his church.
A familiar faith becomes a vocation
Church had remained part of Fitzgerald’s life through each move. He found Mueller Chapel while at Ithaca, sought a quiet spiritual space in the Olympic Village and joined congregations wherever he lived.
His uncle Bob was a priest, and both sides of his family were closely connected to church. Volunteering led him to consider whether he should follow that path himself.
“I could be like my dad, a husband, and a father, and that’s a fulfilling way to live. Or I could be like my Uncle Bob, a joyful and creative priest who affected many lives and a bigger spiritual family – and maybe that’s for me,” Fitzgerald told Ithaca College.
He returned to Long Island and began formation for the priesthood in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves Nassau and Suffolk counties. Formation combines human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral development, including prayer, community life and theological study.
On his 30th birthday in 2001, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Cathedral Seminary House of Formation in Douglaston, Queens. Less than two weeks later, the Sept. 11 attacks brought a period of reflection as he began his studies.
“It was really powerful for me to learn about forgiveness, restoration and healing,” he said.
Fitzgerald was ordained in 2007. His ministry has since included weddings in Rome and Miami and service as a chaplain during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Saturday’s Mass will precede Ithaca’s rivalry game against Cortland at 1 p.m. For Fitzgerald, the next stop after the cathedral will be a reunion with the teammates who shared his 1991 championship season.
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