Rick attended Georgia Tech on an athletic scholarship for football and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Management in 1988. While at Georgia Tech, Rick was a 2-year starting quarterback and was twice named to the Academic All-ACC Football Team. In his senior year, he was honored by receiving the Georgia Tech Total Person Award, Tech's highest honor for excellence in Athletics and Academics. In 1988, Rick began his professional football career by signing as a Free Agent with his hometown team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. His career with the Steelers covered five seasons from 1989 through 1993. In 1994, Rick played for the Buffalo Bills and then finished his career with the Detroit Lions after suffering a season ending foot injury during the preseason in 1996.

A significant turning point took place in Rick's life shortly after his first full professional football season when he got engaged to his wife, Karen. Shortly after their engagement, Karen, a non-Catholic at the time, decided to attend the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Rick, a life long "cradle" Catholic, decided to attend in order to "lend his support". It was just the spark he needed to ignite a true passion to more deeply understand his own Roman Catholic Faith and to strive to live it out to the full.

Since then, Rick has had numerous opportunities to speak to a wide variety of groups regarding Faith, Family and Football. He has been a featured speaker at Catholic Men's Conferences in Steubenville, OH, Cleveland, OH, San Antonio, TX and Pittsburgh, PA. He has been the featured guest on the EWTN program, "Life on the Rock" and "The Carpenter's Shop". He is the author of articles, "How I Pray Now" and "A Winning Gameplan for Dads". Together with Karen, Rick was a featured speaker at the 2000 Engaged Encounter 25th Anniversary Conference and the 2002 Diocease of Pittsburgh Total Catholic Education Conference.

Rick is enjoying a career in the commercial real estate business with Manulife Financial and resides with his wife Karen and their five children in Duluth, Georgia.