undrafted in the 1996 NFL Draft and was later signed by the Miami Dolphins as a free agent in April 1996. He first came to local notoriety based on a sound byte that circulated during the pre-season of Izzo's rookie year, where Miami coach Jimmy Johnson told the team that only two players were guaranteed to make the team: one was Dan Marino and the other the then-unknown Izzo. He spent most of his time on special teams, and was rewarded with his first trip to the Pro Bowl in 2000. New England Patriots Izzo signed with Miami's divisional rival New England Patriots in 2001, and played on three of the six Patriots' Super Bowl championship teams (2001, 2003 and 2004), defeating the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. Izzo was also part of the 2007 Patriots, who were the only undefeated team in the regular season since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule; they lost Super Bowl XLII, 17–14, to the New York Giants. He also had two more trips to Hawaii as the AFC special team representative in 2002, and 2004. Izzo gained notoriety in 2002 in the Patriots Super Bowl parade by leading the crowd in a "Yankees suck!" chant, in reference to the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry. In 2008, Izzo hosted an interview segment on the NESN dating show Sox Appeal. New York Jets Izzo joined his third AFC East team, the New York Jets on March 11, 2009. On December 10, 2009, the Jets placed Izzo on IR after tests revealed a spine injury. Coaching career New York Giants (2011–2015) On June 24, 2011, Izzo joined the New York Giants as assistant special teams coach. Izzo was credited with helping turn around the Giants special teams during their Super Bowl run in 2011-12. In the pivotal 2011-12 NFC Championship game, the Giant's special teams changed the momentum of the game when rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams caused a fumble on a punt return to set up Lawrence Tynes' game-winning field goal in overtime against the 49ers. The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl, and Izzo received his fourth Super Bowl ring. Houston Texans (2016–2017) On January 15, 2016, the Houston Texans hired Izzo as special teams coordinator. During Izzo's tenure with Houston the Special Teams unit improved its DVOA ranking from dead last (ranked 32 in 2015) to 26 in 2017,