Mazzetti moved to São Paulo when he was 2 years old and lived there until he was 17 before leaving for the University of Pennsylvania, when he was accepted to the prestigious Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.
[2] During the summer before his sophomore year at Penn, a fellow ATO fraternity brother, Jim Roussos, introduced him to the football team.
During his junior and senior years, Mazzetti set several school records, including for longest FG (54 yards, twice),[3] as well as kicking several game-winning FGs.
Mazzetti made it through the entire training camp that summer of 1978, but was released in the last cut when head coach Dick Vermeil decided to go with his veteran, Nick Mike-Mayer.
Mazzetti then was invited to single-day tryouts once the 1978 season began for the Dallas Cowboys but lost out to Rafael Septién[6] and the New Orleans Saints.
In a memorable Monday-night game against the division leading Los Angeles Rams on October 30, 1978, Tim Mazzetti went 5-for-5 and the Falcons won 15–7.