Brian Vizard began playing rugby in 1978 with the Grand Rapids Gazelles Rugby Club. He played with the Gazelles for four years before attending Michigan State University for a year, playing with the MSU Rugby Club. While playing rugby in Michigan, Brian appeared for the Michigan Select Side on numerous occasions and was also a member of the Midwest Developmental Side in 1983.
In 1984, Brian moved to California where he joined the Monterey Rugby Club. In that same year he represented the Northern California Junior Pelicans and Pacific Coast Junior Grizzlies All-Star teams. In 1985, he traveled south to San Diego joining the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) rugby team. In his first year he helped lead OMBAC to the first ever United States National Sevens Club Championship while also making the United States Junior National Team, the Pacific Coast Grizzlies and Southern California Griffins All-Star teams.
In 1986, Brian made his first of 22 appearances for the United States National Team. He also made his debut for the United States National Sevens Team of which he went on to appear in 21 international sevens matches. Brian continued his duties with OMBAC while also making repeated appearances for the Pacific Coast and Southern California All-Star teams.
In 1990, Brian was named captain of the United States National Team. He captained the National Team in eight internationals and on tours to Australia, Japan and the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England. He retired from full international play following the 1991World Cup. After a six year absence from the United States National Sevens Team, Brian successfully came back to secure a spot on the 1993 United States National Sevens Team World Cup squad which toured Fiji, Australia, Hong Kong and Scotland. Brian’s last sevens international appearance was at the 1993 Sevens Rugby World Cup.
Brian retired from club rugby at OMBAC in 1995 at the age of 36. During his 11 years with OMBAC, the club won National Club Championship titles in 1988, ‘89, ‘91, ‘93 and ‘94, and National Sevens Championships in 1985 and 1995.
Brian retired as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the United States Rugby Football Union having played in three Rugby World Cups; representing the United States in 22 full internationals and 21 sevens internationals; participating in 15 representative tours abroad; and playing on seven National Club Championship teams with OMBAC.
Although retired from the playing field, Brian continues to be involved with the sport. For the past 10 years he has been the Executive Director of the United States Rugby Foundation, a non-profit 501 c 3 charitable organization, providing support to youth and high school rugby throughout the United States.
From 1995 to the present, he has been a color commentator for rugby matches throughout the world and was a co-host of The Rugby Club, a weekly two-hour broadcast airing on Fox Sports World from 1995-2005. In the nearly two decades as a color commentator, Brian has been the on-air talent for over 700 rugby television broadcasts, appearing on Fox Sports 1, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, FOX, FOX Soccer Channel, FOX Soccer Plus, all FOX Regional Affiliates, Versus, Oxygen, and Prime Ticket.