“A Journeyman starter” – Veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick retires after 17 seasons
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Ryan Fitzpatrick
It’s come to an end. Ryan Fitzpatrick has decided to hang up his cleats after 17 long seasons in the NFL. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday that the Washington Football quarterback decided to call it quits. Furthermore, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Fitzmagic is in talks with Prime Video for the role of sports broadcaster in Amazon’s NFL coverage this season.
Fitzpatrick’s journey has been an arduous and unlikely one that amazed the entire NFL world. However, his magic on and off the field made the fans love and revere him.
Ryan Fitzpatrick lasted longer than anyone expected from a seventh-round pick
Ryan Fitzpatrick was selected in the 7th round (250th overall) of the 2005 NFL draft by the St.Louis Rams. It was unlikely that the Harvard QB would see any playtime on the field. However, destiny had other plans when Rams starter Marc Bulger was injured and Fitzpatrick was given the chance to start in three games which he ended up losing. From here, he was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals where an injury to starter Carson Palmer paved the way for Fitzpatrick to start. This has been the story of his career. He gets signed by a team, the starter is indisposed due to injury and Ryan gets a chance to prove himself.
Fitzpatrick has played for nine different teams in the NFL the most by any player since at least 1950. Even though Fitzpatrick didn’t have an extraordinary career, he made the most of what he was given. He owns the most career passing yards among all quarterbacks drafted in the seventh round of later in the common draft era, outperforming 1977 10th-rounder Steve DeBerg by 749 yards. He also holds quite a few records for a QB who has been drafted in the 7th round. The only disappointment for Fitzpatrick is not playing in the postseason despite playing for nine different teams. He did come close when he started for the New York Jets but was short of one win.
Starting from the Rams and moving on to the Bengals, Bills, Titans, Texans, Jets, Buccaneers, and Dolphins, Fitzpatrick finally settled down with the Washington Football Team in 2021. He was named starter but lasted less than a game due to a partially dislocated hip forcing him out of action for the rest of the season. This injury effectively ended Fitzmagic’s career.
Twitter showered their love on Ryan Fitzpatrick for a great career
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)