After a long 17-year career, Ryan Fitzpatrick is officially hanging up the cleats and retiring. The story of Fitzpatrick’s career can’t be overly defined in individual success, as he never made it to a Pro Bowl. The story of Fitzpatrick’s career can’t be defined in team success either, as he never once made it to the postseason. The story of Fitzpatrick’s career has to be defined as an underdog that was a very unique personality.
The 2005 NFL Draft
Fitzpatrick was the 13th quarterback selected in the 2005 NFL Draft. The Harvard graduate was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the 7th Round. Out of all those quarterbacks selected before him, you can make the argument that he was either the 2nd or 3rd best behind Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith.
He holds an NFL record for being the epitome of a journeyman quarterback, starting games for nine different NFL teams. Later with the Buccaneers, he got the nickname “FitzMagic” for having the gunslinger mentality and seemingly almost never being out of any game. He also put up decent numbers with nearly 35,000 passing yards and 223 touchdowns for his career.
Career Stats
- Career Passing Yards: 34,990 (32nd all-time)
- Career Passing TDs: 223 (Tied for 36th all-time)
- Career Completion Percentage: 60.7%
- Passes Completed: 3,072 (9th all-time)
- Passing Yards per Game: 210.8 (50th all-time)
- Record as a Starter: 59-87-1
- 13 Comebacks
- 18 Game-Winning Drives
Back In 2018, he was the first quarterback ever to throw for 400+ yards in three consecutive games. He also had another 400-yard game in Week 10, which tied him with Dan Marino and Peyton Manning for the NFL’s single-season record.
My “FitzMagic” Experience
It was with his third team, the Buffalo Bills, that Fitzpatrick earned a special place in my heart. The year was 2011 the Bills were right in the middle of 17-year playoff drought, and I’ve had nothing but heartache for my adult football fandom. Tom Brady had a tight grip around the neck of the AFC East and Buffalo has lost 15-straight games to the Patriots. It was Week 3 and the Bills, led by Fitzpatrick, were off to a 2-0 start and the season was very promising. Enter Brady and the patriots who quickly put together a 21-0 2nd quarter lead.
I was visiting a friend in Watertown, New York with my girlfriend at the time, now my wife. We were watching the game, but since we had a three-hour drive home and the game looked like a typical drought-era Bills versus Patriots game, I gave up and was just going to listen in the car. While driving, and listening to the second half, led by Fitzpatrick the Bills started to come back. With 10 minutes left in the game, Drayton Florence picked off Brady and returned it for a 27-yard touchdown and Fred Jackson tied it up with a two-point conversion.
At this point, it felt like something was happening. I got off the highway in Syracuse and parked at a local Wegman’s, typical upstate New York, close to the highway. After a few first downs, the Bills running down the clock, the Patriots using all their time outs, and losing their composure, Ryan Lindell hit a chip shot field goal to win the game as the clock expired.
My future wife and I were yelling and screaming and cheering in the car. I looked car parked directly in front of us to see another family doing the same exact thing. We all jumped out of our cars, high-fived, and were yelling “Go Bills!” The playoff drought didn’t end this year for Buffalo, and my Bills fandom misery did not end here, but this was a great reprieve for a few minutes.
Fitzpatrick had many other comebacks just like this, and tons of unique stories. From gold chain and chest hair showing press conferences to shirtless cheering on the Bills in negative temperatures in this year’s wild-card game. I’ll always be a fan of Fitzpatrick, if not for all the hair, definitely for the come-from-behind win in 2011.
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