Former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is opening up about his time as a journeyman in the NFL. He played for nine different franchises during his 17 seasons, all the while growing his family. His seven children, with wife Liza Barber, were all born in different cities and Fitzpatrick wouldn’t have done it any other way.
“I absolutely embrace it because that’s what I was and that’s what my career was,” Fitzpatrick told CNN Sports in an interview published this week. “I traveled. It seemed like every year, every other year, we’re moving from city to city. Out of that, I’ve got seven kids, and they’re all born in different cities around the country.
“I think we really embraced moving around and really try to take advantage and all these different places that we lived. Of becoming part of the community, even if it was a short time embracing our neighbors and embracing the teams that I played on. And with that, we gained a lot of great experiences.”
Fitzpatrick The Journeyman
Fitzpatrick is now a pre- and postgame analyst for Amazon as part of their “Thursday Night Football” package.
He enjoyed his best statistical success in 2011 and 2012 with the Buffalo Bills, having career highs in completions and attempts. In 2015 with the New York Jets he had a career-high in yards and TDs and his best record as a starter at 10-6.
Fitzpatrick has started a game for nine teams, which is an NFL record.
Harvard Graduate
Coming out of college there was a lot of buzz around Fitzpatrick. He graduated from Harvard and scored a 48 on the league’s Wonderlic test. For decades this assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of individuals was seen as the gold standard in determining the success of QBs. That has since proved untrue, but nonetheless Fitzpatrick has the highest recorded score by a QB.
“One of the reasons I went to Harvard is because I was planning for the future without football,” said Fitzpatrick. “It just so happened that I was able to have an opportunity to play and was able to take advantage of it. But I’m still, after all these years, waiting to put that Harvard degree to use … I mean, my parents paid enough money for it, so hopefully soon enough I’ll put it to use.”
Maybe Fitzpatrick will get involved in some other business ventures that will utilize his economics background. For now, being an Amazon analyst pays pretty well, and he’s only working three days a week.
Over his 17-year career Fitzpatrick earned $82 million in salary.