Ryan Fitzpatrick: Nine teams, seven kids all born in different cities and cult status: the life of an NFL journeyman

The term ‘journeyman’ in sport can often have pejorative connotations and is often attached to an athlete unable to find a long-term home.

But for former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, it is a badge of honor.

Over his 17-year career, Fitzpatrick played for nine different teams. At each of his stops, he provided thrills and spills, as well as his fair share of moments of brilliance.

There’s a reason he earned himself the nickname ‘Fitzmagic.’

While some might criticize him for not putting down long-term roots in one particular city – he started at least one game for nine different NFL teams, an NFL record – the former quarterback has leaned into his traveling reputation and his mystical, cult status.

“I absolutely embrace it because that’s what I was and that’s what my career was,” the 41-year-old told CNN Sport’s Don Riddell when asked about the journeyman tag. “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,” added Fitzpatrick.

“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.”

Unlikely hero

Only 33 players in NFL history have more passing yards than Fitzpatrick. It is quite the achievement for someone who wasn’t banking on a career in the sport.

Fitzpatrick attended Harvard University, where the prospects of playing in the NFL were slim.

“One of the reasons I went to Harvard is because I was planning for the future without football. 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.”

Selected in the seventh round of the 2005 Draft by the then-St. Louis Rams, Fitzpatrick was thrown into the fire in his rookie season, entering in the second quarter of the team’s Week 12 clash against the Houston Texans following an injury to starting quarterback Jamie Martin.

In what was a portent into the excitement he was to bring over the rest of his career, a fresh-faced Fitzpatrick threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns as he led the Rams back from a 27-3 halftime deficit to win 33-27 in overtime on the road.

The rest of his rookie season wasn’t much to write home about – he started in three further games, losing all three and throwing seven interceptions and just one touchdown – but the legend of ‘Fitzmagic’ had been born.

Fan favorite

As well as his sojourning around the NFL, one thing Fitzpatrick has become known for is his full and thick beard.

When he arrived in the league from Harvard, he was but a baby-faced quarterback just looking to stick around.

But it was in his third and longest stop with the Buffalo Bills – after a brief interlude with the Cincinnati Bengals – when his facial hair fully blossomed as a 25-year-old.

“I just kind of let it go. My kids, especially my younger ones, have never seen me without a beard. And every time I cut it down a little bit, they get so upset. So it’s part of me. It’s part of my persona now. And if I ever wanted to become anonymous, I could definitely just shave it off and nobody would know who I was.”

However, Fitzpatrick was once again on the move in 2012 after four seasons with the Bills, spending a year apiece with the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans before arriving in East Rutherford with the New York Jets.

Now you might think the pairing of a journeyman Fitzpatrick and a downtrodden Jets team – a franchise which has become famous for its lack of success and at the time had missed the playoffs for four straight years – would go poorly.

However, between a veteran roster and ‘Fitzmagic’s’ canny ability to produce something extraordinary, the Jets caught lightning in a bottle in 2015, bringing joy to an often-dark corner of New Jersey.

Yet it wasn’t to be for the Jets, with the team falling agonizingly short of the postseason after losing in the final week of the season. In what is fitting for the luckless franchise, they finished the year as the league’s only team with a winning record to not make the playoffs.

That 10-6 season remains the last time a Jets team has finished a campaign with a winning record.

It was during this out-of-the-blue season where the ‘Fitzmagic’ nickname was born and, for the man himself, he’s just glad it’s the nickname he’s remembered by.

“Love the nickname. I’ve been called a lot of bad things, too, but I’m glad that one is the one that stuck,” he said.

Overcoming

Since retiring in 2022, Fitzpatrick has gone on to cover the NFL for Amazon, as he transitions into the next phase of his life.

And as a result, he has had an excellent view of the shifting sands in the league this season, in particular, the recent spate of injuries ravaging some of the NFL’s top stars.

From Aaron Rodgers on the first weekend of the season to Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson recently, many teams have had to find creative ways to overcome and adapt with their stars in the rehabilitation rooms rather than on the field.

Fitzpatrick says that the injuries will play a big part in who will eventually hoist the Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas next February.

“When Aaron Rodgers is out there, the game is better, [the same as] when Joe Burrow is out there. And so, these things, just, they kill teams and they kill even the fans and the fan base, the excitement of it,” he explained.

“So we want those guys healthy, just like we want everybody healthy. But those quarterbacks especially, having Aaron Rodgers vs. not having Aaron Rodgers on the Jets this year and that was a difference in probably seven or eight wins, which is crazy to think about that. That’s how much of an impact you can have on a franchise.”

“So it’s a bummer. It happens every year and the best teams are the ones that are able to overcome it. Unfortunately, that quarterback position, it’s hard to overcome big injuries in that position.”

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