Longtime NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has reportedly called it a career after 17 seasons, sending former teammates a text and thanking them for a "magical ride."
The Harvard product was drafted in 2005 as a seventh-round pick, 250th overall, by the St. Louis Rams -- the last quarterback selected in that draft. The team then traded Fitzpatrick to Cincinnati for a seventh-round pick in 2007, where he started 12 games for the Bengals in place of the injured Carson Palmer.
Throughout his career he played in and started at least one game for nine different NFL teams, the most by any player since 1950. He also played for the Buffalo Bills, where he was a huge fan favourite, the Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders.
Pictures of him sitting shirtless in ice-cold temperatures at a Bills home playoff game last January made the rounds on social media.
The 39-year-old passed for 34,990 yards and 223 touchdowns in 166 career games, recording the most passing yards in NFL history by a player who never played in a playoff game, and sits 32nd in league history.
As many other retired quarterbacks before him have done, Fitzpatrick is reportedly in talks with Amazon to play a key role for them this season, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Fitzpatrick finished his career with Washington in 2021, a team where he was finally named as the starting quarterback but lasted less than one game due to a partially dislocated hip that took him out of action in Week 1 and ended his playing career.
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