Ryan Fitzpatrick joins Bills Mafia for a night
Ryan Fitzpatrick has played for what seems like every team in the NFL. In reality, the current Washington Football Team member has “only” played for nine of the league’s 32 clubs.
Of those, the one he stayed with the longest was the Buffalo Bills, with whom he spent four years from 2009-12.
Despite suiting up for six clubs since, it’s clear where Fitzpatrick’s allegiance stands.
On Saturday, Fitzpatrick was seen shirtless in the crowd at Highmark Stadium cheering on the Bills as they faced off against the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card round of the playoffs.
@ESPNNFL @SalSports @JeremyWGR @EWood70. The moment I caught on video Saturday night will be one of the greatest memories of my life. The passion! GO BILLS! pic.twitter.com/2rbOzpmVXi
— kyle margeson (@jessekjm) January 17, 2022
The moment caught many by surprise, as Fitzpatrick is still under contract with another NFL team. In March 2021, he signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Washington Football Team. The plan was for Fitzpatrick to be the starter, but when he suffered a season-ending hip injury in Week 1, Taylor Heinicke took the reigns.
Fitzpatrick will be a free agent again this March and it is uncertain what his plans are. He will turn 40 years old later this year and there is a chance he is all out of luck when it comes to landing another starting job.
At his age and coming off a serious injury, the best thing available for Fitzpatrick could end up being a backup job.
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Fitzpatrick has been given the tag “journeyman quarterback” over the years because of his constant shuffling of teams. As previously mentioned, he’s played for nine different organizations in his career.
There’s a chance his most notable stop along the way came in 2015-16 with the New York Jets.
After being acquired from Houston, the plan was for Fitzpatrick to back up starter Geno Smith. Then, the I.K. Enemkpali incident happened, and for better or for worse, Fitzpatrick became the starter in 2015.
Fitzpatrick went on to have a career year, throwing a franchise-record 31 touchdowns and nearly reaching 4,000 passing yards. If not for a Week 17 loss in Buffalo, he would’ve made his first playoff appearance at age 33.
The Fitz-magic was short-lived, however, as the next season, he threw more interceptions (17) than touchdowns (12) and won only three games.
Fitzpatrick would depart for Tampa Bay in 2017, but Jets fans got a good feel for the kind of guy he was over the two years he spent in New York: an outgoing, humorous vet.
It’s safe to say that Jets fans understand the wild side to Fitz better than almost anybody. Going shirtless at a playoff game in single-digit temperatures is par for the course.
