Reflecting on Ryan Fitzpatrick's Bills' Career
A decade has passed since quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick last played for the Buffalo Bills.
He never had a winning record in his four seasons in Buffalo, producing a 20-33 record as a starter. He also never led the Bills to the playoffs. He did, however, throw an NFL-high 23 interceptions in 2011 as the Bills finished 6-10.
Yet, all these years later Fitzpatrick remains one of the most popular players to ever wear their uniform.
The reason? His personality. Fitzpatrick connected with the Bills Mafia like few others, and it was that way with fans, coaches and teammates alike pretty much wherever the journeyman happened to be playing throughout his 17 years in the league.
Fitzpatrick this week retired at age 39, ending an improbable career in which he threw more touchdown passes (223) than all members of the 2005 NFL Draft class except that guy who's still stuck in Green Bay, Aaron Somethingorother.
Rodgers was drafted in the first round, Fitzpatrick the last.
Suffice to say this Harvard graduate was no Frasier Crane. Everyone could relate to him, which is why thousands of Bills fans were lobbying for the team to bring him back as the backup to Josh Allen last year and again this offseason, after Mitchell Trubisky was lost to free agency.
Alas, all good careers must come to an end, and Fitzpatrick finally made the call after playing for nine teams, winning 59 games and throwing for nearly 35,000 yards.
The way he went out may have been the coolest thing he ever did.
He crafted a farewell text to all his former teammates with their names spelled out in a meme. One of them is former Bill Fred Jackson, who shared it on Twitter.
Within minutes of his announcement, the same fans who had been clamoring for his return began to publicly wish he would come back to Buffalo to sign a one-day contract so he could retire as a Bill.
Fitzpatrick had long since been a made member of the Bills Mafia when he sat with fans in the stands during the Bills' playoff win over New England last January and ripped his shirt off with the temperature reading around 8 degrees fahrenheit.
Legend.
Fitzpatrick already is reportedly in talks with Amazon to become an analyst, so he's probably still going to be visible for a good many years to come — only with all of his clothes on.
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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
