Ryan Fitzpatrick Disputes Tom Brady's Status as the GOAT
For someone who has always avoided the limelight, Ryan Fitzpatrick is someone who always seems to end up there, anyway.
He's undoubtedly one of the most glorified backup quarterbacks in the history of the sport. Part of the reason for that is not only because he played for nine different teams over the course of his 17-year NFL career, but because he ended up starting for the majority of those teams at one point or another.
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He's notorious for his explosive, prolific and volatile performances on the field. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always entertaining.
Whenever Fitz came running onto the field — or the post-game podium for that matter — fans knew they were going to get a show. In fact, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' fanbase is as well acquainted with this side of Fitzpatrick as anyone.
Cue the "Fitzmagic"...
So when Ryan Fitzpatrick announced his retirement, he did so in a very unique, fitzy, sort-of-way. The news broke from a tweet at the hands of Fred Jackson, his former teammate with the Buffalo Bills.
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With the name of every teammate he had every played with in the NFL included, Fitz and his son created an image for him to send out to many of those teammates via text.
It's definitely a low-key, unassuming way for his retirement announcement to be made. But as is often the case with Fitzpatrick, and like I said earlier, he always ends up in the spotlight in the end.
Kind words, tweets, pictures, videos and memories began to flood the internet shortly after the news broke. Many of which included that infamous post-game press conference from his time in Tampa (shown above).
After the dust settled following the news of his retirement, and just when you finally thought he might fade off into the distance, Fitzpatrick has since found a way back into the headlines. This time, for a reason that is far less endearing to Bucs fans than that press conference he conducted in DeSean Jackson's clothes back in Week 2 of the 2018 season.
In a "retirement press conference" he held with Adam Schefter on his podcast earlier this week, Fitzpatrick offered a very unconventional opinion on the topic of who is the greatest quarterback of all time.
"My favorite quarterback I got to play against was Peyton Manning," Fitzpatrick said. "Peyton had the laser focus and everything else. I think Peyton is the greatest quarterback to ever live."
If you listen to the interview, it's clear that he wasn't trying to disrespect Tom Brady, as he also made a point of complimenting the player who most people believe is the undisputed greatest quarterback of all time.
"I think Tom Brady is the greatest champion, but I think Peyton is the greatest quarterback to ever live."
Adam Schefter included a link to the entire interview in his tweet promoting the discussion with Fitzpatrick. Which you can access here.
I have great respect for Peyton Manning. I also have great respect for Ryan Fitzpatrick. That said, I strongly disagree with his assessment that Tom Brady is not the greatest of all time. After all, the primary objective of the game is to win. Which is something that Tom Brady has done more of than any quarterback in the history of the sport. And he's done it while putting up some of the most prolific passing numbers the league has ever seen.
But at the end of the day, after all he has given the sport of football, Ryan Fitzpatrick is, at the very least, entitled to his own opinion on who is the greatest quarterback of all time.
Even if he's wrong.
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