Former Buffalo Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick reportedly retires after 17 seasons

After 17 seasons in the NFL, it appears that Ryan Fitzpatrick is calling it a career according to former Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, who was the first to tweet about it and signal that Fitzpatrick may be done playing professional football.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was a seventh round pick out of Harvard by the Rams and would play for nine different teams over his career.

However, of the nine teams, he spent the most years of his career with the Buffalo Bills, playing in four seasons from 2009 to 2012. He would start 53 games over that stretch and have 11,654 passing yards, 80 touchdowns, and 64 interceptions.

He would become the full-time starter in 2010 and after a good season that year and an excellent start to the 2011 season, the Bills and Fitzpatrick agreed to a six-year extension. In the first six games of the 2011 season, Fitzpatrick had 12 passing touchdowns and only six interceptions.

However, after agreeing to the extension, he struggled and finished the year throwing 16 touchdowns in the final 10 games. He would play one more season in Buffalo before being released after the 2012 season due in part to the Bills bringing in a new head coach.

While the Bills didn’t have great success on the field when Fitzpatrick was under center, he became a fan favorite for the way he played the game. The feeling appears to be mutual as Fitzpatrick would return to Buffalo this past January to watch the Buffalo Bills play the New England Patriots among the BillsMafia faithful in the AFC Wild Card Round.

In what appears to be his final season in the NFL, Fitzpatrick began the year with Washington as their starting quarterback. However, he would suffer a major hip injury in the first game of the season and not be able to return.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Ryan Fitzpatrick already has plans after football and is in negotiations with Amazon for a ‘key role’ as they prepare for their first season carrying NFL games.