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When Ryan Fitzpatrick had his NFL dreams, he wanted what every kid wanted.
Fitzpatrick hoped to stay with one team for his entire career, but as he recently told Pakinomist Digital, “It just didn’t happen to be my story.”
Instead, Fitzpatrick holds the NFL record for starting for nine separate teams and owns several other oddities when it comes to dressing for nearly a third of the NFL’s organizations.
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New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) drops back to pass against the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter at MetLife Stadium on December 13, 2015. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
“I always wanted to play. So wherever I went, it was usually with the intention of being a starter and playing somewhere. Then inevitably someone would get drafted and I’d go on and play somewhere else because I was a guy who enjoyed being out there on the field and not sitting on the bench and watching,” Fitzpatrick said. “So it was just the way I was going to be able to do it was to keep moving from team to team.”
It was certainly an unorthodox career, and Fitzpatrick is the definition of a “journeyman,” as he played for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders.
But “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“A lot of it was the amount of teammates I was able to have, but it was also the journey I was able to go on with my wife and with my kids and all the cool people we met outside of football,” Fitzpatrick said.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick celebrates his game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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“Our neighbors and friends, there are relationships in every city that we want to keep forever. So yeah, I think when people get drafted, they all have this notion that they’re going to be with the same team for their entire career. It just didn’t happen to be my story. I wouldn’t change it for anything because I loved every second of it.”
Those conditions have helped Fitzpatrick off the course, as he will once again be one of the many celebrities featured in this month’s American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe. This year he teamed up with Performance Golf to lower his handicap by a few strokes in hopes of being near the top of the rankings.
“The American Century is so much fun. It’s a great group of guys and girls that are out there playing and it really just feels like family because everyone comes in every year,” Fitzpatrick said.
Ryan Fitzpatrick watches from the TNF on Prime set prior to an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on November 20, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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“You get to spend time together, and that’s how it is with the golf course. It’s just a little bit different from a golf tournament, A, because we’re not all big golfers, but B, because of the interactions we get to have with the fans throughout the tournament. That’s probably my favorite part.”
