A former New York Jets quarterback hung up his cleats earlier this offseason and now has chosen his next career path.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport shared the official press release from Amazon announcing that Ryan Fitzpatrick has joined their Thursday Night Football package.
ALL the latest Jets news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Jets newsletter here!
A New Beginning
Fitzpatrick is now a key part of a multi-billion dollar organization with Amazon.
According to the press release, Fitz will be on the pre-game, halftime, and post-game coverage for the 2022 season.
The longtime NFL veteran will join Richard Sherman and Tony Gonzalez on the desk to share insight from over 17 years in the big leagues.
“One of the great characters in the league Ryan has been a fan-favorite and a beloved teammate everywhere he’s gone over the last 17 seasons,” Jared Stacy of Amazon Prime Video said.
Fitzpatrick provided a brief statement on this transition saying, “although my playing career has come to an end, my love for football has not.”
Amazon’s net worth is over $1.245 trillion and they needed a significant chunk of that change to secure the rights to this NFL package in 2022.
Starting this upcoming season they are now the exclusive home for Thursday Night Football coverage.
Some Interesting Commentary
Fitzpatrick will never be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his football achievements, however, he could be a very interesting voice to listen to next season.
The 39-year-old spent 17 years in the league as both a backup and spot starter. He was in the locker room with hall of famers, interesting characters, and he can now share that information with the public.
Fitzpatrick has always had a great sense of humor and that should translate well into his new role.
One of the things that endeared him so well to his teammates in New York with the Jets in 2015 was Fitzpatrick’s ability to keep things loose.
At the end of the day you have to win football games, but the locker room was firing on all cylinders in that magical 2015 season.
Those good feelings and emotions bled onto the football field and put the Jets in a position to make a crazy run.
While that team never made the playoffs, former teammates of his still believe they would’ve won that title had they gotten into the postseason that year.
After fan-favorite running back Bilal Powell signed a one-day contract to retire with the Jets earlier this offseason, he said as much to team reporter Eric Allen.
“We would’ve run the table” in 2015 had they gotten in, Powell exclaimed. The Jets were 10-5 on a five-game winning streak heading into that regular-season finale versus the Buffalo Bills.
However, this conversation will have to be reserved for the watercooler and what could’ve been as the Jets lost that Week 17 game versus the Bills 22-17 extinguishing their potential playoff flame.
Follow @BoyGreen25 & @obermuller_nyj on Twitter for all the latest New York Jets breaking news, rumors, fresh takes, and more!
READ NEXT: Trade Proposal Sends Jets a Projected $84 Million Wide Receiver
Comments
Ex-Jets QB Joins Multi-Billion Dollar Organization