A player labeled a Journeyman in any team sport is the type of player too be good enough to play for any team or even having a starting position in that team, but that team will only keep that player for the short term. Then, this player will likely bounce between teams throughout his career until the player retires or no team wants him anymore. The type of teams that usually get these type of journeymen players are teams that are usually underperforming teams who are trying to experiment, teams that want good back ups for their starters for a short term, or teams that are underperforming that just want to tank a season for higher draft picks. For clarity, when a team tanks a season it means that team is basically losing on purpose to get the first picks of the upcoming draft.
Now the quarterback I labeled to be the ultimate Journeyman is currently the starting quarterback for the dolphins (however that might change next season), and that man is Ryan Fitzpatrick. Ryan Fitzpatrick went to college at Harvard and got drafted by St. Louis Rams with the 250th overall pick in the 7th round. Ryan has been on 8 different teams since starting his career. Ryan was on the St. Louis Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and to this point the Miami dolphins. Out of those five teams, Ryan has worn the number 14 (4 times straight for the last 4 teams), which I believe to be at this point an iconic number for him. Ryan’s career stats as a starter are 55 wins, 83 loses, 1 tie, has passed for 32886 yards, passed 210 touchdowns, and has 60 percent completion percentage. Though Ryan’s career stats aren’t too flashy, it is mainly due to the teams he has played on. Just this last season he played for the dolphins who have been an underperforming team for years. He didn’t start the season for them, but once he did get the starting job the dolphins started to become a more competitive team. His shining moment this year was when the dolphins beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Ryan led a game winning drive that resulted in a touchdown against the top-rated Patriots defense. This was even more impactful due to it being late in the season and because of the loss the patriots weren’t higher placed in the playoffs, therefore not getting a week off in the playoff. Due to games like this with underperforming teams throughout a 14-season career, he has been given the nick name “Fitzmagic”. What I am saying is that Ryan Fitzpatrick makes any underperforming team more competitive, and I believe that he doesn’t try to tank but actually win when he is the starting quarterback.
On a last note, this man can be described as a con artist. As stated before, he has played for 14 season and on eight different teams, during that time he has earned millions of dollars. The quarterback position is one of the higher paid positions in the NFL, so no matter how mediocre you may be as a quarterback, you will get paid a fair amount, but it is also one of the most challenging and demanding positions in the league. So, through his 14-season career, Ryan has made 58.04 million dollars. Now, I believe Ryan knows he isn’t an elite all time quarterback, but I believe he has the brains, the competitiveness, the work ethic to have been a solid quarterback that would attract teams to him. It would only make sense since he went to Harvard. Overall, I hope this man continues to play and get paid for a bit longer, and work his Fitzmagic on us viewers a couple more times.
The Quarterbacks of my Time 