AS TOUGH AS IT FITZ
Journeyman’s trek started young
I t’s about overcoming and persevering and believing in yourself at every turn. It’s about getting back up after getting knocked down. It’s about savoring the journey and refusing to let it define you as a journeyman.
Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t have sam bradford’s measurables, or money. He wasn’t the first overall pick of any NFL draft. but if you never stop trying to be the very best quarterback you can be, if you can “manage” the game, if you are backed by a merciless defense, you can be the quarterback of the 2-0 team. and maybe you can keep the Jets soaring over Eagles on sunday at MetLife stadium.
“He always was the kid from a very young age that would j ust stand in the pocket and just take like unbelievable shots just to finish the play,” his father Mike told the Post. “He always was a kid when he was younger — like it went away by the time he went to high school because he didn’t play defense anymore — but he was always was the kid. Like in oklahoma drills or any kind of drills where there was hitting involved — he was cutting in line, he was trying to get to the front of the line so he could be the next one up to hit. He really liked lowering the boom on people when he was young.
“I’ve seen him many times been hurt in a game, and even from a very young age, just wouldn’t come out. Like I remember Pop Warner football, he took a shot, he hurt his knee, and they brought him to the sideline, and you know, just limping, limping, limping: ‘I gotta go back in, gotta go back in.’ sure enough he just went right back on the field just limping terribly. He just always was one that was up for the fight. “I think he’s still that way.” Mike Reardon was Fitzpatrick’s coach at Highland Hight school in Gilbert, ariz.
“He was just a skinny little sophomore, and I mean his hands and feet were bigger than anything on his body,” Reardon told the Post. “His arms were like toothpicks. He was long and tall, he was like a little thoroughbred horse stumbling all over himself. and we got him involved in our weight program. ... and he worked hand in hand with this offensive lineman. He did everything the offensive lineman did. He’s 300-pound bench pressing in high school, he’s 450 squatting with the big guys. Not drawing attention to himself verbally, but the rest of the team watched what he did and they all picked up their work ethic as well.” His father: “He certainly wasn’t the underdog in our town. Growing up, he was the best baseball player in the town, he was the best football player in the town, he was one of the best basketball players. Gilbert, arizona, is not a tiny town. He was undersized coming out of high school, he was probably only like 5-11 when he was a senior in high school, so he wasn’t very heavily recruited. so I think it was like a frustrating time for us because we knew that he had talent, but he didn’t have the measurables to really be recruited heavily by the Division I-a type programs.
“this’ll tell you a little bit about how he thinks and things: the bigger schools, some of them were still kicking tires, like Colorado, Colorado state, the arizona schools. He wasn’t their first choice, but he certainly was on their list. and Ryan told me he wanted to go Harvard, and I said to Ryan, ‘You realize what you’re giving up here.’ He just looked at me and said, ‘Dad, if I’m good enough, they’ll find me.’” His high school coach: “they all looked up to him. He was the golden boy, but he never pounded his own chest, he never brought attention to himself. ... He’s the best guy any coach could ask to have on his team.” His father: “He was the arizona state champion for his age group in triathalons, just everything he did he did he wanted to be the best, everything he did he wanted to win. He worked hard at everything. Way before we had trainers for him and that type of thing, he was just the kind of kid that was out in the backyard just throwing ball after ball after ball. that was from a very young age.” New York won’t bother him. His father: “If the Jets win, he’s a lunchpail-to-work type of guy. I think if they win, I think the New York fans are gonna appreciate that.” His high school coach: “If anybody’s gonna put pressure on Ryan, it’s gonna be Ryan. and I know you’re gonna have rabid fans, and I know they’re pretty vocal, and I know they can be pretty cruel at times. but that’s not gonna affect Ryan.” His six-team journey sure hasn’t. Father: “It’s tiring. My wife is constantly flying out there helping them move to the next place, especially with his family. We’re extremely grateful, and I know he’s extremely grateful, that he’s had this opportunity.
“Maybe he’s not one of the 20 guys in the league who have been recognized as the franchise guys. Maybe he’s in the next tier of that type of thing, but he’s still one of the 32 best people in the world at what he does.
“I wish I was one of the 32 best people in the world at what I do.”