Ryan Fitzpatrick Issues Apology Over Broadcast Error in Falcons-Buccaneers

The Week 5 slate of the 2024 NFL season started off with a bang as the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36-30 in overtime on Amazon Prime's "Thursday Night Football."

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had an unbelievable performance, completing 42-of-58 passes for an Atlanta-record franchise-best 509 yards and four touchdowns.

With 1:14 left in regulation and the Falcons down 30-27, Cousins led his team down the field and was able to stop the clock with only one second left for kicker Younghoe Koo to come in and send the game to overtime.

Atlanta won on the fourth play of overtime as Cousins hit wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, who outran everyone on his way to the game-winning touchdown.

Following the game, "Thursday Night Football" analyst and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick discussed the final play from Hodge. The former Harvard star then admitted to making a broadcast error during halftime, where he mispronounced Hodge's name. Fitzpatrick issued an apology to Hodge's parents.

"I gotta apologize to KhaDarel Hodge's parents because I fumbled his name at halftime," Fitzpatrick said.

Hodge finished the game as the hero for Atlanta, tallying two catches for 67 yards and the game-winner. It's safe to say Fitzpatrick won't forget how to pronounce his name next time.

Fitzpatrick was a seventh-round pick by the St. Louis Rams in the 2005 NFL draft. During his seventeen-year career, Fitzpatrick bounced around nine different teams. In the 2018 season, Fitzpatrick earned the nickname "Fitzmagic" for his stellar play with Tampa Bay after starting quarterback Jameis Winston went down with an injury.

Both the Falcons and the Buccaneers now sit at 3-2 through five games this season. But Atlanta jumped ahead of Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South, winning the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Both teams will get another divisional foe in Week 6, with the Falcons facing the Carolina Panthers and the Bucs playing the New Orleans Saints.

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