Ryan Fitzpatrick will remain a permanent fixture on Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football coverage for the foreseeable future.
The former journeyman quarterback who earned the nickname “FitzMagic” during his =playing days, often playing with his hair (and beard) on fire, joined the TNF pre- and postgame crew, which includes Charissa Thompson, Richard Sherman, Andrew Whitworth, and Tony Gonzalez, back in 2022.
After two successful seasons and four games into a third, Fitzpatrick announced that he’d inked a contract extension with Prime Video. During an interview on The Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch (which will premier Thursday), Fitzpatrick revealed that he signed a three-year contract extension.
With Fitzpatrick in tow, Prime Video’s coverage has emphasized the considerable advantage of having a cast and crew of recently retired players turned analysts. While ‘FitzMagic’ thought he’d initially struggle with being critical , it didn’t take long for him to get comfortable in his new role. And while he’s been critical of poor quarterback play, he’s also come to the defense of Zach Wilson at the expense of other analysts — like NBC’s Rodney Harrison.
But he’s quickly and not so quietly found his footing, calling out Richard Sherman for his alleged Seahawks bias, taking aim at Brian Flores for his treatment of Tua Tagovailoa while also cracking jokes about Aaron Rodgers’ vaccination status . At the same time, he’s learned the hard way that none of his fellow analysts will understand Seinfeld ( or ‘Festivus’ ) references, for that matter.
In his conversation with Deitsch, Fitzpatrick discussed coming to terms with the end of his 17-year playing career. Suffering a hip injury with the Washington Commanders put things into perspective, and it eventually led to him signing an initial two-year contract with Amazon Prime Video.
“I probably would have played until I was 60 years old, but I had a hip injury in Washington, which kind of forced me to think about other things and the end of my career,” Fitzpatrick said. “It just so happened that Amazon was starting Thursday Night Football, and I got on a phone call with them. I knew I was not going to go into coaching at the NFL level just because I’ve got seven kids. I respect what coaches do, and I wouldn’t be able to commit fully to being a great coach, at least at this point in my life.
“But I’ve got 17 years of experience. How do I share this? How do I not let this go to waste? So, being an analyst made a lot of sense. I didn’t know if I wanted to go into calling games or if I wanted to just go into the pre, half, post like I ended up doing. I felt like going into the pre, half and post was dipping in my toe in the water just to feel and sense if I wanted to do it. I signed a short deal so I could evaluate at the end of those years. Before the season, I re-signed for three more years. I love the process of this, and I love the team that I work with.”
[ The Athletic ]
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