“Getting a chance to start at Foxboro was an awesome experience for me,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “I remember watching a practice in the stadium when Jamil Soriano [’03] was on the team and thinking how cool it was just to be there.”

In his second game, Fitzpatrick was even better, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for 74 yards against the Jets. And on Sunday, Fitzpatrick threw for three more touchdowns with no interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars, giving him a very good 7:3 touchdown: interception ratio on the season.

“This is an important year for me to continue to grow as a player and provide that I can consistently perform at a high level,” he added.

Through it all, Fitzpatrick’s wife, former Crimson soccer captain Liza Barber ’05, has been there by his side.

“I have to admit, the girl I left Harvard with was better than the degree,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “Liza has been an amazing wife and someone I have been able to share this whole experience with from the very beginning. It is easy for me to stay grounded, because I have a wife that reminds me daily that she is the only college All-American in the household.”

Together, the couple has two sons, with another child coming in March.

“It’s great,” Murphy said. “Team Harvard.”

Team Harvard. Sounds more like something you’d hear at a math fair or a chess tournament than in a description of a pair of athletic stars. But of course, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, Ryan Fitzpatrick has never been one to fit the Harvard stereotype.