Once in awhile you’ll find a true warrior story going into the NFL Draft. An athlete that has been under the radar his whole athletic career, but yet still keeps his goals high. 6’3 quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may end up being a second day no name selection when his name is called, but he?ll work harder than ever to make sure he makes a roster, and go from there.

Coming out of Highland High School in Arizona, Fitzpatrick received little or no attention from division one schools. He had carried the Hawks on his back for nearly three seasons, but yet the lone offer he received was from Eastern Washington. Fitzpatrick’s grades were phenomenal so he decided to enroll at Harvard, and try his luck with their football program.

From day one he impressed the Harvard coaching staff, and went on to set numerous Ivy League records. Now that his collegiate career is over though, the normal assumption is so would be his football career. To this date there have been very few Ivy league quarterbacks to make it to the NFL, and one that still is standing is Jay Fiedler. In fact it wasn’t too long ago that the 49ers tried that route with Giovanni Carmazzi from Hofstra but it didn?t work out.

Fitzpatrick isn’t afraid to dig in and go for something, and football won?t be his only option if he doesn’t get the opportunity. Along with his economics degree, Fitzpatrick may also be interested in working behind the scenes for a sports franchise. Last summer, he was an intern for the Boston Celtics after he contacted Danny Ainge about any opportunities. He has been impressive at the combine thus far, and wouldn’t be shocking to see him drafted in the late fifth or early sixth round as a steal. This is definitely an athlete that you have to rate for his talent, and not make him suffer because he played against weaker college teams.

There hasn’t been a quarterback debut like Fitzpatrick’s in a long time. The ball is now in his field, as the Rams will likely give him the rest of the season to show his value. He’ll encounter his bumps like any rookie. By the end of the season though he’ll prove to be a better quarterback and have more stats than Kyle Orton will have. Remember Orton practically started the entire season for the Bears.