Fitzpatrick laughs at himself too. He coined the nickname “The Amish Rifle,” drives a pickup truck, and might be the only quarterback who wears his wedding ring when he plays. He’s married to Liza Barber, a former soccer star at Harvard, and their engagement story is a classic.

During his rookie season, Fitzpatrick bought a ring with money from a joint bank account he shared with Barber. He hid it in his car, then picked her up for a day of shopping at a St. Louis mall. They stopped by a clothing store, the clerk accidentally double-charged her, and Barber said not to worry because she’d check the account online when she got home.

“So I knew she was going to notice the amount of money that was missing,” Fitzpatrick said. “So I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ I had to figure out from the Gap to my house how I was going to propose to her. Luckily, the ring was in the car.

“We drove by all these fancy places. I asked her if she wanted to grab some dinner and sit by the lake. It was November, and she was like ‘Why would I do that? It’s freezing outside!’ All she wanted was McDonald’s. My relationship with my wife, and knowing her, it was just the perfect setting.

“She ordered probably a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets and had sweet-and-sour sauce on her face.”

The more I read about this guy the more there is to like. Not many Harvard-educated athletes in pro sports, and he seems to take things in stride.

I definitely relate to that feeling of “oh shit this proposal needs to happen fast” and literally sweating it, but somehow it always seems to work out perfectly in the end.

(Source: Los Angeles Times)