Player Wives & Girlfriends

The Story

• UPDATE: 11-04-2011: The NY Times published an article that exposed Ryan Fitzpatrick as an anomaly in the NFL. No, not because he can actually read went to Harvard, but because unlike basically anyone else in the NFL, Fitzpatrick wears his wedding ring entirely exposed while playing. Check the photo to the right. According to Fitzpatrick, the ring has never come off during play and has never even come loose. Also broken in the same NY Times article was that Ryan Fitzpatrick not only purchased the engagement ring for his girlfriend from their shared checking account but he also proposed to his future wife, Liza Barber, while at a McDonald's. Yup, McDonalds. Fitzpatrick had this to say about it, "I asked her when she was between her third and fourth Chicken McNugget. She had sweet and sour all over her face."
  
  
• Time Together: Ryan and Liza began dating during his junior year at Harvard after knowing one another for a couple of years. They were married in 2006, a year after All-American soccer player Liza graduated from Harvard as well. They have three children, eldest born in June of 2006, and the youngest born in March of 2011. Ryan clearly envies a fellow AFC East QB, naming his oldest son Brady.
  The family lives in the Buffalo area year round.
• Quote: In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Ryan discussed Liza:
  “I have to admit, the girl I left Harvard with was better than the degree. 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.”