MIAMI _ Ryan Fitzpatrick, newly minted Miami Dolphins MVP, doesn't sound like a guy who's ready to retire.
But he's not quite ready to commit to another season, either.
Fitzpatrick has family considerations _ his wife and seven children still live in Tampa _ plus doesn't seem to be one who would be OK going through a season just holding a clipboard. He signed with the Dolphins last spring because they offered him a chance to play.
On Thursday, during his final midweek news conference of the season, Fitzpatrick took reporters through his mindset, as things stand right now.
"I think part of it for me is just sitting down with my family and it's something that I owe to them and to my wife and figuring things out on that end of it," Fitzpatrick said. "My wife's always been very supportive in whatever I want to do and physically it's not an issue. Physically I feel great. So there's always different things that go into it and you're always drained at the end of the season emotionally. So there's a lot of stuff that goes into it but I still love playing, so it's going to hard to, uh, let's see. I don't know that it'll be a difficult decision. I just think that I'll go through the due process and figure things out."
There's no question he's valued within the building, even if the Dolphins don't see him as their future.
The Dolphins announced Friday that Fitzpatrick had been selected their 2019 MVP by members of the media and the organization.
Fitzpatrick said he was "humbled" by the honor, and that he is "proud to receive the award and to be named that, but overall I'm just happy to be one of those guys that stuck with it throughout the whole year and continued on a positive trend and continued to keep guys going a little bit."
Fitzpatrick is both the team's leading passer (3,209 yards, 19 touchdowns) and its leading rusher (228 yards and three touchdowns on 49 carriers).
But more than that, he has been the emotional spark plug of the NFL's most overachieving team.
All this _ plus the fact that he's under contract in 2020, with a big chunk of salary already guaranteed _ would presumably make returning for another season a no-brainer.
But it's not. At least yet.
When asked what will be the most important factor as he makes his decision, Fitzpatrick responded:
"That's hard to say. I think there's a lot of different factors that go into it. ... Just like you guys asked me when I made the decision to come here and the direction of the team, I just saw it as a place where there was a job opening and I like being out there and playing. I don't try to overthink things. I try to keep it simple."
Fitzpatrick has been a football player for more than two decades, and has made over $60 million in his career. He plays with a reckless abandoned and infectious joy.
Even he hinted that it would be hard to envision his life without the game.
Will he be good at retirement?
"I think retirement's going to be a lot more difficult than playing football," he responded. "Then, I can't pass off some of those duties (at home) that maybe I would."
