Daniel Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 15, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

punter and placekicker. He was signed by the New York Jets as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He played college football at Notre Dame. Fitzpatrick has also been a member of the Buffalo Bills.

Early years

Fitzpatrick attended Marian High School in

Mishawaka, Indiana Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South ...

where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, defensive back and kicker. Fitzpatrick was also a captain on the Marian golf team that captured the 2001

Indiana High School Athletic Association The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Indiana. It monitors a system that divides athletically-competing high schools in Indiana ...

College career

Fitzpatrick chose to walk-on to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team over the South Carolina Gamecocks football team. Prior to his senior season, Fitzpatrick was named a preseason nominee for the

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has be ...

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

, Fitzpatrick signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets. Fitzpatrick was "imported" on October 31, 2008, for one game, by

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

General Manager Jim Popp to replace kicker,

Damon Duval Damon Duval (born April 3, 1980) is an American former professional placekicker and punter. Duval played college football for Auburn University, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He played professionally for the Jacksonville Jagu ...

. He was released immediately after the game as Duval recovered quickly.

Personal

He received an undergraduate and master's degree in Accounting from the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame. Fitzpatrick is currently a Financial Analyst with Goldman Sachs in their West Palm Beach, Florida office.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsBuffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, D. J. 1982 births Living people American football placekickers American football punters Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players New York Jets players Berlin Thunder players Buffalo Bills players Montreal Alouettes players People from Granger, Indiana