They say the timing and speed of the NFL game is often the biggest challenge for quarterbacks to overcome as they make the transition from college.
Well, in Nov. 2005, current Washington Football Team quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick needed to pick up the pace in a hurry. Fitzpatrick, then a fresh-faced seventh-round pick out of Harvard in the midst of his rookie season for the St. Louis Rams, needed to propose to his college sweetheart, Liza Barber, with a quickness.
Appearing on the 'Ross Tucker Football Podcast' on Monday, Fitzpatrick retold the classic story of his modest proposal to Barber, dropping to one knee in a 'classy' McDonald's establishment.
"Well, it was a classy McDonald's because it was a McDonald's/gas station," Fitzpatrick explained to Tucker. "It was in Earth City, Missouri. The practice facility for the Rams was there. It was right across the street."
"It's a very long story, but the quickest I could tell it is I bought her a ring," he said. "We had a joint bank account. We went to The Gap to get a winter coat. She thought they double charged her. This was before you could do everything on your phone.
"[She said], 'When we get home, I'm gonna check the laptop. We've got to see if I got double charged.'"
"So I had to find a way from The Gap to my house to propose to her," he said.
Why was Fitzpatrick in such a rush to propose before they got home? In his 2011 telling of the story to the New York Times, the second purchase made from their joint bank account that day — and the reason Barber thought she'd been double charged for her winter coat — was for her engagement ring. Fitzpatrick needed to propose before they arrived back home, where she would have checked their bank statement, blowing the whole surprise.
"I said, 'Hey, do you want to go to this steakhouse? Do you want to go sit by the lake?'" Fitzpatrick recalled.
"No, it's November. It's cold," she said. "Let's go to McDonald's."
"Okay... So we sat at McDonald's. I was looking her in the eye," Fitzpatrick explained, as he began to pantomime licking his fingers. "She's doing the sweet 'n sour sauce everywhere, licking her fingers. So the ring slid right on. It was wonderful."
Watch the full interview here.