The American professional footballer Minkah Fitzpatrick joined the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League after the NFL Draft 2018. Before going pro, Fitzpatrick had a highly illustrious college career with the Alabama Crimson Tide football team at the University of Alabama. Originally drafted by Alabama on the security position, the talented junior player has regularly proven that he brings flexibility to his team’s defense and has earned a reputation for being able to play anywhere and everywhere. This almost positionless dominance in defense makes Minka Fitzpatrick a player for the future.
Minkah Fitzpatrick Bio, Age
Minkah Fitzpatrick was born on November 17, 1996, in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. His family moved to Old Bridge Township, New Jersey when he was 5 years old. However, he attended St. Peter’s Preparatory School, an all-male Catholic school in Jersey City, about 35 miles from his home.
At the end of his high school career, Fitzpatrick was the starting point for many college recruiters, but in April 2014 he signed up at the University of Alabama. The talented young man finally made his commitment to Alabama a reality on St. Peter’s Prep National Signing Day in 2015. For his college degree, Fitzpatrick earned a major in Human Performance Exercise Science.
College Career
Minkah played a total of 10 out of 14 games in his first season (2015), in which he completed a total of 45 tackles, three of them for a defeat, 2 quarterback sacks, 2 interceptions, 13 deflected passes, and one hurried quarterback. His outstanding performances earned him the “Freshman All-American” and “SEC All-Freshman” awards. He was also instrumental in the team’s victory in the College Football Playoffs.
National Championship.
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In his second season, Fitzpatrick started all 15 games, recording 66 tackles (41 solo), 1 bag, 6 interceptions, 13 deflected passes, and 1 forced fumble. The versatile safety also provided a new Alabama Crimson Tide record for the longest interception returned for a touchdown when he threw back an interception 100 yards in a 49-30 trump of the Arkansas Razorbacks. At the end of the season, Fitzpatrick was named both the first All-American team and the first All-SEC team. He was also a semi-finalist for the prestigious Jim Thorpe Award.
In his junior season (2017) Fitzpatrick started 13 games, in which he put together 60 tackles (38 solo), 1.5 sacks, 1 interception, 9 deflected passes, and 1 forced fumble, 1 kickoff return for 39 yards, and 1 blocked field goal. He was elected team captain and led his team to another title in the College Football Playoff National Championship. He received both the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jim Thorpe Award, making him only the third player in NCAA history to win both awards. Fitzpatrick was unanimously voted First All-American Team and equal shares of First All-SEC Team.
In January 2018, Minkah Fitzpatrick announced his decision to give up his last year of college to join the NFL Draft. He was drafted in the first round by the Miami Dolphins as the eleventh overall candidate.
Minkah Fitzpatrick Family- Parents
Minkah Fitzpatrick was born the son of Melissa and Minka Fitzpatrick Sr. and grew up with 4 siblings: an older sister named Destiny, the younger sisters Promise and Devine, and a younger brother Justice.
In contrast to the superstar life, the boy seems to enjoy these days, growing up has been pretty tough for Minkah Fitzpatrick Jr. In 2011, just days after his first day of high school, his family fell victim to the tragic hurricane Irene that completely destroyed their home. Without any insurance against flooding, they had to rebuild their house from scratch all by themselves. As a result, Minkah Fitzpatrick’s family of 7 was forced to move into his maternal grandparents’ basement, also in Old Bridge, New Jersey.
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Fitzpatrick was also expelled from school several times for unpaid school fees. Although his academic scholarship covered almost 80% of his tuition, the family still could not afford the rest regularly. His parents and older sister all worked through several jobs in others to keep him in the elite school he attended, but the family barely survived. Eventually, the young Minkah considered giving up his football career to work for his father, but his parents would not hear of it. Thanks to his generous high school coach Rich Hansen, who chauffeured him to and from school for an hour every day, Minkah Fitzpatrick Jr. kept pushing. All that hard work and perseverance paid off when the boy graduated from high school as a 5-star recruit, for which he received offers from over 2 dozen schools.
Height and Other Body Stats
Minkah Fitzpatrick stands at an impressive height of 6 feet 1 inch and maintains a slender build with a bodyweight of 96 kg (212 lbs). Players of this size are not known to move with much ease, but Fitzpatrick is the exception as he is known to be very fast. His perfect combination of versatility, agility, and first-class speed makes him the ultimate thoroughbred player. Minkah Fitzpatrick is also distinguished by his great passion for the game and his footballing and technical intelligence. For this innate ability to analyze games intelligently, his college coach, Nick Saban, regularly sought his input.