Professional American football player Minkah Fitzpatrick joined the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League following the 2018 NFL Draft. Prior to going professional, Fitzpatrick had a highly illustrious college career with the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama. Originally drafted by Alabama in the safety position, the talented youngster has regularly proven to bring flexibility to the defense of his team and has gained a reputation as one who can play anywhere and everywhere. This near-positionless dominance in the defense makes Minka Fitzpatrick a player for the future.
Minkah Fitzpatrick Bio, Age
Minkah Fitzpatrick was born on November 17, 1996, in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County of New Jersey. His family relocated to Old Bridge Township, New Jersey when he was 5 years of age. However, he schooled at St. Peter’s Preparatory School, a Catholic all-male school located in Jersey City about 35 miles from his home.
By the end of his high school career, Fitzpatrick was the toast of numerous college recruiters, however, he made a commitment to the University of Alabama in April 2014. The talented youngster eventually made good his commitment to Alabama on the St. Peter’s Prep National Signing Day in 2015. For his college degree, Fitzpatrick majored in Human performance exercise science.
College Career
Minkah played a total of 10 out of 14 games in his freshman (2015) season in which he posted 45 total tackles, three of them for a loss, 2 quarterback sacks, 2 interceptions, 13 passes deflected, and one quarterback hurry. His outstanding performance earned him Freshman All-American and SEC All-Freshman team designations. He was also pivotal to the team’s victory at the College Football Playoff
National Championship.
In his sophomore season, Fitzpatrick started all 15 games in which he recorded 66 tackles (41 solos), 1 sack, 6 interceptions, 13 passes deflected, and 1 forced fumble. The versatile safety also created a new Alabama Crimson Tide record for the longest interception returned for a touchdown when he returned an interception 100 yards in a 49-30 trumping of the Arkansas Razorbacks. At the end of the season, Fitzpatrick was named First-team All-American as well as First-team All-SEC. He was also a semi-finalist for the prestigious Jim Thorpe Award.
In his junior season (2017), Fitzpatrick started 13 games in which he compiled 60 tackles (38 solo), 1.5 sacks, 1 interception, 9 passes deflected, and 1 forced fumble; 1 kickoff return for 39 yards; 1 blocked field goal. He was voted team captain and led his team to another College Football Playoff National Championship title. He received both the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jim Thorpe Award becoming only the 3rd player in the history of the NCAA history to win both awards. Fitzpatrick was unanimously elected First-team All-American and equally named First-team All-SEC.
In January 2018, Minkah Fitzpatrick announced his decision to forgo his senior year of college eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. He was drafted in the first round by the Miami Dolphins as the 11th overall pick.
Minkah Fitzpatrick Family- Parents
Minkah Fitzpatrick was born to Melissa and Minka Fitzpatrick Sr. He was raised alongside 4 siblings; an older sister named Destiny, younger sisters Promise and Devine and a younger brother Justice.
Unlike the superstar life that the youngster seems to be enjoying these days, growing up was pretty tough for Minkah Fitzpatrick Jr. In 2011, a few days from his first day in high school, his family fell victim to the tragic Hurricane Irene which totally destroyed their home. With no flooding insurance, they had to rebuild from the scratch all by themselves. As a result, Minkah Fitzpatrick’s family of 7 was forced to move into the basement of his maternal grandparents, also in Old Bridge, New Jersey.
Fitzpatrick was also sent out of school a couple of times due to unpaid tuition. Though his academic scholarship covered nearly 80% of his tuition, the family could still not regularly afford the remainder. His parents and older sister all worked several jobs in other to keep him at the elite school he attended, however, the family barely survived. At some point, the young Minkah contemplated quitting his football career to start working with his father but his parents wouldn’t hear of it. Thanks to his generous high school coach Rich Hansen who chauffeured him to and from school for one hour each day, Minkah Fitzpatrick Jr. continued pressing. All that hard work and persistence paid off as the youngster finished 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 trim physique with a bodyweight of 96 kg (212 lbs). Players this size aren’t known for moving with much ease, however, Fitzpatrick is the exception as he is known to be very swift. His perfect combination of versatility, agility and first-rate speed makes him the ultimate complete player. Minkah Fitzpatrick also stands out for being very passionate about the game as well as his football/technical intelligence. For this innate ability to analyze games intelligently, his coach in college Nick Saban regularly sought his input.
