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Dolphins quarterback with 7 kids blames offseason weight gain on too much birthday cake

Veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick joked he put away a lot of cake at birthday celebrations between January and April.
/ Source: TODAY
By Drew Weisholtz

Let him eat cake — a lot of cake.

Veteran NFL quarterback and father of seven Ryan Fitzpatrick, who’s playing with the Miami Dolphins, arrived at an offseason minicamp Tuesday saying he’s packed on a few pounds since last season because he’s eaten a lot of birthday cake.

Ryan Fitzpatrick
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick at a minicamp practice in Davie, Florida, on Tuesday. The dad of seven blamed his chunkier bod on too much birthday cake. AP

“The thing with me is I have seven kids, so in January we have three birthdays,” Fitzpatrick, 36, told reporters, according to the Miami Herald.

“We’ve got a family birthday party, which includes cake and then we’ve got a friend’s birthday party which includes cake. So, that’s six times in January.”

We’ve got three birthdays in March ... That’s cake six out of 10 or 11 days.

While February offered a bit of a respite, Fitzgerald, soon received a few more blows to his ballooning dad bod.

“We’ve got three birthdays in March ... which again, that’s a tough stretch. That’s cake six out of 10 or 11 days. Then we’ve got an April birthday. So, it doesn’t slow down,” he said.

Fitzpatrick, who’s a Harvard graduate, is now ready to shed those unwanted pounds and get back into playing shape.

Miami Dolphins Voluntary Minicamp
Early March is a particularly tough stretch, Fitzpatrick said, with three birthdays in a row. Getty Images

“But now that the birthdays are behind me, and I think I’m going to try to go from peak offseason form maybe down to peak in-season form, I’ll be OK,” he said.

And maybe when he gets back into form, he can celebrate with a nice piece of cake, right?

Drew Weisholtz

Drew Weisholtz is a reporter for TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, nostalgia and trending stories. He has seen every episode of “Saved by the Bell” at least 50 times, longs to perfect the crane kick from “The Karate Kid” and performs stand-up comedy, while also cheering on the New York Yankees and New York Giants. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is the married father of two kids who believe he is ridiculous.