Doug Flutie Calls It Quits
One of my childhood heroes retired earlier this week. That's right, Heisman Trophy winner, Canadian Football League great, and NFL...above average quarterback Doug Flutie has called it quits.
Back when I was a CFL fan (a period which spanned from ages 9-14), Flutie was far and away my favorite player, despite the fact that he played for the Calgary Stampeders. Being a good Edmonton boy, this didn't occur without any difficulty, but watching Flutie scramble around and make plays was that awesome. Adding to the legend of Doug Flutie (in my mind) was this biography, which I paid about a dollar for, have read about 100 times, and still have. Did you know he returned punts in one game as a Freshman at BC? I sure did, because the book makes note of that. I also have a Flutie football card from the late '80s when he was with the Chicago Bears. Sadly, I don't have any paraphenelia from his stint with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.
I followed Flutie through his CFL career, and cheered for the Buffalo Bills when they gave him a chance to succeed in the NFL. I wish San Diego had given him more of a chance to play, because I think he had some good years left. Instead, he spent the final few years riding the pine in San Diego (bad choice) and New England (understandable).
A few more notes about Flutie:
• Mark Kreider has an article about whether or not Flutie's CFL records should count towards the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Interested in his career NFL stats? Click here.
• I still have no idea how a man who stands about 5'8 threw that hail mary pass 60 yards against Miami. Can anyone explain that?
• Does anyone know what happened to Gerald Phelan, the guy who caught that pass?
• While I'm asking for favors from our readers, can someone hook me up with a box of Flutie Flakes?
• For my money, no quarterback of the past twenty years has thrown a better shovel pass. The Flutie shovel (from any angle and often thrown off-balance) was a classic play. He also seemed to do it every second play during his tenure with the Buffalo Bills.
• Speaking of Flutie's skills, I would be remiss in not mentioning his dropkick extra point from the end of last season. In fact, that's the perfect way to end this post.
Goodbye Doug, and thanks for the memories.
posted by Alex @ 3:45 PM
6 long time listeners, first time callers
6 Comments:
Flutie was often found playing hoops in the UofC gym -- and he was pretty damn good at that too.
Alex,
I actually have an old box of Flutie Flakes you can have. Free. Seriously. I make no warranties about how fresh they are or anything.
Great Moments in Sports Illustrated history:
1/The Swimsuit Issue
2/"Special Report: The Environment and James Watt"
The Flutie/Rob Johnson situation in Buffalo represents everything that is wrong with the NFL, and professional sports in general. It has always reminded me of the situation in Moneyball where the scouts are evaluating talent. Instead of going by Flutie's record, and his actual achievements, the Bills evaluated him by what they thought an NFL quarterback should look like. Flutie was on PTI the other day, and the guys asked him why he did so well in the CFL. He said it was because the coaches here let him use his talents, and make his own calls, rather than controlling him and his sytle of play. It kind of reminds me of how much everyone harps on Michael Vick for not being a pocket quarterback. Who the hell cares? The guy wins. Why would you care about how he gets the wins?
Peter, email me at alex.abboud@gmail.com and we'll talk.
I agree that Jazz Flutie breaks a couple of the NFL QB stereotypes and his record certainly exposes a lot of scouts and GMs in the league as a bunch of hacks. Flutie proves that you don't have to be six foot four, 250 lbs. to be a sucessful QB and he also disproves the assumption that white QBs are generally immobile objects destined to stand in the pocket and dish out pass after pass.
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