Doug Flutie

Doug Flutie (born October 23, 1962 in Manchester, Maryland) is an American football and a former Canadian football quarterback. He is the older brother of the CFL's all-time reception leader Darren Flutie. He has an autistic son, Doug Flutie Jr. in whose name a foundation has been established.

College career

Flutie played football for Boston College from 1981 to 1984, and won the Heisman Trophy in his senior year. He first gained national attention in a back-and-forth game in 1984 against the University of Miami, quarterbacked by Bernie Kosar. This game was on national television the day after Thanksgiving and thus had a huge audience. Miami had just staged a dramatic drive to take the lead, 45-41, in the closing minute of the game. Boston College had possession at their 22-yard line with 28 seconds to go. After two passes to move the ball another 30 yards, only six seconds remained on the clock. On the last play of the game, Flutie threw a Hail Mary pass caught in the end zone by Gerard Phelan, giving BC the victory. The play essentially clinched Flutie's win of the Heisman Trophy.

Flutie would leave school as the NCAA’s all-time passing yardage leader with 10,579 yards, and was a consensus All-American as a senior. He earned Player of the Year awards from UPI, Kodak, The Sporting News and the Maxwell Football Club.

Professional career

Doug Flutie started his professional career in the United States Football League (USFL) with the New Jersey Generals. The USFL folded in 1986 and Flutie signed with the NFL's Chicago Bears. He later went to the New England Patriots.

Although his Canadian football career lasted only eight years , Doug Flutie is one of the greatest quarterback ever to play Canadian football. In 1990 Flutie signed with the British Columbia Lions for a two-year contract reportedly worth $350,000 a season. At the time he was the highest paid CFL player in the league. Flutie struggled in his first season. However, the following year, Flutie shone and was rewarded with a reported million dollar a year salary with the Calgary Stampeders.

Flutie won his first Grey Cup in 1992 with the Stampeders. He would go on to win two more Grey Cups with the Toronto Argonauts, in 1996 and 1997, before signing with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League in 1998.

His career CFL statistics include 41,355 passing yards and 270 touchdowns. He holds the professional football record of 6,619 yards passing in a single season. He still holds 4 of the CFL's top 5 highest single-season completion marks, including a record 466 in 1991. His 48 touchdown passes in 1994 remains a CFL record. He earned three Grey Cup MVP awards, and was named Most Outstanding Player a record six times (1991-1994, and 1996-1997).

Flutie's success in the National Football League coupled with the revoking of the "marquee player" exemption in the Canadian Football League's salary cap, which allowed one player to be exempt from counting against the CFL's salary cap on each team, resulted in a string of star quarterbacks leaving the CFL and going to the NFL, such as Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson.

Doug Flutie became the Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback when the Bills started the 1998 season 1-3. In his first start as a Bill, he passed for 2 TDs and led a 4th quarter comeback against the Indianapolis Colts, on October 11, 1998. The following week, Flutie scored the winning touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars by rolling out on a naked bootleg to enter the endzone, just as time expired. The Bills' success continued with Flutie at the helm, as his record as a starter that season was 8-3. The Bills were eliminated in the first round by the Dolphins, as fumbles and poor officiating gave Flutie his first, and only, loss against both Jimmy Johnson and Dan Marino. Flutie was selected to play in the 1998 Pro Bowl.

Flutie lead the Bills to a 10-5 record in 1999, but in a controversial decision, was replaced by Rob Johnson for the playoffs by coach Wade Phillips. The Bills lost 22-16 to the eventual AFC Champion Tennessee Titans. In 2000 Flutie was named the Bills backup and would only play late in games or when Johnson was injured.

In 2001 Flutie signed with the San Diego Chargers, who went 1-15 in 2000. After opening 3-0, the Chargers slumped and were 4-2 going into Week 7, when Flutie's Chargers met Rob Johnson's Bills. Johnson took advantage of the weak Charger defence and passed for 310 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception, and ran for 67 yards and 1 TD. (The Chargers are the only team Johnson has passed for 300 yards against.) However, Doug prevailed as the new ex-Bill broke a sack attempt and ran 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown. San Diego would finish 5-11, while the Bills finished 3-13. Flutie was Drew Brees' backup in 2002.

In 2003, Flutie replaced a struggling Brees when the Chargers were 1-7. The 41 year-old became the oldest player to score two rushing touchdowns in a game, the first player over 40 to accomplish that feat. He also became the oldest AFC Offensive Player of the Week, winning the award for the fourth time. Flutie's record as starter that year was 2-3. As of 2004 Doug Flutie has passed for 58,150 yards in his 20 year professional football career.

Flutie was released from the Chargers on March 13, 2005. On April 29, 2005, Flutie surprised many when he signed with the New England Patriots instead of the New York Giants. He will be a backup behind Tom Brady.

Doug Flutie is a figure of national pride to Canadians and Canadian expatriates, and has been the subject of a song by Moxy Früvous.

Flutie's 1984 Hail Mary pass, and the subsequent rise in applications for admission to Boston College, gave rise to the admissions phenomenon known as the "Flutie Factor." This idea essentially states that a winning sports team can increase the recognition value of a university enough to make it a more elite school. 1 (http://www.bc.edu/publications/bcm/spring_2003/ll_phenomenology.html)

External links

• Doug Flutie CFL Legends (http://www.cfl.ca/CFLLegends/flutie.html)
• Flutie Flakes (http://www.plbsports.com/cardpages/FlutieFlake.htm)
• Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism (http://www.dougflutiejrfoundation.org/)
• 2004 preseason MMQ article from Sports Illustrated (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/peter_king/08/02/king.mmqb/index.html)
• Doug Flutie page on Pro-Football-Reference.com (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/FlutDo00.htm)
• ESPN.com Flutie signs with Pats (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2049908)