Mr. Boston(ist) Hangs up His Spikes

Doug Flutie, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL Pro-Bowler, CFL legend, and the man who put Boston College football on the map, has retired after 21 years (yes, twenty-one) of professional football.

Flutie is best known for his "Hail Mary" to Gerard Phelan to defeat the Miami Hurricanes back in 1984. If you have ever watched sports at all, even as a casual viewer, it is very likely that Flutie to Phelan was something that you have seen. The sheer amazingness of that play still lingers in sports lore, and will be shown as a college football highlight for many generations to come. Doug Flutie showed all of us that even the smallest of Davids (5 foot 9 inch Flutie, a midget by football’s standards) can slay a college football titan Goliath in the Miami Hurricanes.

Doug is, Mr. Boston (no, not the Vodka). Flutie put BC on the map in his tenure in Chestnut Hill, leading the Eagles to 3 Bowl games, the first in over 2 decades.

Bostonist remembers Flutie mostly for his heroics at BC, the '85 Cotton Bowl win, and of course, that infamous pass, Flutie to Phelan. What most don't know is that Flutie was originally drafted by the New Jersey Generals of the now defunct United States Football League. After the USFL folded in 1986, Flutie played a season with the Chicago Bears before 3 years in New England as the signal caller.

After the initial stint with the Pats, Doug took his act north to the Canadian Football League. While playing for the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, he won 3 Grey Cup titles (CFL Championships), 3 Grey Cup MVPs, and 6 Most Outstanding Player awards in his 8 years in Canada. Doug Flutie was the Michael Jordan of the CFL. He utterly dominated, plain and simple.

Flutie returned to the NFL in 1998, making the playoffs with Buffalo and earning an invitation to the NFL's all-star game, the Pro-Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii. Flutie led the Bills to a 10-5 record in 1999 but was replaced in the playoffs by Rob Johnson, which the Bills eventually lost to the Jaguars on the final play of the game on the Music City Miracle.

Last season, Flutie returned to his home to back up Tom Brady for the 2005 season. Flutie saw minimal action, but will be most remembered for the first dropkick in the NFL in the past 40 years. Following a touchdown in the final game of the season against Miami, Flutie lined up behind center for what looked to be the Patriots going for a 2 point conversion. Instead, the ball was snapped directly to Flutie, and he successfully dropkicked the ball through the uprights for a successful extra point try. Just Doug showing off another one of his skills to go along with the running and passing that had made him famous over 2 decades.

Doug, Mr. Boston(ist), it's been an honor watching you over all these years and enjoying your successes and triumphs. Good luck in your broadcasting career. If it's half as good as your quarterbacking or dropkicking, ABC and its viewers are in for a real treat this fall.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Flutie