[bigboydan]

this guy had a successfull career over all. too bad his best years were put up in college and the CFL.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Doug Flutie retired Monday, ending a 21-year career in which the undersized Heisman Trophy winner threw one of college football's most famous passes and went on to play a dozen seasons in the NFL.

The decision by the 43-year-old Flutie was announced by the New England Patriots, for whom he played five games last season.

Flutie spent 12 seasons in the NFL and also played in the USFL and the Canadian Football League. He won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player award six times and the league's Grey Cup championship three times.

Flutie finishes with 14,715 passing yards and 86 touchdowns in the NFL, spending most of his time as a backup. Last season, he attempted just 10 passes and converted the league's first drop kick for an extra point since the 1941 NFL title game.



"If that ends up being my last play, it wouldn't be bad," Flutie said after the game, a mostly meaningless regular season-ending loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Flutie said this month he had spoken to many teams, as well as to networks about broadcasting.

"I still have that passion but you've got to make that decision if you can stay healthy through the year," he said at an appearance at a Boston high school, where he demonstrated drop kicks.

A resident of nearby Natick, Flutie won the 1984 Heisman Trophy at Boston College after connecting with Gerard Phelan on a desperation 48-yard touchdown pass to beat Miami as time expired. His signature play, it remains one of the most memorable in the sport.

Flutie left BC as the school's passing leader with 10,579 yards, and he remains a hero on campus; his Heisman is the centerpiece of the school's new Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round in 1985 but chose to play for the USFL's New Jersey Generals, owned by Donald Trump.

When that league failed, he joined the NFL, but his freewheeling style and short stature -- the Patriots generously listed him at 5-foot-10 -- were a poor fit for its conservative schemes. He played five games for Chicago the next two seasons and 17 for New England from 1987-89.

Only in the CFL, with its wide-open game, did he truly find success, throwing for 41,355 yards and 270 touchdowns in eight seasons with British Columbia, Calgary and Toronto.

He joined Buffalo in 1998 and played more regularly -- 39 games over three years. He started all 16 games for San Diego in 2001 then spent the next three years as backup to Drew Brees.

Last April, he signed with the hometown Patriots for a second time and played sparingly, making his biggest splash on special teams with his drop kick.

"I think Doug deserves it," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, sensing that the play would be Flutie's football finale. "He is a guy that adds a lot to this game of football, has added a lot through his great career -- running, passing and now kicking."

[presley177]

had he not gotten that drop kick field goal last year I would've assumed he was already retired honestly.

[bigboydan]

I forgot to mention he was the last active player that played in the defunked USFL.

talk about a guy who has been around forever, or so it feels like.

[slacker00]

Originally Posted by bigboydan

I forgot to mention he was the last active player that played in the defunked USFL.

talk about a guy who has been around forever, or so it feels like.

Neat bit of trivia about the USFL, BBD.

Hell of a career, still, for a guy "too short" to be an NFL QB. I think this guy deserves NFL HOF, obviously not for numbers, but just pure grit. This guy never gave up, going to the CFL when the NFL didn't want him, yet came back and started in the NFL for many seasons. When he became a backup at the end, he never pouted or cried to the media. He took it like a man. Guts and grit. I wish more NFL players had his cast iron balls like Flutie. He's a model for what football should be about.

[Illusion]

He should have retired years ago. Still a great acareer though

[The Great One]

Out of 21 seasons, was he ever the #1 quarterback of any NFL team?

I know for awhile he played in a bunch of not real football leagues. But you can't count that in the NFL Hall of Fame.

I think this is a no brainer he doesn't belong in the NFL HOF as he only played for a handful of years and was never even the full time starter in the NFL for an entire season, was he?

The hall of Fame doesn't mean much anyway. A great high school quarterback that is 18 going into college right now is already better than every quarterback that played with the bonnets on and played in 30's through 60's. The game just wasn't real then and shouldn't count at all.

[slacker00]

Here's Flutie's careers stats:

Year Team G GS Att Comp Pct Yards YPA Lg TD Int Tkld 20+ 40+ Rate
1986 Chicago Bears 4 1 46 23 50.0 361 7.85 58 3 2 6/30 6 2 80.1
1987 New England Patriots 2 1 25 15 60.0 199 7.96 30 1 0 1/3 4 0 98.6
1988 New England Patriots 11 9 179 92 51.4 1150 6.42 80 8 10 11/65 14 2 63.3
1989 New England Patriots 5 3 91 36 39.6 493 5.42 36 2 4 6/52 7 0 46.6
1998 Buffalo Bills 13 10 354 202 57.1 2711 7.66 84 20 11 12/78 36 8 87.4
1999 Buffalo Bills 15 15 478 264 55.2 3171 6.63 54 19 16 26/176 40 7 75.1
2000 Buffalo Bills 11 5 231 132 57.1 1700 7.36 52 8 3 10/68 29 4 86.5
2001 San Diego Chargers 16 16 521 294 56.4 3464 6.65 78 15 18 25/168 43 4 72.0
2002 San Diego Chargers 1 0 11 3 27.3 64 5.82 47 0 0 0/0 1 1 51.3
2003 San Diego Chargers 7 5 167 91 54.5 1097 6.57 73 9 4 8/27 16 1 82.8
2004 San Diego Chargers 2 1 38 20 52.6 276 7.26 29 1 0 1/7 4 0 85.0
2005 New England Patriots 5 0 10 5 50.0 29 2.90 13 0 0 1/13 0 0 56.3
TOTAL 92 66 2151 1177 54.7 14715 6.84 84 86 68 107/687 200 29 76.3

Basically started 3 years for the Bills, and one year for the Chargers. 92 total starts throughout his career. On second thought, not a HOF career, without allowing USFL and CFL, which I agree shouldn't be included.

Position: QB
Height: 5-10
Weight: 180
Born: 10/23/1962
College: Boston College
NFL Experience: 13

Still, 13 years in the NFL for a guy this size, especially with 9 of his "best" years spent in the CFL.

[slacker00]

Flutie also went to a pro bowl in 1998.

[Illusion]

The guy has a horseshoe up there. I expected his career to end once he left the Bills.