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HEAD TO HEAD
By Alexander O’Grady
 With Doug Flutie's recent retirement after a 20-year career in three different leagues, people have paid tribute to him in different ways. I understand that – I personally like Doug Flutie as he was a good example that determination, grit and fortitude could go a long way and give one a pretty decent football career despite not necessarily having the best physical attributes. But is Doug Flutie a Hall-of-Famer, as some people claim? I am saying no.
Flutie's NFL career is hardly anything special: 1177 of 2151 for 14715 yards, 86 touchdowns and 68 interceptions. His career quarterback rating of 78.3 is lower than Mark Brunell's 84.1, Brad Johnson's 84.4 and even Aaron Brooks' 79.7. It is also rather comparable to players like Vinny Testaverde (75.2), Drew Bledsoe (77.3) and Jon Kitna (75.3) - and neither of the six players mentioned are likely Hall-of-Famers. So if we just look at Flutie's NFL career, it is clear that his numbers do not stack up.
I understand the argument of those who say otherwise - they look at the door to Canton saying 'Pro Football' Hall of Fame, not NFL Hall of Fame. In their view, it would therefore be possible to include his CFL and USFL stats, too…and then suddenly his numbers and career look good. The Hall has earlier enshrined players with a portion of their careers outside the NFL - Warren Moon is probably the one that helps Flutie's case the most. However, Moon's had a more stellar NFL career than Flutie, and it is clear from the selectors' statements during the debate of Moon's Hall of Fame credentials that he was enshrined in spite of his CFL career, not because of it.
Flutie was, incidentally, beaten in a position battle in Buffalo by Rob Johnson. Regardless of the reasons behind it, no Hall-of-Famer should lose a position battle to Rob-freaking-Johnson. But let's ignore that as I am more worried about the precedent set if we allow Flutie access to the Hall because of his achievements outside the NFL. If Flutie is enshrined, shouldn't Damon Allen be too, for throwing for almost 60000 yards and 319 touchdowns in his long and illustrious CFL career? The CFL has its own Hall of Fame, and there is no doubt that Flutie, like Allen, is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer there.
Also, consider the players not currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and unlikely to get there - players like Boomer Esiason, who is arguably a better football player than Flutie. With all the knocks on Flutie over the years, for him just to be mentioned in the Hall of Fame debate must be a huge victory for him. But ultimately, for the reasons mentioned above, it is clear that Flutie belongs squarely in the Hall of Very Good.
Editor's Note: These articles were written right after Flutie's retirement, but were not posted until now due to logistical reasons. On Behalf of MediaBlvd Magazine, I would like to apologize to the authors and to our readers for the lateness of them showing up in publication. Rather than pulling them because they were no longer timely, the editorial staff decided to go ahead and publish them now.--Kenn Gold, Editor
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By D. W. O’Dell
In a few years it will be interesting to see if the “Professional Football Hall of Fame” lives up to its name. The Hall is supposed to enshrine great football players who played professionally, which presumably doesn’t just mean the NFL. Five years from now Doug Flutie will be eligible for enshrinement; his NFL career statistics probably don’t merit his inclusion, but his professional career achievements should be recognized.
Flutie is best remembered, of course, for the last-second ‘Hail Mary’ pass that gave Boston College a victory over favored Miami. Flutie won the Heisman Trophy, but was considered too short (at 5’10”) to play in the NFL. He was drafted 285th in the 11th round of the NFL draft that year, which is a lot worse than Matt Leinart falling to the tenth spot. Flutie opted to join the USFL (remember them?) and became the New Jersey General’s quarterback in 1986.
The USFL didn’t last long, and Flutie was still 5’10”, so he then went to the Canadian Football League (official league motto: “What down is it, eh?”). He became arguably the greatest quarterback in CFL history, winning the Canadian equivalent of the MVP award 6 times between 1991 and 1997, and the Grey Cup (Super Bowl) MVP 3 times. But changes in the economics of Canadian football led to him returning to the United States in 1998, joining the closest thing the NFL has to a Canadian team, the Buffalo Bills.
If one play summarizes Flutie’s abilities as quarterback it was a play that I believe happened against the Jacksonville Jaguars that season. Flutie scored the winning touchdown with time running out by bootlegging into the end zone. The thing was, it wasn’t a bootleg play; it was a busted play up the middle. Replays showed that Flutie clearly expected to hand the ball off, but the running back wasn’t there. Flutie made a split-second decision to run to his left and won the game.
Flutie became a national hero. He didn’t just appear on a Wheaties box, he actually had a cereal named after him. Flutie Flakes were rolled out after his heroics in the 1998 season, with proceeds going to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, named for Flutie’s son who was afflicted with the disease.
Despite a national fan base and leading Buffalo to a 10-5 record in 1999, he was replaced as the starting QB by Rob Johnson in the playoffs that year. Flutie eventually left for San Diego, where he started for a season before being replaced by Drew Brees. While in San Diego he became the first 40-year-old to rush for two touchdowns in a game.
Flutie returned to his native New England to end his career with the Patriots, as Tom Brady’s back-up. On January 1, 2006, in his last play as a professional football player, Flutie became the first player in 60 years to drop kick an extra point. He had learned how to drop kick when he had used the rounder football that they use in Canada.
Flutie racked up some impressive stats, considering that while in the NFL he often was the back-up quarterback on a bad or mediocre team. Whenever he took over for the primary quarterback, he made the team better; when the other QB was healthy, he was put back on the bench no matter how many games he won. He has only 14,715 passing yards in the NFL, but over his entire pro career he has over 58,000 yards and 369 TD passes.
In the book, The Politics of Glory (renamed Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?), Bill James offers several alternate definitions for determining who should go into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The one I’ve always liked is, “Can you write the history of the sport during his career and NOT mention that player?” If you apply that standard to Doug Flutie, he’s in. From the Boston College Hail Mary (okay, that was college not pros - who cares?), to the six Canadian MVPs, the post-season heroics with the Buffalo Bills, Flutie Flakes, and his historic drop kick, you can’t talk about football over the past 20 years and not mention Doug Flutie.
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