Doug Flutie Football Life on NFL Network

[chad72]

I was watching the NFL Network segment "A Football Life" about Doug Flutie. Man, wherever Doug Flutie played, everyone kept knocking his height and he always made big plays, I felt.

 

It was a terrible decision for the Bills to sit him down for a playoff game after Rob Johnson's game 16 cameo during the 1999 season. Flutie had played really well till that point to get the Bills to the playoffs. It was a case of Ralph Wilson wanting to see through the investment on Rob Johnson for the money that they paid him. But couldn't they wait one more game till the off season?

 

It would be like benching Aaron Rodgers for a playoff game after Matt Flynn threw 6 TDs vs the Lions at the end of the 2011 season after Rodgers had played so well to be deemed MVP. Then the Music City miracle happened that propeled the Titans to the SB in 1999. Even Wade Philips said that Doug Flutie would have probably won that game for the Bills, so it was obviously a Ralph Wilson decision (RIP).

 

It also brings up the fact of how the lack of a rookie wage scale was killing the bad teams, those were the early signs (Bradford would be the last residue). A team gives a lot of money to a 1st round QB and then if someone else outperforms him (like Flutie over Rob Johnson, Brees over Rivers at that time), they feel compelled to go with the guy they put all their eggs in the basket for. 

 

No matter what, Flutie overachieved everywhere he went and it was a good segment to watch, inspirational at times too.

[Yoshinator]

I was watching the NFL Network segment "A Football Life" about Doug Flutie. Man, wherever Doug Flutie played, everyone kept knocking his height and he always made big plays, I felt.

 

It was a terrible decision for the Bills to sit him down for a playoff game after Rob Johnson's game 16 cameo during the 1999 season. Flutie had played really well till that point to get the Bills to the playoffs. It was a case of Ralph Wilson wanting to see through the investment on Rob Johnson for the money that they paid him. But couldn't they wait one more game till the off season?

 

It would be like benching Aaron Rodgers for a playoff game after Matt Flynn threw 6 TDs vs the Lions at the end of the 2011 season after Rodgers had played so well to be deemed MVP. Then the Music City miracle happened that propeled the Titans to the SB in 1999. Even Wade Philips said that Doug Flutie would have probably won that game for the Bills, so it was obviously a Ralph Wilson decision (RIP).

 

It also brings up the fact of how the lack of a rookie wage scale was killing the bad teams, those were the early signs (Bradford would be the last residue). A team gives a lot of money to a 1st round QB and then if someone else outperforms him (like Flutie over Rob Johnson, Brees over Rivers at that time), they feel compelled to go with the guy they put all their eggs in the basket for. 

 

No matter what, Flutie overachieved everywhere he went and it was a good segment to watch, inspirational at times too.

I watched this last night, almost made me cry. Doug Flutie was the awesome little guy, worked his way up from the bottom and took criticism wherever he went. It's too bad he got treated the way he did by management. He would of had a decent chance of taking the Bills to the Super Bowl that year. He got a lot of bad breaks and deserved better in the NFL. I knew he was in the CFL and USFL, but I never knew just how dominant he was there. Sometimes you need to hone your craft elsewhere before you can succeed in the NFL. Great story and one of my Favorite Football Life's because I'm his height and I have been in his situation when I've played sports in my life, although nowhere near to the degree of criticism as him. Definitely relatable for me.

[Flying Elvis]

Doug Flutie was one of my all-time favorite NFL players. I remember his first stint with the Patriots. All he did was win. Raymond Berry tried to change him rather than just win with him. The Pats went 1-15 the next season without him. Flutie then went to play football in Canada.

[amfootball]

The Flutes. One of my favorite players of all time. My husbands family knows him as he grew up in Natick which is only about 15 minutes from where we live. Wonderful family, great parents, great kids.

 

It is tough to watch the documentary because he was never treated fairly given his size. Mike Ditka liked him a lot but the strike year really hurt Flutie and then he went to Canada. Most forget that he played in the USFL too for the New Jersey General. Herschel Walker was his RB. The Bills fiasco may be the worst situation ever faced by a QB. I always have wondered how far the Bills might have gone that year if Flutie played in the post-season.

 

I remember where I was when he threw that pass to Phelan to beat Miami. I was only 10 and watched it with my dad who is a Boston College alumni. One of the best football plays ever and secured Flutie as the Heisman winner. Just a great moment in Boston sports history.

[BloodyChamp]

Everybody says "if so and so played today he'd have all the records!" What about Flutie? The biggest statpadder in the game today couldn't keep a job over Doug Flutie for years before the passhappy era.

[chad72]

Everybody says "if so and so played today he'd have all the records!" What about Flutie? The biggest statpadder in the game today couldn't keep a job over Doug Flutie for years before the passhappy era.

 

Are you talking about Drew Brees?