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Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former professional football quarterback. In a 21-year career, Flutie played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one season in the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1984 amid a season that saw him throw a Hail Flutie in the final seconds of a ranked matchup against the Miami Hurricanes.
Flutie chose to begin his professional career with the USFL's New Jersey Generals; his unavailability to NFL teams resulted in him being selected 285th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1985 NFL draft, the lowest drafting of a Heisman winner. After the USFL folded, Flutie spent his first four NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots.
Flutie left the NFL in 1990 for the CFL, where he became regarded as one of the league's greatest players. As a member of the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, and Toronto Argonauts, he was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player a record six times and won three . In all three of his championship victories, two with the Argonauts and one with the Stampeders, he was named Grey Cup MVP.
After his CFL success, Flutie returned to the NFL in 1998 with the Buffalo Bills, earning Pro Bowl and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors for leading Buffalo to the playoffs. He again helped the Bills obtain a playoff berth the following season, but was controversially benched in their subsequent Wild Card defeat; the Bills would not make the playoffs for another 17 years. Flutie held his last starting role with the San Diego Chargers in 2001 and spent his final season as a backup for the Patriots. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Flutie was also inducted to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first non-Canadian inductee.
After the dramatic slow-down of the space program in the mid-1970s, the Flutie family again moved in 1976 to Natick, Massachusetts, 20 miles west of Boston. Flutie graduated from Natick High School, where he was an All-League performer in football, basketball, and baseball.
Flutie gained national attention in 1984 when he led the Eagles to victory in a Hail Flutie against the Miami Hurricanes (led by quarterback Bernie Kosar). The game was nationally televised on CBS the day after Thanksgiving and thus had a huge audience. The Hurricanes staged a dramatic drive to take the lead, 45–41, in the closing minute of the game. The Eagles then took possession at its own 22-yard line with 28 seconds to go. After two passes moved the ball another 30 yards, only 6 seconds remained. On the last play of the game, Flutie scrambled away from the defense and threw a "Hail Mary pass" that was caught in the end zone by his college roommate, Gerard Phelan, giving the Eagles a 47–45 win. Flutie led the nation in passer rating and won the Heisman Trophy a week later, but the voting had finished before the game; Flutie said, however, that "without the Hail Mary pass I think I could have been very, very easily forgotten". The subsequent rise in applications for admission to Boston College after Flutie's "Hail Mary" gave rise to the admissions phenomenon known as the "Flutie effect". This idea essentially states that a winning sports team can increase the recognition value of a school enough to make it more attractive to potential applicants.
In addition to his collegiate athletic achievement, Flutie maintained a distinguished academic record at Boston College, where he majored in communication and computer science. Flutie was a candidate for the Rhodes Scholarship, for which he was named a finalist in 1984. Upon graduating, Flutie won the National Football Foundation post-graduate scholarship.
In November 2008, Flutie was honored by Boston College with a statue outside Alumni Stadium; it depicts his "Hail Mary" pass. BC unveils life-sized tribute to Flutie, November 13, 2008 His number, 22, has been retired by the Boston College football program. In 2013, Flutie received the College Football Legacy Award from The Sports Museum at TD Garden for his accomplishments at Boston College.
Flutie was attractive to the USFL, which was desperate for a star to reinvigorate the league as it was in financial difficulty. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills, who had the first pick in the 1985 NFL draft, still had the rights to Jim Kelly (who had spurned them to go to the USFL) and also had concerns about Flutie's height.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Bills Got A Lucky Break When Flutie Signed With USFL He was selected by the USFL's New Jersey Generals in the 1985 territorial draft, which took place in January, months before the 1985 NFL Draft. Flutie went through negotiations with the Generals and agreed on a deal that would make him the highest paid pro football player and highest paid rookie in any sport with $7 million over five years; Flutie To USFL Generals, Times-Union – January 26, 1985 Flutie was signed on February 4, 1985. Having already signed with the USFL, Flutie was not selected in the NFL draft until the 11th round as the 285th overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams.
Flutie entered the USFL with much hype and fanfare. In February 1985, Flutie made his USFL debut against the Orlando Renegades. His debut was not impressive, as his first two professional passes were intercepted by Renegades linebacker Jeff Gabrielsen. The only two touchdowns that New Jersey scored came from turnovers by Orlando quarterback Jerry Golsteyn. By the time Flutie's debut was over, he completed 7 of 18 passes for a total of 174 yards, while also running for 51 yards. Flutie completed 134 of 281 passes for 2,109 yards and 13 touchdowns with the Generals in 1985 in 15 games. He suffered an injury late in the season that saw him turn over the reins to reserve quarterback Ron Reeves. The Generals went on to finish with an 11–7 record and a second-place finish in the USFL's Eastern Conference. The USFL folded in 1986, and Flutie and punter Sean Landeta were the league's last active players in the NFL.
On October 2, 1988, after the Patriots began the season with a 1–3 record, Flutie came off the bench to lead a comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough, scoring the winning touchdown on a 13-yard bootleg at the end of the fourth quarter. He then led the team to a 6–3 record, including wins at home over the eventual division winning Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. However, on December 11, after taking the Patriots to the brink of the playoffs, Flutie was benched by head coach Raymond Berry and replaced with Tony Eason, who had not played football in over a year; Berry cited a need for more "explosive" play from the offense, which Flutie pointed out had thrown little to begin with. New England lost the last game of the year in Denver and were eliminated from the postseason in a tiebreaker.
Flutie was released by the Patriots after playing the 1989 season in a mainly backup role. No other NFL teams showed interest in Flutie and he subsequently signed to play for the Canadian Football League (CFL). After his release from the Patriots, they won only nine games over the following three seasons.
The 1991 season saw Flutie set several CFL single season records:
On October 12 vs Edmonton, Flutie threw for 582 yards, which was second most in a regular season game at the time. He also won the most games for a starting quarterback that year (11). For his accomplishments, he won Most Outstanding Player award for the first time. BC made the playoffs for the first time since 1988, but ultimately lost to the eventual West Division Champion Calgary Stampeders in the West Semi-Final.
In 1993, Flutie quarterbacked Calgary to a 10–0 start, with the team ultimately finishing with a league-best 15–3. He passed for 6,000 yards for the second time in his career, and set a single season record for passing touchdowns with 44. He also tied his 1991 CFL record for 400-yard passing games in a season (7), and set the CFL record for consecutive 400-yard passing games (5). Flutie won his third consecutive Most Outstanding Player award. Calgary ultimately lost in the West Division Final to the visiting Edmonton Elks, which eliminated the Stampeders from playing in the Grey Cup that was to be played in Calgary the following Sunday.
The 1994 season saw Calgary once again finishing with a league-best 15–3 record. Flutie broke his CFL record from the previous season for passing touchdowns in a single season with 48. He also rushed for 760 yards, which was his best rushing season in the CFL. Against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on October 30, he completed the longest pass of his career (106 yards), a touchdown to Pee Wee Smith. Flutie won his fourth consecutive Most Outstanding Player award. Calgary lost the West Division Final once again, this time to the visiting BC Lions, who defeated the Stampeders with a last play touchdown.
In 1995, Flutie missed several games due to injury. During this time, Jeff Garcia, who later went on to start for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, started games at quarterback, and helped Calgary once again finish 15–3. The Stampeders advanced to the Grey Cup game, and Flutie started. However, Calgary was defeated by the Baltimore Stallions, the first American-based team to win the Grey Cup.
After a league-best 15–3 regular season in 1997, Toronto was successful in its quest to win back-to-back Grey Cups when the team won the 1997 Grey Cup held in Edmonton, Alberta. With Flutie at quarterback, the Argonauts set a record for most consecutive completions in a Grey Cup game with 10, which occurred between the first and second quarters. From the late second quarter to the fourth quarter, this record was rewritten when Flutie completed 12 consecutive passes. For his performance in the Grey Cup, he won his third Grey Cup MVP award.
Prior to his final two Grey Cup victories with the Argonauts, Flutie was hampered by the opinion, supported by the media, that he was a quarterback who could not win in cold weather. In both 1993 and 1994, the Stampeders had the best record in the league, but lost the Western Final each year at home in freezing conditions. After first refusing to wear gloves in freezing temperatures, in later years, Flutie adapted to throwing with gloves in cold weather.
Flutie credits his time in the CFL with helping him develop as a pro quarterback. Flutie specifically states that he modeled his game off of fellow CFL quarterback Damon Allen.
Upon completion of his CFL career, Flutie had set numerous CFL career records:
Flutie ranked third in the following all-time regular season CFL passing categories: yards (41,355), touchdowns (270), completions (2,975), and he ranked fourth in all-time attempts (4,854). In all-time Grey Cup passing categories, Flutie held the record for most attempts (171), completions (108), and yards (1,421).
Other passing accomplishments upon completion of his CFL career included:
| + ! !Attempts !Completions !Yards !Touchdowns | ||||
| BC | 730 (1991) | 466 (1991) | 6,619 (1991) | 38 (1991) |
| Calgary | 703 (1993) | 416 (1993) | 6,092 (1993) | 48 (1994) |
| Toronto | 677 (1996) | *434 (1996) | 5,720 (1996) | 47 (1997) |
On November 17, 2006, Flutie was named the greatest Canadian Football League player of all time from a top 50 list of CFL players conducted by TSN. In 2007, he was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the first non-Canadian to be inducted.
Flutie led the Bills to an 11–5 record in 1999 (10–5 with Flutie as the starter; he was rested for the final game of the season after the Bills clinched a playoff berth). In a controversial decision which football analyst Aaron Schatz said was "the wrong decision on one of the most mismatched quarterback controversies of all time", Flutie was replaced by Johnson for the playoffs by coach Wade Phillips, who later said he was ordered by Bills owner Ralph Wilson to do so. Johnson completed only ten passes, none for touchdowns, and was sacked six times, as the Bills lost 22–16 to the eventual AFC Champion Tennessee Titans. The game has become known as the Music City Miracle, as the Titans scored on the penultimate play of the game—a kickoff return following the Bills' apparent game-clinching field goal.
The following season, Flutie was named the Bills' backup and played only late in games or when Johnson was injured, which was often. During the season, Flutie had a 4–1 record as a starter, while Johnson's was 4–7. In a December 24, 2000 game against the Seattle Seahawks, Flutie achieved a perfect passer rating, completing 20 of 25 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. After the 2000 season, Bills President Tom Donahoe and head coach Gregg Williams decided to keep Johnson as the starter and cut Flutie.
In 2003, Flutie replaced a struggling Brees when the Chargers were 1–7. The 41-year-old Flutie 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. On January 2, 2005, the season finale of the 2004 season, Flutie broke Jerry Rice's record set two weeks prior, to become the oldest player ever to score a touchdown, at 42 years and 71 days. Rice was 42 years and 67 days when he made his touchdown. Flutie's record as a starter that year was 2–3. He was released by the Chargers on March 13, 2005.
In a December 26, 2005 game against the New York Jets, Flutie was sent in late in the game. The Jets also sent in their back-up quarterback, Vinny Testaverde. This was the first time in NFL history that two quarterbacks over the age of 40 competed against each other (Testaverde was 42, Flutie was 43).
In the Patriots' regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins on January 1, 2006, Flutie successfully a football for an extra point, something that was not done in a regular-season NFL game since 1941. It was Flutie's first kick attempt in the NFL, and earned him that week's title of AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, known for his knowledge of the history of the game, made comments that suggested that the play was a retirement present of sorts for his veteran quarterback, although Flutie made no comment on whether 2005 would be his last season. There is a video of Flutie describing the event in his own words.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
During the 2006 off-season, Flutie's agent Kristen Kuliga stated he was interested in returning to the Patriots for another season; as a result, he was widely expected to return, despite his age. However, on May 15, 2006, Flutie announced his decision to "hang up his helmet" at the age of 43 and retire. Flutie was the second-to-last former USFL player to retire, behind Sean Landeta, who last played in the same season of Flutie's retirement (but did not formally retire until 2008).
Drawing on his USFL experience, Flutie served as an analyst for United Football League games for NBCSN in 2010.
Flutie served as a studio and pre-game analyst for Notre Dame Football on NBC from 2011 through 2013, then served as the lead analyst from 2014 through 2019.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "Instaflex Signs Deal with Former NFL Quarterback Doug Flutie" PRWeb (June 24, 2011); retrieved via Wayback Machine October 26, 2023
On March 8, 2016, Flutie was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Karina Smirnoff. On April 25, 2016, Flutie and Smirnoff were eliminated, finishing in ninth place.
On November 20, 2018, a partnership deal was announced between Flutie and the Maximum Football video game (Canuck Play/Spear Interactive). Future iterations of the game will be rebranded as Doug Flutie's Maximum Football and feature Flutie's likeness. The game released on the PS4 and Xbox One in the Fall of 2019. On February 4, 2020, the game was available to purchase as a physical copy.
Since 2021, he has endorsed testosterone supplement Nugenix. He and fellow pitchman Frank Thomas were spoofed in a Saturday Night Live skit, with Kyle Mooney's Flutie and Kenan Thompson's Thomas extolling the virtues of the product to an unsuspecting man. "Nugenix" (January 29, 2022) NBC; retrieved October 26, 2023
On August 12, 2025, Flutie signed with the Brockton Rox baseball team. The team held Doug Flutie night, a charity event on August 21, during the game Flutie came out of the bullpen in the first inning against the Québec Capitales. Throwing seven pitches five of them being strikes. After getting two strikes on the leadoff hitter, Flutie allowed an infield single before retiring his final batter on a grounder to third base.
In 2002, he appeared in the direct-to-TV film Second String, which is about the Buffalo Bills who find their first-string quarterback Flutie, out for a month after a food poisoning incident, leading the team's head coach, "Chuck Dickerson", to hire an insurance salesman and former college quarterback named Dan Heller as the team's backup quarterback.
Flutie has since made numerous guest appearances on shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, NESN and Good Morning America.
In 2019, he and his family appeared on Celebrity Family Feud, winning 25 thousand dollars for his charity.
Flutie is married to his high school sweetheart, Laurie (née Fortier). They have a daughter, Alexa, formerly a New England Patriots Cheerleader and San Diego Chargers Cheerleader, and a son, Doug Jr., who has childhood disintegrative disorder, a very rare severe late onset form of autism. The Fluties established The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, Inc. in honor of him. Flutie also created a cereal, Flutie Flakes, with the benefits going toward this organization. He also holds a yearly 5k race in Natick with the proceeds benefiting over 30+ New England based autism serving organizations.
In 2006, Flutie was honored by the city of Boston, being given the Red, White & Blue Award for his unyielding support of the Boston community. In 2010, he was named the Central Florida Humanitarian of the year for his philanthropic efforts.
In his free time, he attends college football and basketball games at his alma mater Boston College and was a season ticket-holder. He has spent his summers in Bethany Beach, Delaware, frequenting basketball courts. He also has worked with the local Massachusetts Eastern Bank and is a spokesman for Natick/Framingham's Metrowest Medical Center. He is a member of the Longfellow Sports Clubs at their Wayland and Natick locations. Flutie relocated from Natick to Florida, but was honored by Natick in November 2007 by being inducted into the Natick High School Wall of Achievement. A short stretch of road connecting the Natick Mall and the Shoppers World in Natick/Framingham, Massachusetts is named "Flutie Pass" in honor of his historic 1984 play against Miami. Flutie frequents Melbourne Beach, Florida in winter, and a sports field complex there is named after him. For a time, he was part-owner of a restaurant in New York City's South Street Seaport named "Flutie's".
In February 2021, Flutie won the WWE 24/7 Championship from R-Truth during a celebrity flag football tournament, though he would then immediately drop the title back to Truth.
Flutie has a large collection of Batman memorabilia from the Batman TV series. Most famously he owns the iconic 1960s Batmobile that he rebuilt. In 2022, he added to his collection when he purchased a replica of the Batmobile that was featured in Batman. Flutie drives them both frequently and puts them to good use by bringing them to charity events.
In 2024, the Athletes For A Better World organization announced Flutie was the winner of their Pro Wooden Citizenship Cup, the award is given out to athletes that epitomize high standards of character, leadership, and community service.
With his brother Darren on guitar, Doug plays drums in the Flutie Brothers Band, and once played for Boston at a tribute honoring Doug. November 13, 2006, was Doug Flutie Day in Boston. Flutie endorsed Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts for 2010, and the Flutie Brothers Band played at Brown's victory celebration. The Flutie Brothers released a 9-song album in 1996 titled Catch This, which was followed by Ramblin'
In 2014, Flutie, who has a charity team that was running the Boston Marathon, decided to run it himself two days before the race, and finished in 5:23:54. Since then, Flutie has run the marathon four more times, with his most recent run coming in 2023.
On November 18, 2015, Flutie's parents Dick and Joan Flutie died of heart attacks one hour apart. Dick Flutie had been ill and hospitalized.
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