All language subtitles for A Football Life - Doug Flutie

[Applause]

now Doug Flutie is down to his last

at-bat without the Hail Mary pass I

think I could have been very easily

forgotten we would have gone to the same

ball game

the Heisman voting was already in and

the direction everything would have been

the same except that pass put this label

on me as it's never over till it's over

God

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

like what he most probably what am I

most proud of I think it's the longevity

the the being able to to be an athletic

quarterback and play this game for 21

years

every time I stepped on the field I gave

it everything I had

[Music]

I always felt like the critics were out

there and they were in big numbers I

thought it was a circus sideshow

bringing in this little Heisman Trophy

winner and through the priest who really

didn't care what they thought and I said

to this day I finally I'm gonna announce

my retirement they'll say see I told you

he couldn't do it it's difficult to

forget twenty-one years of doubt

to forgive those who judged you by size

instead of skill five foot nine and

three-quarter inches a typical height

for an average man a tiny stature for an

NFL quarterback this one trait would

overshadow Doug Flutie for his entire

football life

[Music]

you know I got the high school day one I

practice with all the sophomores on the

sophomore team even then I was the

undersized kid I was small and I just

went out and made plays without getting

hit there's this little guy over there

going sideline to sideline not complain

soun and I'm hollering who is that kid

over there he said that's the young

Flutie kid right for the first time we

had him on our practice field he was

special

I was on the field playing with my

brother bill of course he was the

starting quarterback but when the

offense started struggling they needed

to get both of us involved I could throw

it pretty well but Doug was throwing 70

75 yards downfield

so coach lamb said bill you go to wide

receiver before doug at quarterback yeah

sure all right

I threw three three interceptions in the

first half I think I had a fumble and

their coaches were kind of scratching

their head taking real what are we doing

here second half bill had four touchdown

catches I threw I just went to him down

the field we went

but I did not have a prolific high

school career at all I mean there were

no records being set there were no

300-yard games there was none of that

I'd have a nice play or two

oh he was awesome he was awesome and of

course in 11th grade I tried out for

cheerleading so I got to go to every

game and I watched him play

I loved the cheerleading and I enjoyed

doing that but I spent a lot of the time

watching him play because he was amazing

I was very close to playing at an Ivy

League school the Division one schools

when a coach would come visit all he

would talk about was my size Tom lamb

was the really the one that put me on

him because I was recruiting

Massachusetts at the time and Tom was

somebody that I really respected and and

I remember during the recruiting process

we were in his living room and his dad

said to me I don't think you know what

you're getting I always remember that

line how truly was

[Music]

Flutie accepted his only division 1

scholarship offer and attended Boston

College in the fall of 1981

I get the BC and there are nine

quarterbacks on the death chart I'm

number nine you know thought I was way

in over my head that I'd never see the

field

Doug was an afterthought to the offense

and I have no doubt that he had a chip

on his shoulder because a lot of people

didn't believe in him as the season

progressed Doug would move from the

seventh quarterback to the fifth

quarterback to the third quarterback and

then finally we were over in Penn State

fourth-quarter comes around they're like

warm up I'm like oh my god I'm more

seriously I'm gonna get in the game now

it will be done

Flutie I expect him to get hammered to

get beat up spit out and thrown back

onto the sidelines they call a play I

roll out left guys open I throw a joke I

roll out right guys open I throw it to

him this is the deepest penetration the

game was the same that it's always been

it's like you take your read you throw

the ball the open guy when he came in

with that much confidence for a freshman

I remember distinctly thinking the hell

does he think he is and then he goes in

and starts doing the things he did I'm

like oh that's who

[Music]

Budi

[Music]

that's not supposed to happen the guy's

not even supposed to be at Penn State

here he is in front of 85,000 people

he's winking over at the coach saying

it's all gonna be okay I got this all

these guys that were telling me I was

too short and how complicated the game

is at all it's not that complicated it

was the same game I'd always played

after his performance against Penn State

Flutie became the starter Doug's

sophomore year began with an upset of

powerhouse Texas A&M followed by a tie

with defending national champion Clemson

I think a big part of our success

especially early on was we didn't know

any better we were just having fun and

that was the mentality we weren't

intimidated because we were just taking

it all in and enjoying it we were

selling out home games a lot of

attention locally and I thought it was

just regional but when I finished third

in the heisman my junior year that was

kind of the wake-up call of how much

attention we were really getting up in

Chestnut Hill Massachusetts there's a

growing pride for what many folks up

there claim is the best team in the East

and the best quarterback in the land the

media angle for the Doug Flutie

phenomenon was all too easy if little

Doug Flutie can make it in that within

Chicago sports one player from a Dwarfs

College as you play are you terribly

conscious of your lack of size first got

started I used to like people writing a

story about the small quarterback making

it and now to come to the point where

I'm a short quarterback in my own little

category and that bothers me a little

bit have you already reconciled oh

you're just a junior if you already

reconciled yourself to the probability

that the pros will probably pass you by

I'd love to take an opportunity to try

and pro football but from what I've

heard and what I've

people have told me I really don't think

it's gonna be in the future for

Sports Illustrated calls him magic

Flutie he is Doug Flutie the tiny

quarterback at Boston College the most

exciting college football player since

OJ Simpson there's not a lot of people

out there that could tell you all of

Doug's numbers they can certainly tell

you about his big place they can

certainly tell you about some of the

miraculous things he pulled off

a guy that just found ways to make

things happen in any number of different

ways doug flutie would leave college as

the nation's all-time leader in passing

yardage and total offense it was

absolute must watch football he didn't

want to miss it you never knew when that

crazy play was gonna happen

the play was fifty five flood tip my

whole thinking on that plays I roll out

by as much time as possible lay it up in

the air and see what happens

they never ran the play right it's

supposed to be tipped to somebody but he

always just threw it to the guy instead

of having the tip at the end of the

first half of a 1984 game with temple

Flutie introduced the football world 255

blood tip right in the middle a bunch of

guys it comes down around the goal and

sure enough Gerrard got under it caught

it right on the goal line for a

touchdown I remember talking to Doug

about that play afterwards and he said

look it's a 50/50 chance your guys gonna

catch it thinking it's not 50/50 it's 1

in 50

November 23rd 1984 obviously the moment

I'll always be remembered for it was the

day after Thanksgiving windswept rain

kept many away from the Orange Bowl but

the matchup couldn't have been more

compelling for fans in their living

rooms they were the team that everyone

loved to hate with all the NFL prospects

we were the Cinderella story the little

kid at quarterback the small school from

the north all that stuff here you have

sort of the classic matchup between you

know the academic Catholic school from

the north to the Football Factory in the

south in our locker room it wasn't that

story at all in our locker room it was

yeah they're good and they're fast and

they're big but we got Doug

[Music]

Doug Flutie completed his first 11

passes and led Boston College to

touchdowns on three of its first four

possessions

the teams combined for over 1,100 yards

of offense

in the waning moments of the fourth

quarter BC led 41 to 38 Miami took

possession deep in its own territory I'm

standing next to Jack brick now with two

minutes to go in the game Miami's got

the ball and will leading 4138 Doug

comes up and says coach let him score

ice what do you mean let him score it's

like Oh for cryin out loud they're gonna

score let him score give us some time so

we can go down and do it back to him

finally they stick it in the end zone

with 28 seconds left it's like we

couldn't have gotten it back with a

minute to go

[Applause]

the game itself would been amazing on

this on but then it turned into

something entirely different the hope

now is let's get the ball across

midfield we can get to the cross

midfield we've got a shot at the end

zone we'll put one up and see what

happened

[Applause]

Doug Flutie is down to his last

we're out at the 48 and it's like okay

fine it's time for a Hail Mary let's

throw this thing up

got no call to play 55 flood tip

[Applause]

is probably a half second delay and boom

I seen officials arms go up in the air I

just start laughing my ass off oh I

couldn't believe it

it represented that he was capable of

what we would call magic and it was hard

evidence of it it was as if to borrow a

burden of proof from the Catholic Church

evidence of a miracle and that for him

was evidence of a football miracle

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

about a 50/50 chance you got a couple

guys down here they got a couple guys

down there you throw it about everybody

go for there was a line that connected

who he was to what he would become and

there was the line drawn by the football

up in the air

spiraling down to his best friend on the

team Gerard feeling it changed

everything for him and he had no idea he

had no idea how it changed him how it

was going to change him or how things

were going to change around

[Music]

the Heisman Trophy winner from Boston

College

[Music]

coming up

Doug Flutie tries to rise above his NFL

doubters can a guy who is 5 foot 9 175

pounds make it yes

Chan but it's a matter of ability and

not size I feel I can play I don't know

for sure and those questions will be

answered in the future

the NFL was so scared of me they didn't

know what to think of me ok here you won

the Heisman you've put up all these

numbers you beat big-time teams you're

too small to play so publicly when they

get asked the question no all these

great he's a phenomenal talent he's this

he's that he blah blah blah and they try

to say all these positive things and in

the back of their mind they're like

somebody else draft him months before

the NFL Draft somebody else did the

USFL's New Jersey generals owned by

Donald Trump

[Music]

Trump signed the quarterback he coveted

to a five-year seven million dollar

contract making Doug Flutie the

highest-paid player in football history

I didn't want to take the risk of

passing up on that kind of money to be a

late round draft choice in the NFL the

pressure came when I realized how much

more than the other guys on the team I

was making Flutie made quite a first

impression on professional football I

went three quarters without completing a

pass

[Applause]

eventually some of that Flutey magic

surfaced and he helped the generals to a

playoff spot in the final season of the

ill-fated USFL

[Applause]

I loved it I loved the USFL

as the league neared its demise in 1986

Flutie was traded by the Los Angeles

Rams who owned his NFL rights to the

Chicago Bears when I went to Chicago Jim

McMahon who's really banged up Tom Zack

and Steve fuller were there and Jim felt

that those other guys deserve the

opportunity first not an outsider and

that created fridge

a lot of guys got aggravated with me

when I brought Doug to Chicago I brought

him here because he gave us a better

chance to win

Flutie made his first start in the Bears

season-ending victory in Dallas

[Applause]

two weeks later he started again as the

14 and to defending Super Bowl champions

hosted Washington

[Applause]

Flutie threw two interceptions and

completed only 11 of 31 passes I have no

regrets about it if that was switched

over today I would bring him again today

it was very disappointing because I

think that was my best opportunity in my

career that was my best opportunity to

get to a Super Bowl the following

October the Bears traded Flutie to New

England we kind of questioned what he

could do if he really could play in the

NFL because that was always the the

cloud over his head was he too short in

his first relief appearance the local

hero stood tall

[Applause]

anything I did through those years was

just magnified if it was something

negative it was magnified because I was

too short to play see I told you so bla

bla bla if it was something good

he's amazing it's Flutie magic yeah I

ran and they get bootleg had a shot at

the corner I ran it in what was magic

about that I'm not downplaying it at all

if it's coming across that way maybe

because I'm just still stunned you

witnessed a very incredible performance

that's what happened it almost felt from

my perspective like oh shoot Doug did

good we won we've got a plan in 1988

Flutie won six of his nine starts but

never went over his head coach Raymond

berry tells me he had a vision

we need to be more explosive going into

the playoffs well in order to get to the

playoffs we got to win next week

with Flutie benched the Patriots offense

produced only 10 points

trailing by two scores in the game's

final seconds Raymond berry turned to

Flutie

hoping for magic

[Music]

I got a phone call during that offseason

we got a mini camp coming up next week

you're not invited coming up

[Applause]

now convinced that because he's excited

he just can't see

[Music]

in 1990 the NFL kind of labeled me as a

backup quarterback I went to the CFL and

it really gave me an opportunity to just

wheel and deal and regain my confidence

[Applause]

my first game in Canada I'm throwing a

darn Hail Mary to tie the game and send

it to overtime

the Canadian Football League and Doug

were a match that was made in heaven

it's a bigger field

you only have three downs to get a first

down so you're throwing almost every

play and if you're not throwing the

quarterback is probably scrambling your

money well it really was meant for Doug

allows for a more athletic agile player

to be successful and generally the

players are a little smaller than in the

NFL the mobility was looked on as a pass

the width of the field gave me a little

more space to make people miss when I

decided to take off and scramble it felt

like cheating it became a game I got

very comfortable with in a hurry

I really wanted to stay in British

Columbia but they wouldn't budge on

their offer so I signed with Calgary for

much more money today the Calgary

Stampeders have signed a four-year

multimillion-dollar agreement with mr.

Doug Flutie I really saw him as as a

marquee player I saw him as a superstar

but Doug did in these games is probably

the best football that's ever been

played and I know that's a really bold

thing to say but Doug would do things

that you just don't see anymore

[Applause]

and so I truly believe that he's the

Wayne Gretzky a football

[Applause]

Doug Flutie's first CFL championship

game the Grey Cup was a coronation

[Music]

Flutie was named Grey Cup Most Valuable

Player and won his first professional

football title that was more than just

that

player wearing number 20 with the

Stampeders he was the identity of the

CFL and for him to win his first

championship what Calgary really

established his presence as one of the

great athletes to ever play the game

Flutie in Calgary owner Larry Rickman

never celebrated a Grey Cup title

together again their business

relationship deteriorated as well I was

getting paid like a year late all the

time we had the way to the season ticket

money would come in for the following

season and then he'd start paying me but

I got my money yeah the first couple of

years Rickman had crafted a multifaceted

contract for the league's highest paid

player but by 1995 various financial

interests in the CFL and elsewhere would

leave him unable to make good on it as

part of the deal

he owned 10% of the Stampeders the

Stampeders have cost me fifteen million

dollars by that time at the time the

clubs just didn't have real value to

them and when I say real value I'm

talking about the kind of value that

they that they have now but at that time

it was a down cycle mmm it's a good

explanation Doug said the personal

services portion which was roughly

700,000 was completely unpaid is that

your recollection of it yes yep tells

you the type of teammate Doug Flutie was

I mean here he played his butt off for

the whole regular season without getting

a cent do you ever intend to pay him

back or mean is that possible gosh no no

never I don't think I don't think did I

Oh Doug Flutie anything

[Music]

Doug Flutie left Calgary after four

seasons in that span he let the

Stampeders to for Western Division

finals to Grey Cup appearances and was

named the CFL's most outstanding player

three times

Flutie arrived in the CFL's biggest

market Toronto in 1996 a year after the

Argonauts won only 4 of 18 games

it was quickly highlighted what an

amazing player he was when he went over

to Toronto because he turned that

franchise around

we won 11 more games if we had to say

how many games were attributed to Doug

Flutie he's not perfect so 10 of the 11

the Toronto turnaround culminated with

Doug Flutie's 2nd Grey Cup title it went

at once before but he had been the MVP

four times so this game was a statement

of he was not just the best player but

he was the best team player in the

league a year later

Flutie led the Argonauts to a repeat

title

the greatest player in CFL history and

his fist I just did never been one that

really allowed myself to enjoy that

moment as much as I probably should have

and I finally learned how to enjoy the

wind

and it was a fun moment to have six MVPs

and then to add three great cups he made

his mark up here which will never

diminish and to me he's easily the best

CFL player that's ever played ladies and

gentlemen as voted on by our independent

panel from coast to coast

I'm honored to introduce the greatest

player in the history of the Canadian

Football League

please welcome Doug Flutie

[Music]

thank you coming up I was 35 years old

and I felt like the only place to go

from here is down if I stay in the CFO

maybe I should retire

in 1998 I was ready to retire and

Buffalo came knocking and I thought what

the heck let's do this

I'll play two years call it quits and

that's get the heck out the NFL how do

you address that issue that comes up

again all I know is I played the game at

my height all my life all right I know

no different and he fed off of people

thinking he was too small he was a great

college player to watch and and I loved

the Hale Flutie play as much as anybody

else but I just didn't see it for him in

the NFL

I signed them Buffalo a minimal contract

and was told I'd have an opportunity to

compete for the starting job

first chance they had to get somebody

bigger said somebody more traditional

looking well as a pocket quarterback

they got a Rob Johnson they got him from

Jacksonville

so here's Rob Johnson our new

quarterback he was touted like they were

finding gold

all of a sudden Flutie kind of became an

afterthought I think going in right now

Rob's our number one quarterback I don't

think there's any doubt about that we

haven't given up on anybody else

certainly but we feel like he's gonna

step out and be a number one quarterback

right now coach Phillips stated that Rob

was going to be the starter Doug wasn't

happy hearing the announcement that it

was declared so definitively but Doug

would just have a little smile on his

face like it is what it is and we'll see

where we go and it got exciting Johnson

in his first start going down

and that means Doug Flutie even though

he's four foot seven he's no one to get

a helmet right now

[Music]

after an absence of nearly a decade Doug

Flutie's second act in the NFL was

underway Flutie's play in the season

opener created a buzz in Buffalo that

kept building

he started out scrambling over the ball

like he normally did and all sudden he

turns and just throws the ball

Wow he does just so many things that

were unexpected there were special

his game really did work he was making

it happen in an NFL game guys like me we

thought we were so smart and saying this

will never work he went out there and

proved it and I was more than happy to

write that I was wrong and I'll eat my

bowl of Flutie flakes to say that I was

wrong

by the middle of the 1998 season

Flutie mania was at full pitch

in week 7 the underdog bills in their

undersized quarterback faced the

undefeated Jacksonville Jaguars

[Music]

Buffalo's coaches became believers as

well in November they named Flutie their

full-time started after leading the

bills to nine wins and a playoff

appearance

Flutie collected Pro Bowl and Comeback

Player of the Year honors along with a

new contract that was the best ball Doug

Flutie has thrown this season a perfect

strike right on the money the right read

the Sierra gold's deep down the middle

and he got the ball going in stride with

ten victories and another playoff berth

in 1999 Buffalo's financial commitment

to Flutie proved wise but the team could

not overlook its other multi-million

dollar investment in a meaningless game

against Indianapolis at the end of the

year because we had our playoff spot

locked up they came to me and said we're

gonna let Rob play you rest up get ready

for playoffs

Doug was held out Rob Johnson played in

the game decisive victory by us

and then conversation took place between

Wade Phillips and mr. Ralph Wilson and

out of that conversation the head coach

walked out said we're making a change

this week as far as quarterbacks

concerned I'm starting Rob Johnson

with Doug being the second quarterback

I love Wade Phillips Wade was one of the

most enjoyable head coaches I've ever

played for

there wasn't Wade's decision man has

been made a decision that they were

spending this money on Rob and hadn't

had any returns out of it yet wanted to

see what he could do

so they started them in the playoff game

Johnson was sacked 6-times and completed

only ten passes none four touchdowns but

following a late fourth quarter field

goal

Buffalo held a one-point lead with 16

seconds left to play

[Music]

Christie kicks in Hawaiian shirt

[Music]

on the sidelines

the player who manufactured miracles on

football fields all his life

helplessly fell prey to

you know in hindsight you know Doug Doug

probably would want

you know that's that's kind of way we

look at it

I think when he was asked to go to San

Diego it really gave him a sense of

pride because he felt that a team

actually really wanted him to be at the

controls and to be the guy for their

team

[Music]

[Music]

Doug Flutie joined the San Diego

Chargers in 2001 the 39 year old was the

undisputed starter for the first time in

his career

Flutie guided San Diego's offense for an

entire season while also mentoring his

rookie backup

the first time I ever met Doug Flutie

basically sitting down next to him in

the team meeting saying you know I've

been a big fan of yours for a long time

I was five years old when you threw that

Hail Mary facts house the first thing

ever said to me is I are great thanks

for making me feel old there's times

where man things break down and you just

got to go play ball and there was not a

better guy to learn from when when you

talk about just going to play ball in

the dog food

[Music]

whatever his age wherever he played

amazing always follow

[Applause]

[Music]

that was the first successful dropkick

in professional football since 1941 it

was everything I'm all about just being

creative or different we're doing it in

a different way it was the last play my

professional career he did something

significant

[Music]

and I wind up having these two trademark

moments as bookends in my career

[Music]

after a career that spanned 21 years

eight teams three leagues and two

countries Doug Flutie's football life

finally came to a close

[Music]

you know people trying to figure out

whether I'm gonna retire or not well I

joined a men's baseball league with my

brothers the spring you know that kind

of indicated Doug is going to be a

perpetual child never wants to grow up

and you know what that's what makes Doug

unique and and that's part of why I love

them

normal day these days for Doug he gets

up at six o'clock in the morning

he grabs his paddleboard and he does his

paddle surfing he has his own band the

flutie brothers band he's playing the

drums with them

he plays baseball with a bunch of guys

you know whatever's going on at the time

he's a part of it that's for sure he's

never sitting in the house he's always

busy he's always active

they all know first pitch fastball first

strike this is my pitch to hit

so they swing at it get themselves out

and then it's an old man I can pitch

seven innings and throw about 50 pitches

I always get that call at five o'clock

eight bill rush up to the field and

throwing me batting practice before the

game I got to work till six so I'll get

up there as soon as I can

he is a kid at heart and we lined out

the center again again I remember him

saying this for as long as I can

remember Doug that he does not ever want

to have to quote work he still holds

onto the broadcasting aspect of things

which takes a lot of study but you know

with what he does with his life he's

able to set his own schedule do the

things he loves to do be with the people

he loves to be away he's my good boy far

outweighing his recreational activities

is the time Flutie spends caring for his

son dougie dougie was a typical child he

was speaking could dress himself feed

himself yeah we catch shoot a basketball

it's a little tykes hoop in his room

things like that and then at

two-and-a-half he started to regress so

we brought dougie in to a neurologist

and they did a series of testing on him

and they diagnosed him with autism don't

kind of looked at it in a very positive

way and in a very competitive way got a

good smile and thought all right what

can we do to make this better thank you

all for supporting us it feels like a

roomful of friends to us that we've

known all our lives and we thank you so

much for supporting us for every rule

well how many years have you had the

foundation go in 14 working on almost 15

we've raised 15 million dollars it might

be the football mentality you learn to

accept what has been dealt you and you

start to move forward so many people

want to look at children with

disabilities and point out the

shortcomings and what's wrong and the

way that parents look at it is to look

at the abilities of the child and accent

those abilities these are the things

that dougie does well dougie lights up a

room when he walks into it he's always

happy he's very affectionate he doesn't

know he's any different from anyone else

I think that's a blessing and there's

just so much there if people would look

a little closer

looking past limitations accentuating

attributes

erasing doubt

when your name is Doug Flutie it's just

what you do

when you're six foot four you have to

prove that you can't play when you're

510 you have to prove that you can play

Doug has always kind of followed that

thought process through his whole career

when you're missing something or lacking

something that everybody else has you

have to come up with alternative ways to

do it

Doug turns his weakness into a strength

being short made them great be them

bigger than everybody else in the way

[Music]