40 Fun Facts About Doug Flutie

Which defending national champion did Doug Flutie and Boston College beat with a last-second Hail Mary pass in 1984?

Miami led 45–41 with six seconds left when Flutie launched the ball from his own 37-yard line. It dropped untouched into a teammate's arms in the end zone for a 47–45 win.

Which kicking technique, last successful in the NFL in 1941, did Doug Flutie use to score an extra point in 2006?

A drop kick, where the ball bounces off the turf before it is booted, gave the 43-year-old Flutie a point on his last NFL play. He had rated his chances of making it at 80 percent.

Which future US president owned the New Jersey Generals when the USFL team signed Doug Flutie in 1985?

Donald Trump bought the Generals after the 1983 season and gave Flutie $7 million over five years, making him the highest-paid rookie in any sport. The league folded a year later.

Doug Flutie keeps a drivable version of which famous 1960s television car in a themed garage at home?

The Batmobile sits in a full Batcave replica that Flutie built in his garage, surrounded by memorabilia from the 1960s Batman series. He takes the car out on the road from time to time.

The 'Flutie effect', named for Doug Flutie's 1984 Hail Mary, describes sporting success boosting what at a college?

Applications to Boston College rose by double digits for two years running. The college's own magazine later argued the surge owed more to a decade of recruiting work than to one pass.

Profits from Flutie Flakes, the breakfast cereal named for Doug Flutie, went to a foundation devoted to which condition?

Autism became the family's cause after Flutie's son was diagnosed with a rare late-onset form of it. The frosted corn flakes launched in 1998 and outlasted every other product line from the same maker.

On which television competition did Doug Flutie finish ninth in 2016?

Dancing with the Stars announced Flutie for its 22nd season in March 2016. He and professional partner Karina Smirnoff were voted off on April 25.

Which physical trait made NFL teams doubt that Heisman winner Doug Flutie could succeed as a pro quarterback?

His height was the worry: asked on television whether a man of five-foot-nine could make it in the pros, Flutie replied that it was a matter of ability and not size.

Which Canadian football trophy did Doug Flutie win three times in the 1990s, each time as the game's MVP?

The Grey Cup came to Flutie in 1992, 1996 and 1997. In the first of those wins he completed 33 passes for 480 yards.

For which barnstorming baseball team did Doug Flutie pitch the opening at-bat of a 2025 game at Fenway Park?

The Savannah Bananas made the 62-year-old an honorary member, and he needed eight pitches to record the game's first out before high-fiving his infielders on the way off the mound.

With which NFL team did Doug Flutie make the 1998 Pro Bowl after spending eight seasons in the CFL?

The Buffalo Bills signed Flutie as a backup at age 35, and he took them to the playoffs in each of the next two seasons. The franchise then waited 17 years to get back.

Doug Flutie spent his final NFL season in 2005 as the backup to which New England Patriots quarterback?

Tom Brady got a 42-year-old understudy when Flutie surprised many by picking the Patriots over the New York Giants. He came on at the end of several games to take a few snaps.

Which future Super Bowl MVP, a rookie in San Diego in 2001, credits teammate Doug Flutie with mentoring him?

Drew Brees idolized Flutie growing up, then backed him up as a rookie before winning the starting job a year later. Flutie took it back for a spell in 2003, when the Chargers were 1–7.

Which famous road race did Doug Flutie decide to enter only two days beforehand in 2014, finishing in 5:23:54?

The Boston Marathon already had a charity team running in Flutie's name when he chose to join it himself at age 51. He liked it enough to come back and run it again.

Which instrument does Doug Flutie play in the Flutie Brothers Band, which released the album Catch This in 1996?

Drums are Flutie's job in the band, with his younger brother on guitar. The pair put out a second album in 1999.

Doug Flutie's 1984 Hail Mary drew a huge national television audience because the game fell the day after which holiday?

Thanksgiving Friday meant a mid-afternoon kickoff on CBS, with Brent Musburger on the call. Flutie later said that without the pass he could very easily have been forgotten.

Which NFL award did Doug Flutie win in 1998, the season he also made the Pro Bowl?

Comeback Player of the Year went to a 36-year-old who, before that season, had last started an NFL game in 1989. His nine-year gap between starts was among the longest any quarterback has had.

Doug Flutie was benched for which famous January 2000 playoff game, decided by a late Titans kickoff return?

The Music City Miracle ended a game Flutie watched from the sideline, although he had won ten of his fifteen starts that season. His coach later said the team's owner had ordered the switch.

Which head coach, a noted student of football history, sent Doug Flutie on to kick an extra point in January 2006?

Bill Belichick hinted afterwards that the play was a retirement present for his 43-year-old backup, who was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for it. Flutie retired that May.

Which Boston College receiver, who was also Doug Flutie's roommate, caught the famous 1984 Hail Mary touchdown pass?

Gerard Phelan slipped behind defenders who doubted Flutie could reach the end zone, and the ball fell straight into his arms. He finished the day with 11 catches for 226 yards.

Which CFL team did Doug Flutie quarterback to back-to-back championships in 1996 and 1997 before returning to the NFL?

The Toronto Argonauts went 15–3 in both of Flutie's seasons there. In the 1997 final he completed 12 passes in a row, a record for the championship game.

For which NFL team did Doug Flutie start a January 1987 playoff game after Jim McMahon was injured?

The Chicago Bears traded for Flutie in October 1986 and used him in four games. His playoff start against Washington was only his second in the NFL, and it ended in defeat.

Which NFL team used an 11th-round draft pick on Doug Flutie in 1985 after he had already signed with the USFL?

The Los Angeles Rams took him 285th overall, a long way down for the reigning Heisman winner. They never played him, trading his rights away for draft picks in October 1986.

Which quarterback did coach Wade Phillips controversially start instead of Doug Flutie in a January 2000 playoff game?

Rob Johnson completed only ten passes and was sacked six times in the 22–16 defeat. One analyst called the switch the wrong call in one of the most mismatched quarterback controversies ever.

In his Heisman-winning year of 1984, Doug Flutie was Boston College's sole candidate for which academic award?

The Rhodes Scholarship interview came straight after a flight home from an awards ceremony in Nashville. His athletic director met him at the airport and drove him directly to it.

Which future Super Bowl-winning head coach was Doug Flutie's quarterbacks coach at Boston College from 1981 to 1983?

Tom Coughlin tutored Flutie for three seasons, then returned to Boston College as head coach in 1991. He later won two Super Bowls in charge of the New York Giants.

Which opposing quarterback threw for 447 yards in the 1984 game that Doug Flutie won with a Hail Mary?

Bernie Kosar set a school passing record that afternoon and still lost. His final drive had put his team 45–41 ahead with under a minute to play.

Which Heisman-winning running back was Doug Flutie's teammate on the 1985 New Jersey Generals of the USFL?

Herschel Walker ran for 2,411 yards that season, a professional football record, while the rookie Flutie learned on the job. A broken collarbone ended Flutie's year in the 15th game.

What is the nickname of the Boston College teams that Doug Flutie quarterbacked from 1981 to 1984?

Eagles coaches gave Flutie the last scholarship they had to offer that year. He left as the NCAA's all-time leader in passing yards.

For which university's football broadcasts on NBC did Doug Flutie serve as lead analyst from 2014 through 2019?

Notre Dame coverage had Flutie as a studio analyst from 2011 before he moved up to the lead role. His first broadcasting job came with ESPN and ABC straight after he retired.

In 2007 Doug Flutie became the first non-Canadian ever inducted into which sporting institution?

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame elected him on May 8, 2007, months after TSN ranked him the greatest player in CFL history. The College Football Hall of Fame elected him the very next day.

In which Massachusetts town did Doug Flutie star in three sports at high school before enrolling at Boston College?

Natick became home in 1976, when the family left Florida after the space program slowed down. A short road there is now called Flutie Pass in honor of his 1984 throw.

In which New Year's Day classic did Doug Flutie play his final college game, a win over Houston?

The Cotton Bowl invitation had been accepted before the Hail Mary was even thrown. Boston College never trailed in the freezing rain in Dallas and won 45–28.

What happened to the first two passes Doug Flutie threw as a professional in his 1985 debut for the New Jersey Generals?

Both were intercepted by the same Orlando linebacker, Jeff Gabrielsen. Flutie recovered to throw for 174 yards and run for 51 more that day.

Which wrestling company's 24/7 title did Doug Flutie briefly win from R-Truth at a celebrity flag football event?

WWE let its 24/7 title be defended any time, anywhere, as long as a referee was present, which is how a 58-year-old quarterback came to hold it in 2021. He lost it straight back.

Which younger brother of Doug Flutie joined him on the BC Lions and once held the CFL career receptions record?

Darren Flutie caught the last-play touchdown in the 1994 Western Final that knocked out his brother's heavily favored Calgary team.

Which future San Francisco 49ers quarterback filled in when Doug Flutie was injured for Calgary during the 1995 season?

Jeff Garcia threw for 546 yards and six touchdowns in only his second start, setting off a quarterback controversy among fans. Flutie still started the title game, which Calgary lost.

Doug Flutie's Calgary lost the 1995 CFL title game to which club, the only American-based team ever to win it?

The Baltimore Stallions won 37–20 for their first and only title. The game was played in Regina in gusts strong enough to earn it the nickname the Wind Bowl.

The 1996 CFL championship game that Doug Flutie won in Hamilton, Ontario is remembered by which weather nickname?

The Snow Bowl answered critics who said Flutie could not win in the cold. He had lost two home playoff games in freezing conditions and had at first refused to wear gloves.

Which Baseball Hall of Famer co-starred with Doug Flutie in supplement commercials that Saturday Night Live parodied?

Frank Thomas and Flutie were played on Saturday Night Live by Kenan Thompson and Kyle Mooney, who pitched the product to an unsuspecting man.