It's Doug Flutie Day!

Not only is New England known for inventing Thanksgiving, but it's also known for Doug Flutie.

It was 25 years ago today (November 26th, 1984) that former Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw the legendary Hail Mary pass to receiver Gerard Phelan (Yes, remember him? Great catch Gerard!) to give the Eagles a thrilling 47-45 last-second win over the University of Miami.



Flutie graduated from Natick High School the same year that I graduated from Framingham North. Just think, if I had actually played football in high school I could tell everyone that I played against Flutie every time the Hail Mary pass is mentioned. Too bad I didn't play football. It robs me of the opportunity to live in the shadow of a living legend.

It's only fitting though. I had no idea who Doug Flutie was until that pass. I didn't even watch the game. It would have been fun though to have been in an Irish Bar in Boston watching the last seconds of that game (as one of my roommates in college claims he in fact was).

Flutie says that a day hasn't gone by since 1984 when someone hasn't mentioned it to him at least once. Although many people think that the Hail Mary pass clinched the Heisman Trophy for Flutie, the voting was already completed before that game.

Flutie still lives in Natick where he has a special room in his house just to display his Heisman Trophy. A motion censor lights the trophy whenever anyone enters the room. I kid you not. While that might seem egomaniacal to some, you have to remember that ... well it is sort of egomaniacal, isn't it?

He went on to play backup quarterback for the Bears and the Patriots for five years (including the 1986 Bears team that beat the Patriots in the Superbowl). He left for the Canadian Football league where he, as a starting quarterback, set all kinds of records and was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Finally, he ended up with the hated Buffalo Bills, but remained so popular in New England that Pats fans would cheer for him when he played in Foxborough.

Flutie led the Bills to a 10–5 record in 1999 but, in a controversial decision, was replaced by Rob Johnson for the playoffs by coach Wade Phillips. The Bills have not appeared in a playoff game since and some say this is due to the "Flutie Curse."

He moved on to the Chargers and ended his career playing for the Patriots as the back-up quarterback to Tom Brady in 2005. During Flutie's career, the New England Patriots made it to the Super Bowl four times, but Flutie was not on any of those teams. What a travesty.

Other Trivia About Flutie

In his last season with the Patriots, a December 26, 2005 game against the 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 Miami on January 1, 2006, Flutie was sent in as the back-up quarterback for a seeming conversion play. Instead, Flutie successfully drop kicked a football for an extra point, something that had not been done in a regular-season NFL game since 1941. It was his last play in the NFL. For some strange reason I am more impressed with that than with the Hail Mary pass.




Although many people assume he is a New England born Irishman, he was actually born in Maryland to Lebanese parents. They moved to Melbourne Beach, Florida when he was six. They lived there until the space program slow-down in 1976 brought the family to Natick.

He plays drums in his brother's rock band -- the Flutie Brothers Band.

He played drums in the rock group Boston's tribute to their deceased drummer Brad Delp.

For years, the traffic congestion between Shpper''s World in Framingham and the Natick Mall was horrendous. No one understood why they couldn't just connect the two parking lots. The two towns could never agree on the zoning for some weird reason. When the Natick Mall was torn down and rebuilt, they built a road, "Flutie Pass."