canoilers
05-16-2006, 8:22am
I'm sad to see him go, he was a great spokeman for the Canadian game. I remeber when he was in Buffalo comparing the CFL to the NFL. He said, "In the NFL you see a couple of big plays in a game, in the CFL you see that in a drive." He defiantly was a great player, and was under-rated. There will never be another player with the heart and drive he had.
A legend retires
Thrill-a-minute Flutie decides to hang 'em up
By IAN BUSBY, SUN MEDIA
CALGARY -- At an age when most football players start breaking down, Doug Flutie was just getting going.
CFL fans -especially those in Calgary - were truly fortunate to watch the quarterback develop into a superstar right before their eyes.
Flutie, who retired yesterday after 21 years as a pro, was already 29 in 1992 when he signed with the Stampeders for four of the greatest consecutive seasons in the franchise's history.
"Doug had some of greatest moments in the eight years following (his 30th birthday)," said Wally Buono, Flutie's coach the entire time in Calgary. "I would put him up there with the greatest players who have ever played. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who could put up those numbers in the eight years he played and who was as dominant as Doug.
"When you consider he did it with three different (CFL) teams, it speaks volumes about his great talent and his desire to bring people up with him."
The numbers speak for themselves about Flutie's outstanding CFL career: Six most outstanding player awards, 41,355 career passing yards in eight seasons and the record for most touchdown passes in a single year (48).
He left Canada in 1998 to rekindle an NFL career and proceeded to make the CFL look better and better with every outing.
OPENED DOOR FOR OTHERS
After re-entering the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, Flutie's game-breaking heroics opened the door for others such as Jeff Garcia, Dave Dickenson and Henry Burris to take their chance down south.
"He was a huge advocate for us because he reminded people we weren't bush league - that good players were here," said former Stamps centre Jamie Crysdale, who played two seasons with Flutie and was amazed at his slipperiness.
"He was never fast in the 40-yard dash but he never got hit. He was like Gretzky that way. He knew how to avoid taking big hits, that's why he was able to prolong his career."
Flutie would never give up on a play or a drive and often could make something out of nothing with his scrambling ability.
Of the 43-year-old's great CFL moments, former Stamps receiver Dave Sapunjis points to the 1992 West final, where Calgary was trailing late in the game.
THE GAME-WINNING DRIVE
Once Flutie got the ball with very little time on the clock, he led the team on the game-winning drive, capped by his own touchdown run where he lost his shoe before getting across the goalline.
"There as so many individual plays and games that made it really special playing with him but that was one of the most memorable, how he elevated his game," said Sapunjis.
"But in the Grey Cup, Doug just dominated the game."
When receiver Vince Danielsen broke in during the 1994 season, Flutie led such a commanding offence that the Stamps were pounding teams to the point of embarrassment.
"Doug was a guy who made you feel like you were playing with a kid on the playground," Danielsen said. "He stuck within the system but he would improvise and go outside the system to benefits."
Flutie has taken a job with ABC and ESPN to work college games as an analyst.
A Legend Retires. (http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Football/2006/05/16/1582254-sun.html)
A legend retires
Thrill-a-minute Flutie decides to hang 'em up
By IAN BUSBY, SUN MEDIA
CALGARY -- At an age when most football players start breaking down, Doug Flutie was just getting going.
CFL fans -especially those in Calgary - were truly fortunate to watch the quarterback develop into a superstar right before their eyes.
Flutie, who retired yesterday after 21 years as a pro, was already 29 in 1992 when he signed with the Stampeders for four of the greatest consecutive seasons in the franchise's history.
"Doug had some of greatest moments in the eight years following (his 30th birthday)," said Wally Buono, Flutie's coach the entire time in Calgary. "I would put him up there with the greatest players who have ever played. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who could put up those numbers in the eight years he played and who was as dominant as Doug.
"When you consider he did it with three different (CFL) teams, it speaks volumes about his great talent and his desire to bring people up with him."
The numbers speak for themselves about Flutie's outstanding CFL career: Six most outstanding player awards, 41,355 career passing yards in eight seasons and the record for most touchdown passes in a single year (48).
He left Canada in 1998 to rekindle an NFL career and proceeded to make the CFL look better and better with every outing.
OPENED DOOR FOR OTHERS
After re-entering the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, Flutie's game-breaking heroics opened the door for others such as Jeff Garcia, Dave Dickenson and Henry Burris to take their chance down south.
"He was a huge advocate for us because he reminded people we weren't bush league - that good players were here," said former Stamps centre Jamie Crysdale, who played two seasons with Flutie and was amazed at his slipperiness.
"He was never fast in the 40-yard dash but he never got hit. He was like Gretzky that way. He knew how to avoid taking big hits, that's why he was able to prolong his career."
Flutie would never give up on a play or a drive and often could make something out of nothing with his scrambling ability.
Of the 43-year-old's great CFL moments, former Stamps receiver Dave Sapunjis points to the 1992 West final, where Calgary was trailing late in the game.
THE GAME-WINNING DRIVE
Once Flutie got the ball with very little time on the clock, he led the team on the game-winning drive, capped by his own touchdown run where he lost his shoe before getting across the goalline.
"There as so many individual plays and games that made it really special playing with him but that was one of the most memorable, how he elevated his game," said Sapunjis.
"But in the Grey Cup, Doug just dominated the game."
When receiver Vince Danielsen broke in during the 1994 season, Flutie led such a commanding offence that the Stamps were pounding teams to the point of embarrassment.
"Doug was a guy who made you feel like you were playing with a kid on the playground," Danielsen said. "He stuck within the system but he would improvise and go outside the system to benefits."
Flutie has taken a job with ABC and ESPN to work college games as an analyst.
A Legend Retires. (http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Football/2006/05/16/1582254-sun.html)