By Jim Donaldson - Providence Journal Staff
Doug Flutie always will be remembered for the "Miracle in Miami" -- the last-second, 48-yard touchdown pass he heaved to Gerard Phelan that enabled Boston College to upset Jimmy Johnson's Hurricanes, 47-45, and clinched the Heisman Trophy for the Eagles' 5-foot-9 (and 7/8ths, he insists) quarterback.
But there are plenty of other Flutie moments I'll never forget.
The first time I saw him play was in 1982, when he was a sophomore. I saw him twice that year, and his performances were what I later would come to realize were classic Doug.
The first was against Rutgers. Then, as now, the Scarlet Knights weren't very good, and the Eagles were favored to beat them by more than two touchdowns. But with 1:18 remaining BC trailed, 13-6 -- in large part because Flutie had thrown four interceptions.
So it couldn't have been with a great deal of confidence that coach Jack Bicknell sent Flutie onto the field for one final possession, 82 yards away from the goal line, and with no timeouts remaining.
But Doug never had any doubts about the outcome, and with a mixture of luck and pluck led the Eagles to a thrilling comeback victory.
On 2nd-and-20 at the BC 27 after a holding call that nullified a 14-yard completion, Flutie threw a pass that went off the hands and shoulder pads of one receiver and wound up being caught by Phelan at the Rutgers 47.
Three times, Flutie scrambled, advancing to the ball the 2, where, with 12 seconds remaining, he sidearmed a pass to tailback Steve Strachan for a touchdown.
There never was a question that BC would go for two, nor that Flutie would make the play work. Rolling to his right, Doug looked as if he was going to run, then flipped a pass to tight end Scott Nizolek for the winning points.
The Syracuse game a month later was remarkably similar.
Flutie was 0-for-5 passing in the first half, and was just 4-for-20 when BC, tied with the Orangemen at 13-13, regained possession at its own 29 with 2:42 to go.
At which point, Flutie completed three passes in as many attempts -- the last one a 29-yarder to Phelan for the winning TD.
"I can't explain it," Doug said. "I was trying the whole way, but things just seem to click for me at the end. I had a good feeling we were going to stick it in [the end zone] on that last drive."
So did Bicknell, by then a firm believer in his diminutive QB.
"That's an example of what the guy can do," Cowboy Jack said. "He doesn't freeze up. He doesn't tighten up."
Despite his knack for making the big play, most NFL people felt Flutie didn't measure up. He was a backup in Chicago after joining the Bears after the folding of the USFL, where he'd signed a lucrative contract with the New Jersey Generals.
He returned home to New England during the players' strike in 1987. Team owner Billy Sullivan was looking for a drawing card, and Flutie wanted to play for the Patriots. But Doug's decision to cross the picket line didn't sit well with many of his teammates, who never really accepted him.
Nor was coach Raymond Berry his biggest fan. Raymond was the sort of player who had ironed his own uniform pants, a man who followed the script to the letter. Flutie played by the seat of his pants, an improvisational player.
It wasn't a good mix, and Flutie went off to stardom in the Canadian Football League.
It was a Rhode Islander, A.J. Smith, who brought Doug back to the NFL. As player personnel director for the Buffalo Bills, Smith persuaded GM John Butler to sign Flutie, who, ironically, may have kept the Bills franchise from going to Canada by rejuvenating interest in the team.
Buffalo was the scene of my favorite Flutie moment.
Although Doug left everyone in New England smiling in what proved to be his final NFL game -- displaying his remarkable athleticism (he also is an outstanding basketball, hockey, and baseball player) by becoming the first player in more than 60 years to drop-kick an extra point -- that's not what I'll remember most about him.
The scene that is indelibly etched in my memory occurred in mid-November 1998, almost four hours after Flutie had led the Bills to a 13-10 win over the Patriots, having thrown for a touchdown, and also scrambling for 49 yards.
It was the sixth win in seven games for Flutie, who had taken over as the starter after Rob Johnson started out 0-3. But instead of going out to celebrate that night, or perhaps relaxing at home while watching the TV replays of the victory, Flutie returned to Rich Stadium to play touch football with his family and friends.
He was playing with teenagers, and men on the far side of 40; with a young girl, not yet 10, and a couple of young women; with nieces, nephews, former high-school teammates, friends from Natick.
It was cold. It was windy. It was late.
It also was vintage Flutie, for whom football was always fun.
