May 15, 2006 2:15 pm US/Eastern
Flutie Announces His Retirement After 21 Seasons
FOXBORO (CBS4) ―
-
-
Flutie announced his retirement at Gillette Stadium Monday afternoon.
CBS
-
-
Flutie spent 21 seasons in pro football, 12 in the NFL, 1 year in the U.S. Football League and eight years in the Canadian Football League.
AP
After 21 seasons, Doug Flutie has officially announced his retirement from professional football.
Flutie will move to the broadcast booth as an college football analyst for A-B-C and E-S-P-N. He'll work in the ABC studio during Saturday's college football games and on ESPN studio shows, and might be an analyst at some games.
CBS4's Steve Burton first reported two weeks ago that Flutie was retiring and considering a career in broadcasting.
"It's just been a fun run for me," the 43-year-old Flutie said during a noontime press conference at Gillette Stadium.
Flutie has spent 21 seasons in pro football, 12 in the NFL. He played one year in the U.S. Football League and eight years in the Canadian Football League, where he was named most outstanding player six times.
A resident of nearby Natick, Flutie won the 1984 Heisman at Boston College after connecting with Gerard Phelan on a game-winning 48-yard touchdown pass at Miami as time expired. Flutie's signature play, it remains one of the most memorable in college football history.
"To finish it up by getting back here is very special," he said at a news conference at Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots.
Flutie has thrown for 14,715 yards and 68 touchdowns in the NFL, spending most of his time as a backup. In the final regular-season game last season, he converted the league's first drop-kick for an extra point since the 1941 title game. He appeared in five games, throwing 10 passes as Tom Brady's substitute.
The Patriots listed him at 5-feet-10, but he said Monday he actually was one-eighth of an inch shorter.
"Like some of us," said Robert Kraft, the Patriots diminutive owner, "he was vertically challenged and he never let it slow him down."
In the CFL's wide-open game Flutie threw for 41,355 yards and 270 touchdowns in eight seasons with British Columbia, Calgary and Toronto.
"His accomplishments up there are more than legendary," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Boston Cab Dispatcher Pistol-Whipped, Robbed 11 mins ago
Stumble It!
