Question: Who is the Best Athlete Ever? Answer: Doug Flutie

When the 2006 season of the National Football League kicks off in a little bit, I probably won't be nearly as excited as I was in years gone by, and I can sum up why in five short words: Doug Flutie won't be playing. You may be snickering because it's not like Doug Flutie played a lot last season anyway during his swansong with the New England Patriots. But the fact that he was on the roster and backing up Tom Brady was more than enough for me. Because I knew then, just like I know now - that Doug Flutie is the best athlete ever to play the game. He was an inspiration to anyone who has ever fought through the frustration of being told they "can't". He was a down-to-earth blue collar kind of guy that appealed to the common man in us all.

Unfortunately Doug Flutie retired in may 2006. No matter.

Of course there were plenty of other quarterbacks in the league who posted bigger numbers. Plenty of other players who were bigger, faster and provided better copy for reporters. But there were few - if any - that had Doug Flutie's childlike enthusiasm for the game of football. Few - if any - who were able to keep themselves at such a high level of fitness year round, and who showed up to play football week in and week out with such unfettered joy regardless of whether or not they were starting.

I don't know where any of you were on the night of November 23, 1984. I know where I was: Sitting on top of a glacier in Thule, Greenland - pulling down a television signal from a remote receiver site so a couple hundred service members stationed in the arctic cold of Greenland could enjoy the tape-delayed day-after-Thanksgiving battle between Boston College and the University of Miami. Circumstances allowed me to watch the game in progress. It was magic, the reason the phrase "poetry in motion" exists.

And what a game it was: Boston College locked in an epic battle with defending national champion University of Miami that ended with Flutie completing his impossible Hail Mary pass to Gerard Phelan with mere seconds on the clock to give the Eagles a 47-45 win. History was made with what has forever since been referred to as "The Pass". A blink-and-you-missed-it piece of magic that ranks right up there with Joe Frazier's 15th round knock-down of Muhammad Ali in Ali-Frazier I or Joe Namath's prediction that his Jet's would win the Super Bowl.

I knew that Doug Flutie would be a force to be reckoned with. Trouble was not enough folks in the NFL understood what real magic is all about.

That was just the beginning of a football odyssey that led Flutie to the Donald Trump-created United States Football League, then on to a brief stint with the Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, and then his near decade run of records and Bowl victories in the CFL. And would you believe he was only then getting in stride?

By that time, the "Flutie magic" was known to all. The man could scramble and throw at the same time, he could improvise, he could launch touchdown passes. The accolades were coming fast and furious: three CFL Grey Cup championships, twice as many CFL MVP honours and an ungodly amount of yardage gained both in the air and on the ground.

He transitioned back into the NFL and was a breath of fresh air for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.

Statistics may be what the critics remember, but it's what Doug Flutie did on the field and off that made him great. He created opportunities on the field, connected with receivers and zigged and zagged to get yards. Hey whatever it takes. He was a devoted husband who worked tirelessly to support the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation which raises money for autistic research.

Flutie is one of only seven players in professional football to throw for more than 50,000 yards, having amassed 58,179. In fact right up until late July, there was speculation that Flutie would "unretire" and go play for the ailing Toronto Argonauts who were in dire need of a quarterback because all the one's they had were hurt.
It didn't come to pass, but no matter. Doug Flutie is the greatest athlete there ever was. He overcame what many considered were limitations due to his height and weight (5'9, 180 pounds) to make the game of professional football fun to watch for an incredible 21 seasons.

He'll sure be missed this NFL season. But I'm sure all it will take is seeing him on CBS or ESPN doing college football play-by-play and color commentary to make all the memories of his playing days seem like they never ended.