The Fluties

The Place for BC Lion Discussion. A forum for Lions fans to talk and chat about our team.
Discussion, News, Information and Speculation regarding the BC Lions and the CFL.
Prowl, Growl and Roar!

Moderator: Team Captains

User avatar
Toppy Vann
Hall of Famer
Posts: 9789
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:56 pm

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/f ... le5516049/

This was a great story and check out how Doug speaks of NFL vs CFL and the feeling of being on a Grey Cup winner.

How he feels around the NFL as an outsider yet back in the CFL it's a special feeling.
“When I go back to NFL functions today, I feel a bit on the outside looking in. I played 13 years in the NFL, and I loved it – made a Pro Bowl and went to the playoffs – but I always felt like I was having to knock the door down to get in,” Flutie said. “It’s not quite the same feeling as being on close championship teams in the CFL, the way the league felt about me being there. I felt comfortable in the CFL and I still feel that way when I see my CFL teammates.”

Both he and Darren would be great to see in Canada.
“My first two years in the CFL, all I thought of was getting back to the NFL – it was like ‘I’ll put my time in up here and go back.’ But then I started enjoying it,” said Flutie, who was the CFL’s highest paid player by far from the time he entered the league with the B.C. Lions in 1990 through his return to the NFL in 1998. “Then I went and signed a nice contract in Calgary and was like ‘hey, I can make a living up here, this is great football, and I’m having a blast.’ I won my first championship and thought ‘I believe I can hang out with you fellas for a while.’

“You can’t explain it to someone from the States how important it was to win the Grey Cup. People are like, ‘oh, that’s nice, do you play that in an arena up in Canada? I’m like ‘No, it’s real 12-man football.”



The recall of plays back to days of sand lot touch football is which helps Doug's athleticism and skill as a QB go to beyond the norm:
“From the moment he wakes up on a day when we have a baseball game, he treats it like a Grey Cup game. To him, it’s no different than trying to win a professional football game – he’s extremely competitive,” said his brother Darren Flutie, who is No.<TH>3 among the CFL’s career receivers. “We’ve all been lucky to call Natick home our whole lives, always coming back to our family and our best friends.”

“It’s such a blast and we sit around in the dugout until 1 a.m. afterward and rehash every play,” Flutie said. “It replaces that lockerroom feel guys miss when they leave sports.”

PINBALL:
Many of Flutie’s old CFL teammates seem to describe the years they shared with him as the most fun they ever spent playing football. Legendary Argos running back Michael (Pinball) Clemons calls Flutie his all-time favourite teammate.

“Doug had physical and mental excellence merging at the same time, and that doesn’t happen for athletes very often,” Clemons said. “He could instill a huge level of confidence in everyone around him because we knew how intelligent he was and how much harder he had studied than anyone else.”
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.
User avatar
WestCoastJoe
Hall of Famer
Posts: 17721
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 8:55 pm

Great stuff, Toppy.

I thought Jackie Parker was the best all time CFL player, but it could easily be Doug.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
dupsdell1
Champion
Posts: 507
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:32 am

Doug Flutie is the most exciting player I have ever seen in the CFL I have been watching this since 1974 Yes warren Moon was excellent , Ron Lancaster, Casey Printers in 2004, But nobody controlled his own position like he did . The Most exciting QB to ever put on a lions uniform.
dupsdell1
Champion
Posts: 507
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:32 am

TheLionKing wrote:Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.

Look who we had as a Owner then did not want to fork out the money, were he would have packed bc place for a lot of years.
User avatar
DanoT
Hall of Famer
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:38 pm
Location: Victoria, B.C. in summer, Sun Peaks Resort in winter

dupsdell1 wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.

Look who we had as a Owner then did not want to fork out the money, were he would have packed bc place for a lot of years.
Flutie left BC for big $ from the Stamps, but their owner shafted Flutie out of something like $700k and then he went to the Argos who paid Flutie something like a $M, an amount that the Argos could not really afford as they lost money the year they won the GC with Flutie.

My memory might be a little faulty in the above paragraph, but I do clearly remember that it was Lions owner Murray Pezim that wined and dined Flutie (Pezim's hobby was gourmet cooking) and thus convinced him to play in the CFL. So we should be praising Pezim, not criticizing him.
User avatar
Toppy Vann
Hall of Famer
Posts: 9789
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:56 pm

DanoT wrote:
dupsdell1 wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.

Look who we had as a Owner then did not want to fork out the money, were he would have packed bc place for a lot of years.
Flutie left BC for big $ from the Stamps, but their owner shafted Flutie out of something like $700k and then he went to the Argos who paid Flutie something like a $M, an amount that the Argos could not really afford as they lost money the year they won the GC with Flutie.

My memory might be a little faulty in the above paragraph, but I do clearly remember that it was Lions owner Murray Pezim that wined and dined Flutie (Pezim's hobby was gourmet cooking) and thus convinced him to play in the CFL. So we should be praising Pezim, not criticizing him.
I recall Doug leaving BC for the big bucks offered in Calgary.

As to Jackie Parker in WCJ's post he was amazing as he could QB, HB and DB just like Kenny Ploen of the Bombers and some others. It was a different era and even we as kids played multiple spots.

I hope that the CFL would continue to promote the Fluties, Theismanns, Moons etc and push how much they love the CFL so the NFL wannabes here finally learn NFL for these guys is just their home game and the money is bigger but these guys love playing here over the NFL.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
User avatar
DanoT
Hall of Famer
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:38 pm
Location: Victoria, B.C. in summer, Sun Peaks Resort in winter

If the CFL was smart they would rename the MOP award The Jackie Parker MOP Award.
User avatar
JohnHenry
Champion
Posts: 841
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:46 pm
Location: Crescent Beach

DanoT wrote:
dupsdell1 wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.

Look who we had as a Owner then did not want to fork out the money, were he would have packed bc place for a lot of years.
Flutie left BC for big $ from the Stamps, but their owner shafted Flutie out of something like $700k and then he went to the Argos who paid Flutie something like a $M, an amount that the Argos could not really afford as they lost money the year they won the GC with Flutie.

My memory might be a little faulty in the above paragraph, but I do clearly remember that it was Lions owner Murray Pezim that wined and dined Flutie (Pezim's hobby was gourmet cooking) and thus convinced him to play in the CFL. So we should be praising Pezim, not criticizing him.
Obie was the Lions GM at the time. He checked with his connections down south which quashed Flutie's claims of "NFL interest", which Doug was using as leverage in contract negotiations. Obie flew to Boston and presented Doug a final "drop dead" offer of $350,000, which was a nice raise from his 1st contract. But Flutie essentially told the Lions to "drop dead" and started negotiations with Rickman and the Stamps. It was unheard of at the time for a free agent to sign with a rival team and the Lions demanded a QB in return (D. Barrett)...and the rest is history. :wink:
User avatar
WestCoastJoe
Hall of Famer
Posts: 17721
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 8:55 pm

DanoT wrote:If the CFL was smart they would rename the MOP award The Jackie Parker MOP Award.
That would be most fitting. :thup:
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
jmc24
Rookie
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:24 am

dupsdell1 wrote:Doug Flutie is the most exciting player I have ever seen in the CFL I have been watching this since 1974 Yes warren Moon was excellent , Ron Lancaster, Casey Printers in 2004, But nobody controlled his own position like he did . The Most exciting QB to ever put on a lions uniform.
Flutie , Lancaster , Moon .......PRINTERS? :puke:
User avatar
JohnHenry
Champion
Posts: 841
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:46 pm
Location: Crescent Beach

jmc24 wrote:
dupsdell1 wrote:Doug Flutie is the most exciting player I have ever seen in the CFL I have been watching this since 1974 Yes warren Moon was excellent , Ron Lancaster, Casey Printers in 2004, But nobody controlled his own position like he did . The Most exciting QB to ever put on a lions uniform.
Flutie , Lancaster , Moon .......PRINTERS? :puke:
I realize you're a rookie, jmc, but Printers posted a QB rating in 2004 which Moon, Flutie or Lancaster could only dream of.

As the 3rd-string QB for the first 3 games in 2004, Printers was suddenly thrust into action, going 325 of 494 passing (66%) for 5,088 yds and 35 td's with only 10 int's for the season. Casey also rushed for 494 yds and another 9 td's. He won the league's Most Outstanding Player award and his 115 QB rating hasn't been matched since.

Printers ignited the entire province into Caseymania, drawing huge crowds to BC Place and tremendous buzz for the Lions, the likes of which the team hasn't enjoyed since...even with Printers unfortunate redux with the Lions a few years later. :cheer:
User avatar
sj-roc
Hall of Famer
Posts: 7539
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Kerrisdale

JohnHenry wrote:
jmc24 wrote:
dupsdell1 wrote:Doug Flutie is the most exciting player I have ever seen in the CFL I have been watching this since 1974 Yes warren Moon was excellent , Ron Lancaster, Casey Printers in 2004, But nobody controlled his own position like he did . The Most exciting QB to ever put on a lions uniform.
Flutie , Lancaster , Moon .......PRINTERS? :puke:
I realize you're a rookie, jmc, but Printers posted a QB rating in 2004 which Moon, Flutie or Lancaster could only dream of.

As the 3rd-string QB for the first 3 games in 2004, Printers was suddenly thrust into action, going 325 of 494 passing (66%) for 5,088 yds and 35 td's with only 10 int's for the season. Casey also rushed for 494 yds and another 9 td's. He won the league's Most Outstanding Player award and his 115 QB rating hasn't been matched since.

Printers ignited the entire province into Caseymania, drawing huge crowds to BC Place and tremendous buzz for the Lions, the likes of which the team hasn't enjoyed since...even with Printers unfortunate redux with the Lions a few years later. :cheer:
Yeah, you have to give the OP credit for specifically saying "in 2004" for CP. Plus the metric we're discussing is "most exciting player". His career taken as a whole is certainly not HOF calibre but for that brief window of time he brought excitement to this market and while you can trace a lot of it back to Ackles's work behind the scenes, he was part of the reason people here began caring about football again at that time. It's not completely unlike what Flutie did in 1991 after the initial buzz created by our new venue had died off — albeit on a smaller scale, with the bar set pretty low by that point.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

dupsdell1 wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Great article. Biggest mistake Lions ever made was to let him Flutie go.

Look who we had as a Owner then did not want to fork out the money, were he would have packed bc place for a lot of years.
But he had the money to bring in Mark Gastineau
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

DanoT wrote:If the CFL was smart they would rename the MOP award The Jackie Parker MOP Award.
X2
Post Reply