Given the way he talks about his time in the CFL, it was no surprise to hear Doug Flutie say he is honoured to be enshrined into the league's Hall of Fame.
But Flutie said he's especially looking forward to standing beside two players, Mike Pringle and Mike (Pinball) Clemons, who are not only greats, but also shared the spotlight with him during the 1990s when all three players were at their peaks.
"That's very special for me," Flutie said. "Pinball and I played together and Mike Pringle at that time was the premier running back in the league. The fact they were my contemporaries and can share in some of the memories later this year makes it more special."
Flutie will enter the Hall in the fall, one year after his younger brother, Darren, was enshrined. Along with Flutie, Pringle and Clemons, the Hall will also welcome former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman John Bonk and former Saskatchewan Roughriders president Tom Shepherd in the builders category.
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Yesterday, Flutie spoke of coming on a whim to a league he knew little about and then falling in love with its cities and the three-down game, which came almost instantly to him. Though many former NFL quarterbacks have come to Canada to ply their trade, none have enjoyed anywhere near the success Flutie did in being the league's most outstanding player six times in eight years.
"I remember my first game [with the B.C. Lions], Rickey Foggie was starting and in the second half they decided to play me and it just seemed natural," Flutie said. "The athleticism worked to my advantage, and although I didn't really know the playbook, I was just dumping the ball off and making plays.
"It's a different game and it takes a different set of skills. It's not a layup that you can go up there and have success."
Flutie also spoke with reverence of his time spent with head coaches Wally Buono in Calgary and Don Matthews in Toronto and of a receiving corps in Calgary that included Allen Pitts and Dave Sapunjis, which he called "the most talented group of receivers I ever played with."
One question that will inevitably follow Flutie in years to come is whether he is also worthy of enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. However, if Warren Moon's experience two years ago is any indication, it's unlikely Flutie will get the call. Moon's enshrinement included no formal reference to his time spent in Canada and was based purely on his NFL statistics.
