Ed Note: This interview with Doug Flutie was conducted early Tuesday afternoon in advance of Flutie calling Notre Dame’s game against his alma mater Boston College this weekend at Fenway Park. On Wednesday, both of Flutie’s parents passed away. Flutie released this statement on his Facebook page and NBC released the following statement: “Everyone in the NBC Sports family was saddened to learn today of the tragic news regarding the passing of Doug’s parents, Dick and Joan. As a valuable colleague, teammate, and friend, we know what an important role Doug’s parents played in his life. We offer our most sincere condolences to Doug and the entire Flutie family during this difficult time.”
AA echoes those sentiments and passes along our thoughts and prayers to the Flutie family as well. Here is our story…
Doug Flutie is back home.
A native of Natick, a suburb about 20 miles west of Boston, Flutie won a Heisman trophy as a senior at Boston College in 1984 and had two stints with the hometown New England Patriots during a 21-year career in professional football. Now Flutie is back, as a broadcaster with NBC, to call Saturday night’s Notre Dame-BC game at Fenway Park. It’s the first football game at the 103-year old ballpark since the Patriots left in 1968.
“It’s really cool for me,” Flutie said. “I’ve been going to Fenway since the mid-70s. As a kid we used to take the T in alone, get a bleacher seat. We’d be in and out of Fenway Park for less than ten bucks. We’ve been going there for years. It’s such a part of the Boston landscape and the sports scene. To be a part of this event, with my affiliation with both schools, it’s really special for me.”
While Flutie will be high above the field calling the action a younger Flutie will be down on the field in the thick of it. Doug’s nephew Troy is a quarterback at Boston College and has seen action in seven of BC’s eight games this year in his redshirt freshman season. As a senior two years ago at Natick High, Troy led the Redhawks to the state title game. He also holds the Massachusetts record for all-purpose yards with 12,616.
“To have an opportunity to start some games this year as a redshirt freshman, be a big part of this team, [is] very special,” the elder Flutie said. “I can’t say how proud I am of him and what he’s accomplished so far. As an uncle I’m so proud of him being a part of it and it gives me a reason to keep an eye on Boston College football again.”
Despite having a family connection on the field you can expect Flutie to call the game up the middle. That’s to be expected for a broadcaster that prepares for his games just as thoroughly as he did during his playing days. The three or four hours the fans see on television are the culmination of dozens of hours of preparation during the week.
Sunday and Monday are for reviewing the previous weekend’s broadcasts and getting ready for a midweek conference call with the opposing coaches for the upcoming game. Before even stepping foot on the Notre Dame campus on Thursday, Flutie will have laid the groundwork for his broadcast on Saturday.
“Before that conference call you want to make sure you’ve gone through their media guide, you’ve read up on all the articles and know the storylines of that team so you’re prepared for the conference call,” Flutie said. “With the conference call we talk with the coordinators and head coach to get a lay of the land on the team in terms of what their thinking, their approach. We also talk to a handful of players. Hopefully when you talk to players you get some backstory on them that that you can personalize throughout the broadcast. Then we get to Notre Dame by Thursday, spend time at practice on Thursday and Friday. Again, meet with their coaching staff and players and get some new stories from the coaches and players on their approach and bring it all together with a production meeting on Friday night and get ready to go for Saturday.”
Flutie, who spent several seasons working in the studio at ESPN, thrives in the booth. There are some things that you just can’t see sitting in a rolling chair in a studio in Connecticut. He said being in the booth brings back his old quarterback instincts.
“To be in the booth I feel like a quarterback again,” Flutie said. “I’m looking down the field. I’m reading coverage trying to decide where the ball should have gone, what I would have done. When you’re in the studio you can’t see all that you see from the booth. You get a couple of clips and you kind of draw some conclusions and talk about it. When you’re getting ready to do a game I watch game film. It’s like I’m playing the game again.”
In the buildup to the game both teams announced they would wear unique, one-off jerseys for the event. While Notre Dame chose something modern, BC went with a throwback jersey straight from Flutie’s playing days in the 80s, and Flutie modeled the uniform for Under Armour.
He said it was fun to get back in the pads, but the jerseys of today aren’t quite the same as the old, loose-fitting jersey from his college days.
FIRST LOOK: Under Armour dresses up Doug Flutie in throwbacks BC will wear Saturday vs Notre Dame pic.twitter.com/HOimOxvmw3
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 17, 2015
“Under Armour called me and it sounded like a fun thing to be a part of,” Flutie said. “You feel like running around and throwing the ball again then you look at the pictures and say ‘man, you’re an old man putting on a football jersey.’
“I liked the long, floppy sleeves from a throwing standpoint. I like the loose fit, but you can count how many numerous times people grab you by the shirt and sling you down. Now with everything form-fitted it’s a lot tougher for people to grab you.”
Whether its playing a quarterback, an uncle, or a broadcaster, Flutie will be a major component of this weekend’s game in Boston, and he knows how important it is for Notre Dame as they fight to be included in this year’s College Football Playoff.
“All you can do is take care of your own business and win,” Flutie said. “I think if [the Irish] win out they will get in. Last week I got caught up in [the idea that] you got to look good. You’ve got to go against Wake Forest and take care of business and it had to look good, same against Boston College. People get beat. The thing will clear itself up. Stanford’s loss hurts Notre Dame a little bit in that if they played Stanford and were able to win it takes some of the starch out. Bottom line is if they get through that schedule with one loss they should be [in the Playoff]. My fear for them would be that last weekend of conference championship games. Not that Notre Dame is playing a conference championship game but that they’re on the sideline and not playing at all that week. When you’re out of site you’re out of mind for that week. The last impression is very important, and all of a sudden someone else with a one-loss record has a great conference championship game and that’s the last impression in the committee’s mind. That can be a pivotal factor, but I believe if they finish out they should be there.”
After over two decades in the league, and eight years bouncing around networks as an analyst and commentator, Flutie said he’s having a ball with the Notre Dame crew at NBC and that the cohesion among everyone involved makes the work easy.
“The people at NBC have been amazing,” Flutie said. “Our group from Dan Hicks, Kathryn Tappen to Rob Hyland and Pierre Moossa, our producer and director, all the way down the line it’s been fun. We’re like a family now because we have seven weekends a year and we all get along great. We usually spend three or four days on the road together, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Mike Abelson has been covering sports at all levels throughout New England since 2007. A lover of professional wrestling, college football, and all other weird sports. Tweet him @Abels0n
