The most memorable part of Ian Eagle calling Tom Brady’s first home start in New England may be the production meeting that happened beforehand. And that didn’t even include Brady, or Bill Belichick, for that matter. In fact, the narrative around the game surrounded Doug Flutie, as the prodigal son returned to Massachusetts as a member of the then-San Diego Chargers.
Rich Eisen could hear Eagle’s voice loud in clear on Apple TV+ docuseries The Dynasty and asked the CBS play-by-play voice if his ears were in fact deceiving him. They were not, as Eagle was on the call for the October 2001 game and while he clearly remembers the Brady production meeting, he fondly remembers the Flutie one, as well.
“We met in Providence and this is just a complete sidebar to the Flutie side of it,” Eagle explained during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. “So, we go downstairs from our meeting, and we exit the hotel. And Flutie ends up just in front of us, and he’s meeting a buddy…We had given him an NFL on CBS hat, which we would give to everybody that we met with back in the day. And we had no idea what these guys did with the hats. Sometimes you would see a picture later on; a family member wearing it; or someone from the the team and the staff wearing it.
“And this is not a knock on Doug Flutie at all. Flutie was a great dude; it just happened to be a very funny moment. So, he’s about 15 feet in front of us, as we’re walking back to our car. He’s clearly walking with his buddy to their car — he doesn’t know we’re behind him. And he takes the hat, and he puts it on top of one of the meters you would park at, and just leaves it there. And I’m like, ‘Dude, did you just leave the hat on a parking meter?’ And he did.”
Sensing a comedic opportunity, Eagle snagged the abandoned hat and discreetly tucked it into his bag.
“I guess Doug Flutie doesn’t need anymore NFL on CBS caps,” Eagle quipped.
[The Rich Eisen Show on YouTube]
