Doug Flutie

Doug Flutie statue outside of Alumni Stadium. ( http://espn.go.com/boston/ncf/story/_/page/heisman-boston-week5/statue-bc-commemorates-flutie-pass)

Doug Flutie spoke these words in his College Football Hall of Fame speech: "It's my whole life of being the little guy and having a little chip on my shoulder, from year to year trying to prove myself, and at the end of the day to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame is a very special honor for me." He finally proved himself for good on the day he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Douglas Richard Flutie is a football player, philanthropist, and the founder of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. Doug Flutie grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, where he excelled at football for Natick high school. He went on to play college football for Boston College. After his excellent college career he played in the USFL, NFL, and CFL. He has two children. One of the two developed autism at the age of 2 1/2. Doug founded the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism in his name to help support families in financial trouble that have one or more children with autism. Doug Flutie possesses an extraordinary amount of courage and relentlessness. Those two traits helped him to be a successful Quarterback even though his size is underwhelming (5'10). Courage and relentlessness also helped him to live a normal life after football with his son who has autism. Doug Flutie has and continues to deal with adversity whether it's being an undersized quarterback in a league of giants or having his son develop autism. Courage and relentlessness have been constant for Flutie and allow him to deal with all the adversity in his life.

Doug Flutie playing football for New England. (www.gonzoville.com)

Doug Flutie is my hero because of the many ways he exemplifies courage in different situations. Doug Flutie was considered by many to be too small to play football professionally, but he made up for his lack of size with his immense amount of courage. "During his time as a professional football player, Flutie has proved a number of adages attached to his career, including "it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of fight in the dog."" ("Doug Flutie."). By proving these adages wrong he created a pathway for other small football players to be successful at playing football professionally. As long as they bring Doug's courage to the table it does not matter how big you are it matters what's inside. After Doug's proficient college career scouts from the NFL considered him to be too small to ever be a NFL player. He would later prove them wrong. "After eight seasons in the CFL, Doug returned to the NFL in 1998, signing with the Buffalo Bills as a free agent. He returned triumphantly, leading the Bills to a playoff berth and earning a Pro Bowl selection." (Hoffman, William H.). The NFL scouts measured Flutie's height and weight for eight seasons, but on that ninth season scouts measured his courage and found it to be off the charts. After seeing these measurements the Buffalo Bills gave him an opportunity and Doug took the opportunity and ran with it making the playoffs and earning a Pro Bowl selection. Doug Flutie's courage is unparalleled, he showed time and time again that courage is the best way to measure someone's heroism and ability.

Doug Flutie with his son ( http://www.brightsideofnews.com/2011/09/26/hp-hackathon-seeks-software-developers/)

Doug Flutie's relentlessness was showcased many times in his life, and it's one of the reasons Flutie is my hero. Flutie was often cut or traded by many of the NFL teams that he played on in his career. "Flutie wanted to give the NFL one more try." ("Doug Flutie."). Doug had been beaten up and been through so much with the NFL, but his relentlessness would never let him quit. The relentlessness of Flutie kept his dream of being an NFL quarterback alive. Doug Flutie had incredible success as a college football quarterback for Boston College. "Doug began far down the Eagles' depth chart as a quarterback." (Hoffman, William H.) Even though Doug Flutie is arguably the greatest Boston College Eagle of all time he began far down on the depth chart as a quarterback. Doug's relentlessness eventually caught the coaches' eyes, and he became the starting quarterback of the Eagles. Doug Flutie has a million reasons to quit, but his relentless attitude would never let him do it.

Doug Flutie has and continues to deal with adversity whether it's being an undersized quarterback in a league of giants or having his son develop autism. Courage and relentlessness have been constant for Flutie and allow him to deal with all the adversity that he must deal with on a daily basis. Doug Flutie had doubters throughout his whole football career, but he proved them wrong on each stage of his football career. Flutie never gave up and even though he was scared and nervous constantly he always went in the game and played his heart out. Doug Flutie inspires people by his inability to relent and how he always has courage no matter what the circumstances are. Doug Flutie has shown myself and others that football and life isn't all about things on the outside that you can measure it's really all about what's inside that can't be measured.

"Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism." Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. Boston Interactive, 2014. Web. 02 May 2014.

"Doug Flutie." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit: Gale, 2004.Biography in      Context. Web. 3 May 2014.

"Flutie, Doug (1962-)." Newsmakers. Ed. Laura S. Hightower. Detroit: Gale          Group, 1999. Student Resource Center - Junior. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 3 May.             2014<http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&source=gale&srcprod=SRCJ&userG            roupName=powa9245&prodId=SRC-            4&tabID=T001&docId=EK1618002670&type=retrieve&contentSet=GBRC&version=1.  0>.

"Football: College." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989.           Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 May 2014.

Hoffman, William H., et al. "Doug Flutie." Great Athletes (Salem Press) (2009): 1. Biography       Reference Center. Web. 5 May 2014.