Doug Flutie, Wall of Famer?

[Jan Reimers]

Unlike many of you, I neither love nor hate Doug Flutie. I am not obsessed with him or consumed with hatred for him. In fact, I would never think about Flutie - since he's been gone for some time - except for the more than occasional negative posts about him on this board.

He may have been a clubhouse cancer, despised by his teammates, but I was never in the Bills locker room with him, and I doubt that any of you were, either. I only know that the team played very well for him, because I was there to see it first hand.

Flutie may have been rude and arrogant, but I never saw that side of him. On the one occasion that I was near him, he very graciously autographed my wife's game jersey, just before he boarded the team bus in Baltimore. I can't tell how many times the churlish and surly Bruce Smith refused autograph requests from my wife and daughter.

Doug Flutie was about our only ray of hope at QB from Jim Kelly's retirement to JP's impending coronation. I believe he was 21-9 (I've also seen21-10) as the starter, and was responsible for our only playoff appearance in all those years. Maybe the defense was responsible for all those wins as many say, but I was there to witness many a gritty, gutsy performance by Flutie. I believe he played a large part in at least some of our victories.

He also brought excitement to what was becoming a relatively moribund franchise. We can thank Doug - at least partially - for the fact that we are not currently rooting for the Houston or Los Angeles Bills. His play spurred the lagging premium seat sales enough to help the Bills stay in Buffalo.

Wall of Famer? He probably wasn't here long enough. But can we at least give the guy some credit for what he did here?

[EDS]

Not even close to a wall of famer. It just wasn't around long enough or achieved any significant success.

[generalmills]

Gabe Northern had one really good year....is he a wall of famer??

[ticatfan]

CFL- yes.
NFL- no.

[jamze132]

Well Jan, I agree 100% with your post. I do not believe Doug should have a spot on the wall but he shouldn't be trashed either. He did his job here, which was to win games. Like you said, there weren't a lot of QB's since Kelly who have done that. Great Post!

[THATHURMANATOR]

I hate him.

He did do some good things.

No way should he even considered for the wall of fame. He had 2 good years.

[The_Philster]

For one good year? not a chance and like has been said before, no one denies what he did here as far as 98...but there's too much blind devotion to him to be unbiased.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I don't love or hate Flutie either, but I wouldn't even consider him for the Wall Of Fame. He wasn't on the team long enough.

[Jan Reimers]

I hate him.

He did do some good things.

No way should he even considered for the wall of fame. He had 2 good years.

Why do you hate him, Thurm? I hated it when we first signed him, and said something to my wife like, "If this is the best we can do in the offseason, I'm giving up my season tickets."

But after watching him play, and win, with so much heart and emotion, I grudgingly gained respect for him, which I still have.

[OpIv37]

Flutie made the games interesting to watch- I was at the JAX game where he won it on that bootleg play right at the end. But the offense was all over the place because of Flutie's height and I remember constantly thinking that we needed a "real" QB to run an NFL offense. Bottom line: Flutie was exciting, sold tickets, and got us a winning season. But that's not enough to warrant a Wall of Fame appears. I don't have any animosity towards him and I would have liked to have kept him over RJ, but I don't romanticize his time here or his success. Being better than Todd Collins and RJ isn't much of an accomplishment.

[Jeff1220]

I am very glad we saw the Flutie/RJ era come to an end. I too rarely think about either now. Neither was a starting NFL caliber QB, as shown by their entire careers. IMO, Flutie and Wall Of Fame should only be mentioned in the same breath when talking about the CFL - not the Bills.

[djjimkelly]

flutie isnt even close to wall of fame. not even close he avged 17 point a game for o the one year with the top D is league he lucked out being with us at the time he was.

[Jan Reimers]

The funny thing about Flutie is that he is the only successful Bill I can think of who is so roundly despised by so many fans. I can understand hating Todd Collins, RJ, Billy Jo Hobert, and even Drew Bledsoe, a class act who just didn't get it done on the field.

But if we're going to hate a guy for arrogance, surliness, selfishness and churlishness, we should put Bruce Smith at the very top of the list.

[TedMock]

flutie isnt even close to wall of fame. not even close he avged 17 point a game for o the one year with the top D is league he lucked out being with us at the time he was.

not even 17. the defense was responsible for some of that. offense was less than 14.5. I don't hate the guy, I could honestly care less about him. I'm glad that whole "era" is over, that's for sure. I just can't believe the accolades that some people give him.

[The_Philster]

The funny thing about Flutie is that he is the only successful Bill I can think of who is so roundly despised by so many fans. I can understand hating Todd Collins, RJ, Billy Jo Hobert, and even Drew Bledsoe, a class act who just didn't get it done on the field.

But if we're going to hate a guy for arrogance, surliness, selfishness and churlishness, we should put Bruce Smith at the very top of the list.

How many of the guys you mentioned have a group of fans who heap accolades on him for a lot more than he deserved?
Collins..had one miserable season after 2 undistinguished years as a backup. Part of that miserable season I'll blame on Henning's putrid offense..a base 2-TE set when our TEs were Lonnie Johnson, Tony Cline, Rob Coons, and a young Jay Riemersma...talk about brain dead.
Hobert...hated but who actually would praise a guy who was a snap away from playing yet didn't study his playbook or the game plan? They saved his life cutting him on Tuesday cause Spielman would've killed him on Wednesday.
RJ...lots of potential but wasn't smart enough to learn how to make quick decisions...I see hatred toward him sometimes.. I pity him more than anything.
Bledsoe...I've seen plenty of hatred towards him even with no one blindly defending him..I'm sure that will die down in time and he'll be looked back on as a QB who just couldn't play consistently while here.
Face it, Jan,..it's the blind fanaticism towards Flutie that inspires the hatred. He had one good year and one awful to mediocre one then shot off his mouth. At least when Bruce shot off his mouth, he backed it up with outstanding play. I remember my first season with season tix back in 96...Bruce held out of training camp...didn't play a single snap in the preseason if I'm not mistaken. It showed in the first half of the Opener against the Giants. But after halftime, he was in midseason form and was a solid contributor to the win.