Feelings come ‘roaring back’ for former CFL star quarterback Doug Flutie in Calgary

The Calgary Stampeders are celebrating 80 years, and some big names from the team's history are in town for Saturday night's game against Hamilton.

Doug Flutie expects to feel the itch Saturday.

One of the greatest CFL quarterbacks of all time will be on the sidelines of the Calgary Stampeders’ season-opener against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as Flutie and other alumni celebrate the Stampeders’ 80th anniversary.

“That’s the problem. If I’m on the sideline, I want to pick up a ball and throw it. I don’t want to get hit anymore though,” the 62-year-old Flutie said Friday at McMahon Stadium.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Knowing he would attend a reunion of sorts, Flutie says he watched some of the games he played with the Stampeders from 1992 to 1995 when he won three of his record six awards for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, and led Calgary to a Grey Cup victory in ’92.

The frigid ’92 Western final at McMahon also stands out for Flutie. His shoe flew off while scoring the winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak with half a minute remaining in the game.

“So many fond memories, so emotional too,” said Flutie. “I went and re-watched some parts of games just to remember all the guys for sure and the emotions come right back and seeing the hugs on the sideline, the joy or the passion to try to win it all.

“It all comes roaring back. How close that team was, all the hugs on the sideline, the emotion of the guys, the scene in the locker room afterwards, all that type of footage.”

The NFL’s initial disinterest in the undersized Boston College star pivot sent Flutie north of the border where he played for the B.C. Lions, the Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts.

Flutie won a pair of Grey Cups with the Argonauts. He still holds the record for the most passing yards in a single season with 6,619 in 1991 with the B.C. Lions.

He threw for over 5,700 yards in five of his eight CFL seasons. Flutie’s CFL exploits revitalized the NFL’s interest and he went on to play for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots.

“I am forever grateful to the CFL for kind of rekindling my career and getting me going and rebuilding my confidence, and it was fun,” Flutie said.

“When I was in the NFL, I was always fatigued. You’re up early, you’re in the office, extra long meetings all day, 12, 14-hour days. Because of the way this is set up, it’s not like that.

“You had time on your own to go in and watch extra film if you felt like it. You hung out with the guys a lot more, so it was pure fun for eight years and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Flutie was the first non-Canadian inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and entered the Canadian Football Hall of Fame the following year.

Calgary’s current special advisor John Hufnagel was Flutie’s offensive co-ordinator during the quarterback’s Stampeder days.

“He taught me the CFL game, the passing game,” Flutie said. “In a lot of interviews, I’ll talk about how I called my own plays and then I got back to the NFL and was back to having a radio in your helmet.

“Well, I could call my own plays because I stole Huff’s offence and went to Toronto with it, right?”

Flutie will join Marcus Crandell, who signed a one-day contract this week to officially retire as a Stampeder, kicker Mark McLoughlin, receivers Nik Lewis and Jeremaine Copeland, running back Jon Cornish and linebacker Alex Singleton among Stampeders alumni Saturday.

Head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson was Flutie’s successor as the team’s quarterback after the latter departed for the Argonauts in 1996.

“Happy to have a bunch of the guys here, but Doug to me is still the tops in the CFL ever,” Dickenson said.

Flutie, who lives in Florida and says he surfs a lot, addressed Dickenson’s team Friday ahead of its first game of the 2025 season.

“My words of advice, different perspective, I’m 62 years old now, it’s a short window of time, enjoy it, get to know each other,” Flutie said.

“Don’t be lazy, be prepared and take advantage of the situation because it doesn’t last long.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press