ThePostGame recently caught up with the Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL quarterback and current NBC broadcaster. Flutie, a diehard Red Sox fan, discussed Boston's amazing World Series run as well as the Capital One Cup and the Capital One Mascot Challenge.
ThePostGame: Last Saturday the Red Sox had their parade and Boston College pulled off the upset of Virginia Tech. I imagine it was a happy weekend for you.
DOUG FLUTIE: Yeah, it was. I was busy covering Notre Dame and doing my thing with NBC, but I made it to Game 6 and I kind of watched it all from a distance. I had my World Series hat on 15 seconds after the game, and my wife and I have been sporting our World Series T-shirts for the last few days.
We’re still hardcore Boston.
TPG: What was the atmosphere like at Game 6?
FLUTIE: I was in the stadium really early. I got to Fenway probably about 3 o'clock. I ran into [Kevin] Millar. Everybody knew it was going to end that night, you just had that feeling. And well before first pitch Dropkick Murphys played "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" after the anthem. It was nonstop from there forward. The whole thing had gained so much momentum. From singing Shane Victorino’s “every little thing’s gonna be alright” to "Sweet Caroline" and then building throughout the game.
It was a crescendo, it just kept coming. It was just like one big party for six hours. People didn't want to go home, people didn't want to leave the stadium.
TPG: Not many people had them making the playoffs, much less in the World Series. Was there a moment this season when you realized this team could do something special?
FLUTIE: The first things that comes to mind when you say that was Shane Victorino started, when he would catch the third out in an inning, he'd wheel and flip it over towards Jacoby [Ellsbury] in center. The first time he did it, it caught [Ellsbury] by surprise and went over his head or something. And it kind of became a thing that these guys were like a bunch of little kids out there. Even after they got the third out they're throwing the ball around and flipping it to each other.
The closeness of the team, you could see it early on in the year. Early in the year they got off to a good start, everything was going good. Things like when [manager John Farrell] sat [Mike] Napoli down for a little while when he was going through a period where he was having a lot of strikeouts. He sat him down for a few days, brought him back in and boom, the light goes on and he starts hitting.
It was like every move [Farrell] was making was working out. All the way down to the World Series, he ends up going with Xander [Bogaerts] at third and the kid’s getting on base all day and making plays at third. When [Farrell] sent Will Middlebrooks down and brought him back up and all of a sudden he starts hitting again, every move seemed to be working out. It was just crazy how things were falling together. You could feel it before the All-Star break for sure.
The No. 1 thing that comes away from this season for me is they looked like they were having fun from Day 1 together.
TPG: Had you ever seen Boston like it was after Game 6?
FLUTIE: Pretty much all their championships are like that. The thing that made this one kind of special was with the marathon bombings the Red Sox really brought attention to it and started the whole "Boston Strong" theme and there was a rallying point. And then even after the fact, the acknowledgement during the parade of the finish line, that made this even more special.
When you go back to ’04, that was the first in 86 years and all that. That was ridiculous and special with the big comeback against the Yankees and all that stuff. But [2013] just had a little more of an emotional twist on the other side of it now.
TPG: The Capital One Cup standings haven’t been released yet, but for undefeated teams like Alabama, Florida State and Oregon there’s a lot at stake. What’s the field looking like now?
FLUTIE: Winning a national championship in football, you’ve got a great start. You’re off an running. It kept Alabama in it all the way last year until the end. The team that is interesting is Stanford because Stanford is always in the mix. Stanford women, especially.
[Stanford] is sitting out there at No. 5. Florida is usually very strong but this year in football they’re not. So they may not get that boost from football.
Who else is in the mix? Oregon, Florida State. You’ve got to look at all their other programs to see how their other programs do and who really is going to be in the mix come the end of it. Alabama has done well in the past. If Florida State stays up in the top five or were to win a national championship, their baseball is strong and all their other sports are pretty darn strong. So they would make a good run at it.
TPG: You’re also involved in Capital One Mascot Challenge. What’s the update on Baldwin the Eagle?
FLUTIE: He took a beating. We go beat Virginia Tech and have a huge win, and then he gets beat in the voting. BC needs to get off their tail and support him. We’ve got to jump onboard a little better. But he’s in the mix, he just got beat this week by Virginia Tech.
As far as all the voting and all that, you can go online at CapitalOneBowl.com and vote. Or it's 25 points for pictures on Instagram or Facebook and 100 points for a video. So Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, that’s where people can make a difference.
TPG: Speaking of B.C., your nephew Troy is enrolling there next year. Did you play any role in his recruitment?
FLUTIE: You know, very little. When Steve Addazio got the head job at B.C., I happened to be around B.C. the day after that so he and I sat down for a little talk. I just kind of put a bug in his ear like, “Hey, I’ve got a nephew that’s a D-1 kid and people are looking at him. Just make sure they don’t overlook him.” And that was about it.
He has had just a tremendous senior year. They offered him at the end of his junior year. He came to camp at B.C., and they loved him and offered him right after the camp. He's had a phenomenal senior year. He’s in a playoff run right now. He's accounted for 12 or 13 touchdowns in the last two weeks. His numbers are stupid.
They recruited him as an athlete first and now I think they’re starting to realize he's a quarterback. His game awareness and situational stuff is excellent. There’s a lot of kids, and he's one of them, that are athletic and can throw the ball and do all these things. But it’s the mental part that sets people apart. I think he's got that.
TPG: How neat is it for you and your family to see the next generation of Fluties, like Troy and his cousin Billy, carry on the legacy at BC?
FLUTIE: It’s so much fun. I feel like a dad, I can’t imagine being their dads. My brother Bill and my brother Darren have lived it through their kids, watching them play. For me, I feel like they’re my own as well. I get more nervous for them when they compete than I’m sure they do. I saw Billy go through his high school career and win a state championship and then go into BC.
And now Troy is trying to do the same thing. Even Billy’s younger brother, Brett, had a great high school run. He’s playing college baseball now. It’s really fun to see.
Troy's had an advantage with his dad, Darren, who played three years in the NFL and played a bunch of years in Canada. He knows football and knows the passing game. He’s helped put a passing game together over there at Natick. It’s giving him a little bit of an edge.
I've worked with him a little bit in the summers, but I get to be just a fan and watch him. I get excited and nervous for him and all that stuff.
