Doug Flutie To Canton?

Doug Flutie has finally retired, and my friend Dave Smith has a question he'd like answered:

Let's see... he totaled 58,179 passing yards, 369 passing TD's, and probably an amazing number of rushing yards and TD's (CFL stats are,appallingly, nowhere to be found, but he had 2099 rushing yards and 16 TD's in the USFL and NFL). Considering his accolades and the records he smashed in the CFL, is this good enough to get him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

I remember thinking Flutie was washed up when he returned to the NFL after almost a decade in Canada. After all, he was 37, not exactly a great age if you want to survive a full season in the NFL without getting your head knocked off. Yet he still managed to play another 8 years in the NFL before wrapping it up as Tom Brady's backup with the Patriots.

Unfortunately, even though the name on the building in Canton says, "Pro Football Hall of Fame", and not, "NFL Hall of Fame", I think Flutie's chances of ever getting enshrined are a long shot at best -- though being an American college football hero certainly doesn't hurt him.

Compare this with another ex-CFL superstar who made his way back to the NFL after five Grey Cup victories, Warren Moon:

Despite spending his first six professional seasons in the CFL, Moon ranked third all-time in NFL passing yardage and fourth in touchdown passes thrown at the time of his retirement.

That my friends is dominance, and over an extended period of time. By comparison, at the game's highest level, Flutie was just another dude, albeit one who could occassionally work some magic.

College Football Hall of Fame? You better believe it.

CFL Hall of Fame? Absolutely.

But Canton? I'm afraid not, but something tells me Flutie, who already has acheived more with his 5'8" frame than anyone could ever have imagined, doesn't care all that much. Besides, if he had, he would never have gotten half as far as he did.

UPDATE: Mark Kreidler walks a similar path, without making up his mind:

Only Warren Moon has made the Hall of Fame with a significant CFL blot on his resume, and you get the feeling the voters this year sort of agreed not to hold that against him rather than actually considering it in his favor.

I don't get this line of reasoning. As I wrote earlier, Moon's numbers from his time in the NFL make everything else irrelevant.

Here's a standard line from Flutie's bio at Pro Football Reference that puts things in the proper perspective:

Doug Flutie is not in the all-time top 50 in any major category.

And then Moon:

Among the league's all-time top 50

Pass attempts: 4
Completions: 4
Passing yards: 4
Passing TDs: 5

So the question comes down to this: Does the man many regard as the greatest player in the history of the CFL deserve a place in Canton? My answer is no.

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