A fantastic anniversary piece by the Boston Globe to commemorate the game 15 years ago when Doug Flutie hit a dropkick for the New England Patriots.
Always a fun and memorable part of my career, thank you @BostonGlobe! @Patriots #dropkick #15yearsago https://t.co/enPL6Wd9Be
— DOUG FLUTIE (@DougFlutie) January 1, 2021
The play came Jan. 1, 2006, and is described in wonderful detail by Christopher Price.
“It was just a really cool moment,” Flutie told the paper. “The one moment where I could make the guys smile.
“And maybe Bill [Belichick] realized it — being Bill — that would be the last play of my career.”
Chris Berman of ESPN played a role in the kick, through a friendship with Flutie and alerting Belichick.
“His antenna went up,” Berman said.
According to Berman, Belichick asked, “You think he can still do it?”
Belichick, Berman, and Flutie talked it out
“I said I could still do it, and so Bill said we’d practice it tomorrow,” Flutie said. “So I come back the next day and we did three of them. I think I hit one line drive through the uprights, once I hit the center in the [butt], and one I hit off an upright.”
Gillette Stadium had a grass surface that season, and there were more than a few divots by that time in the game. Flutie had to pick a spot for the right bounce.
“I picked my spot, got a good drop, and hit it square,” he said.
The crowd, in a bit of a chilly New Year’s Day haze, cheered when the ball went between the uprights. On the field, the players went crazy.
It was the first time someone had executed one in the NFL since the 1941 championship game when Ray McLean of the Bears connected in a 37-9 win over the Giants.
To read the entire piece, click here
