Joe Paterno and Doug Flutie were two of 20 inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Saturday. JoePa was his normal charismatic self taking jabs at Flutie.
"We made Flutie. I told him that 10 times," Paterno said. "He came to our place and nobody knew who he was and he ended up throwing for 400 yards.
"But we beat 'em," Paterno added with a smile.
Flutie got a chuckle out of it, as well.
"He kind of liked me so I figured he let me throw for a bunch of yards, but not beat them too often," Flutie said.
Obviously Paterno was joking, right? I mean his teams were predicated on tough defense, but apparently not against Flutie.
The Nittany Lions beat the Eagles three out of four times, although in his junior year Flutie passed for 380 yards in a 27-17 victory. As a sophomore, Flutie threw for 520 yards in a 52-17 loss and as a senior he threw for 447 yards in a 37-30 loss.
Yikes that's 1347 yards against the Lions in three games. Ouch. Nonetheless I can't think of a better player to be enshrined with Paterno than Flutie. Want to wow your tailgating friends; here's an answer to a great trivia question:
Flutie also saw his first collegiate action as a freshman against the Nittany Lions, getting into the game in the fourth quarter.
"I remember walking out on the field and thinking to myself, 'I'll able to tell my grandkids someday that I played in front of 85,000 people at Penn State against Joe Paterno,' " he said.
Standing at an imposing 5'9" tall, I've always had a soft spot for Flutie; he refused to listen to the multitude of naysayers telling him he was too small to play division I football and now he's part of the hall of fame.
Like the others who were enshrined, Flutie said it's still hard to believe that someone who was told as a 5-foot-10 high school player that he was too small to play Division I football not only won the Heisman Trophy, but made it to the Hall.
"I was believing I wasn't a Division I quarterback," he said.
Congrats to two great men who have made memorable impacts on college football.
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3 comments:
An honor richly deserved by both men. Paterno especially (taking nothing away from Flutie).
I believe you will make Adam DiMichele this year as well. Ironically, DiMichele is Shipley's best friend. It's a shame he did not play against PSU last year. He's a big-time college quarterback.
Wow, a Temple fan talking smack!?! Al Golden has worked wonders, I never thought I'd see the day.
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