Doug Flutie Runs His Fifth Boston Marathon, Raises Thousands for Autism

Doug Flutie may be 60 years old now but he is still an athlete.

The 1984 Heisman Trophy winner ran the Boston Marathon for the fifth time Monday to raise money for the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

He finished the race in 05:46.57. And with 25 people running for the cause, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism raised over $350,000.

“I have this image of myself that I’m this small town guy and we’re just going to do a little foundation in our community,” Flutie said, via the Boston Globe. “It all exploded because [when] I was in Buffalo, I became the starter. It’s one of the things that I’m most proud of in my life is the success that we’ve had with the foundation and people that we’ve helped.”

The charity is named after Flutie’s son, Doug Jr., who has autism.

Flutie’s performance was even more remarkable because he had not been training for six weeks ahead of the marathon after picking up an injury during a men’s league hockey game.

Doug Flutie’s marathon latest in a life of sporting accomplishments

The 60-year-old former quarterback is a New England legend. Doug Flutie graduated from Natick (Mass.) High before attending Boston College, where he won the 1984 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award as the nation’s top college football player. While there, he also played in one of the more memorable games in college football history — the Hail Flutie Game.

After that, Flutie played one season with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. When the league went under, he moved to the NFL spending two seasons with the Chicago Bears and three seasons with the New England Patriots.

With no other NFL interest, Flutie crossed the Northern border and played in the Canadian Football League. He played for the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts over eight seasons. He won six CFL Most Outstanding Player Awards, three Grey Cups and three Grey Cups MVPs.

After winning back-to-back Grey Cups in Toronto, the Buffalo Bills signed Flutie and he won the 1998 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. He stuck around in the NFL until 2005.