Legendary ex-Boston quarterback Doug Flutie was left stunned last week when a woman finally returned his 1985 Cotton Bowl jacket after more than three decades.
NBC Boston captured the moment that New England native Pat McCarthy surprised Flutie, the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner who went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL, with his special memento 32 years after she came across it.
McCarthy says her son, who played football at Colby College, came home from a party with the jacket after a game at Tufts University all the way back in 1993.
Ever since he brought it home all those years ago, she has been waiting to meet the Boston icon to give it back to him in person – and last Thursday the opportunity finally arose for her to do so.
Flutie was in Massachusetts that day as the Brockton Rox baseball team staged ‘Doug Flutie Night’ – a special evening to raise money for his foundation – and McCarthy opted to make the trip over from Rockland with her grandson.
Before he headed into Campanelli Stadium, the former college football star was stopped by a local reporter who told him that Pat had a gift for him.
Legendary Boston quarterback Doug Flutie had a special memento finally returned last week
A woman from New England returned his 1985 Cotton Bowl jacket 32 years after she found it
And when he unzipped the case to see what was inside, Flutie was in astonishment.
‘Oh my goodness,’ the ex-Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills quarterback said.
When she said it was his to keep, he gave McCarthy a huge hug after saying: ‘Are you kidding me?’
Flutie, who won the Cotton Bowl when the Eagles got the better of the Houston Cougars back in 1985, said he thought only five of the maroon jackets were made.
‘I know my father-in-law and my father had one, and obviously I was given one at one point. Stuff disappeared over the years,’ he admitted.
McCarthy explained about the night her son brought it home from a party: ‘I found it and I said, “Oh, that doesn’t belong to us,” so I put it in that bag and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it to him without giving it to someone else to give to him, because I wanted to be the one to give it to him to make sure he got it.
‘I’ve had it all these years. When I saw he was going to be here, I said, “Our perfect opportunity.”‘
Flutie, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1984, is one of the greatest players in Boston’s history
He claims a number of items from the team’s 1985 Cotton Bowl win went missing at the time
McCarthy added that she thought Flutie’s jacket was to commemorate him winning the Heisman Trophy, which he earned a week after throwing one of football’s most famous passes – the Hail Mary known as the Miracle in Miami – to earn a dramatic late victory over the Hurricanes.
After leaving college, Flutie started his professional career in the United States Football League before heading to the Bears in 1986.
He went on to spend three seasons with the Patriots and as many with the Bills before spending four years as a backup for the formerly-named San Diego Chargers.
The Boston hero brought the curtain down on his NFL career by enjoying one more season in New England.
