Steve Milton: Darren Flutie joins Hamilton Tiger-Cats Wall of Honour
Immersed in building his post-football business career, Darren Flutie didn't return to Hamilton for a full 20 years after he retired from the CFL.
But in August he'll be back in the city for the second time in 10 months.
The Tiger-Cats and their alumni association announced Thursday morning that the Hall of Fame receiver will be the 26th person inducted into the Wall of Honour on the upper levels of Tim Hortons Field's west stands.
The 25th inductee was Danny McManus, Flutie's quarterback, and Flutie attended that ceremony last October.
Flutie caught two touchdown passes, including the famous one-hander, in the 1999 Grey Cup win over Calgary which was - insert frustrated sigh here - the last time Hamilton hoisted the battered beaker which was Earl Grey's contribution to national unity and friendly insobriety.
Reflecting the enormous impact of the 1999 champions, Flutie becomes the fourth straight Wall of Honour inductee who played on that squad, following McManus, Rob Hitchcock and Joe Montford.
Flutie, who was named to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007 - it's often said it's even more difficult to make it onto the Ticats Wall of Honour than into the national shrine - played 86 games for the Ticats from 1998 to 2002, and despite just five years here ranks sixth in franchise career receptions and receiving yards, fifth in single-season receptions and seventh in single-season receiving yards.
Most of those were on the other end of passes from McManus, with whom he also played in B.C. and Edmonton. Flutie, a member of the Lions' 1994 Grey Cup-winning team with McManus, is also in the B.C. Lions Hall of Fame.
I am very competitive and wanted to make sure when I finished playing I could work my way up in my second career in business, so for those 20 years I wasn't around the CFL and players as much, even though I paid close attention to it," Flutie told The Spectator Tuesday morning from Massachusetts, where he is in orthopedic sales for implant devices related to sports medicine.
I'm established in what I've done after football and I can finally relax and look back and think fondly upon everything: being inducted into Hall of Fame and now, getting onto the Ticats Wall of Honour.
The names I'm joining up there are great players and great builders and I'm so honoured to be part of that group. I associate my career most with Hamilton, because that was the last team I was with and won a Grey Cup with."
He said the first person to reach out to him, shortly after the Ticats and the Tiger-Cat Alumni Association called him, was, of course McManus.
I hadn't thought much about any of this until Danny's induction last year," Flutie said. He and I had so many links in the CFL together. There are little things between Danny and me that only he and I know about; about how hard we had to work to achieve. Nothing will ever take that away."
According to a team release, Wall of Honour inductees are chosen through a rigorous criteria collectively established by (the Ticats and their alumni association). It symbolizes elite performance over a sustained period wearing the black and gold." The voting committee comprises members of the team, the alumni, local media and the TigerTown Council, the team's community advisory board.
Ticat Caretaker" Bob Young, who called Flutie about the award, said in the release Flutie's work ethic, determination and exceptional pass-catching ability embodied exactly what it means to be an all-time Hamilton Tiger-Cat. He is one of the best receivers to ever put on a black and gold jersey and it's only fitting that he'll take his place on the Wall of Honour, alongside 25 other legendary Tiger-Cats."
As a Ticat, Flutie was a 1999 league all-star and two-time division all-star, and over his 12-year career in Canada ranks fourth in CFL total receiving yards and 1,000-plus-yard seasons, and fifth in total receptions.
Flutie will be inducted at the Aug. 17 game against Edmonton, the franchise with whom he played (with McManus) in the 1996 Grey Cup against his brother Doug Flutie, a fellow Hall of Famer, at Ivor Wynne Stadium, the last national championship game in Hamilton prior to the 2021 Cup between the Ticats and Winnipeg.
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com