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Thursday, October 07, 1999 By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Doug Flutie has Kordell Stewart to thank for giving him a chance to get back into the NFL. And yesterday, he did just that.
"For giving me the opportunity? No doubt about it," said Buffalo's little 37-year-old quarterback.
"Guys like Kordell and Randall Cunningham gave me the opportunity I had last year.
"Randall, obviously back in the late '80s and early '90s, was doing things with his legs. Then Kordell came along and here's a guy with all these talents and abilities. They started using him, by running the quarterback counter, running quarterback draws as well as throwing the ball out of the shotgun and spreading teams out."
Flutie returned to the NFL, signing with the Bills last year after eight seasons as a star in the wide-open Canadian Football League.
After a brilliant career at Boston College, Flutie played in the USFL then played briefly in Chicago and New England from 1986 through 1989 before the NFL gave up on him.
The league wasn't ready for a 5-foot-10 quarterback who made things happen outside of the pocket.
"In New England," Flutie said, "every time I took off with the ball I felt like I was being reprimanded, that it wasn't considered good football. I felt like I was a little bit handcuffed."
Buffalo has used Flutie's talents, spreading the field, putting him in the shotgun and encouraging him to run. But the NFL changed in the decade since Flutie left, and he has another Steelers connection to thank for that.
The zone blitz, developed by former Steelers' defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, spread throughout the NFL in the second half of the 1990s.
"I think times have changed," Flutie said. "The zone blitz kind of dictated that, that you can't always get rid of the ball and have a guy open ... all of a sudden the quick throw isn't there and you're holding onto the ball and your quarterback either has to get rid of it, throw it out of bounds or make something happen.
"It became more and more difficult to just consistently drop back. You had to move the pocket a little bit."
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