Alexa FlutieIt may surprise you to learn that there will be a Flutie on the New England Patriots sideline this season.  Yes, Doug Flutie‘s daughter Alexa Flutie has made the cheerleading squad.

Just like her dad, Alexa’s journey to the NFL wasn’t an easy one.  After only four years in the league, the Patriots released Doug Flutie after the 1989 season. He then spent eight years in Canada and won three CFL titles before getting another job in the U.S.  Doug eventually proved he was NFL material, leading the Buffalo Bills to two playoff appearances and finishing his career after the 2005 season with the Pats.

Alexa, 23, is trying to prove that she is cut out to be an NFL cheerleader after previously being turned down four times by the Pats’ squad. This spring, she finally landed a spot.

“It was very hard, very draining, but [I'm] very excited to get through everything,” Alexa said.

Those that don’t know that Alexa had been declined down four times before have made claims of nepotism, but she brushes off that criticism.

“I’ve heard a couple people — maybe comments online or people just talking about [how] I got it because of my dad,” Alexa said. “…The cheerleaders have been absolutely great, they don’t judge me in any way whatsoever.”

To this day, Doug Flutie is still somewhat of a local icon in Boston for winning the 1984 Heisman Trophy despite his 5-foot-10, 180-pound build…and also for connecting on “Hail Flutie“, a Hail Mary pass that helped Boston College defeat Miami in November of 1984.

Alexa likes to keep her family name under the radar and wants to achieve her dreams on her own.

“I didn’t want to bring attention to my last name [during tryouts] because when I do audition, I want it to be about me and my goals and my career… I want people to know me for me, not my dad,” Alexa said.

Of course, that same father-daughter relationship is what caused the news of her making the squad to spread like wildfire on numerous sports news outlets.

“I have to say, it was kind of crazy,” Alexa said of the media frenzy. “I didn’t expect it to blow up. I thought it would be more of a local thing, but it was just kind of funny. I had friends in California calling me like, ‘I saw you on the Internet, congrats on being a Patriots cheerleader. Why couldn’t you call me and tell me?’”

So Doug Flutie, who himself will be a college football analyst for Versus this season, will be cheering on his little girl ad his old team this year in seats that have been allotted to Alexa for the season.

“My main goal is to perform and go on tour with some kind of pop star or something along those lines,” Alexa said. “I would love to perform with Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake or Janet Jackson.”

That dream may sound like a bit of a stretch, but if history has taught us anything, it’s never count a Flutie out.

 

email

Incoming search terms:

Get Wild Pitch Sports via RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.