BOSTON (May 13, 2006) -- Doug Flutie has a pretty good idea of whether he'll retire and expects to announce his decision within a week.
Flutie said he has spoken regularly with New England coach Bill Belichick and wants to consider all his options -- including offers to go into broadcasting -- before making an announcement.
"I think I know what I want to do," the Patriots 43-year-old backup quarterback said. "I just want to make sure I have everything on the table before I do anything."
He doesn't expect the final decision to be a difficult one.
"It's going to be pretty cut and dry when it all comes down to it," Flutie said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm just weighing all my options right now, letting all my offers come in and put them on the table and make a decision and I'll be doing that real soon.
"I'd say within a week. I want to make sure I listen to everybody first. It's all in what your best opportunity is."
Flutie, the Heisman Trophy winner at Boston College in 1984, spoke at a fundraiser in which 75 entrants participated in a drop kick contest. The idea came from Flutie's surprise drop kick for an extra point in the Patriots' final regular-season game last season.
"If I decide to retire, probably broadcasting" would be his next venture, said Flutie, who lives in nearby Natick and has said he wouldn't leave the area to play for another team. "I'm not crazy about coaching. I've seen that job. I don't like it."
On April 30, the last day of the NFL draft, Belichick declined to talk about Flutie's future, saying, "You'd have to talk to Doug about what Doug's future is."
Flutie said he and Belichick talk on a regular basis.
"We let (the subject) go for a while," he said. "Now, I'll just sit back and make a decision soon."
Flutie played sparingly in five games last season and completed 5 of 10 passes for 29 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. After winning the Heisman, he played in the U.S. Football League, the Canadian Football League and with Buffalo, Chicago, San Diego and New England in the NFL.
Flutie has played 12 of his 21 seasons in the NFL. He started his pro career with one season with New Jersey of the USFL in 1985. He won the Most Outstanding Player award in six of his eight seasons in the CFL, where he also won three Grey Cup championships.
He has thrown for 14,715 yards and 68 touchdowns in the NFL, spending most of his time as a backup. Last season, he converted the league's first drop kick for an extra point since the 1941 title game.
"If that ends up being my last play, it wouldn't be bad," he said at the time.
