A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

Dan Marino vs. Doug Flutie It is sometimes amazing how two men in the same profession can have vastly different political views. Dan Marino spent his entire NFL career with one team (the Miami Dolphins) and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Doug Flutie played pro football on both sides of the border (where the rules are slightly different) but is best known for a "Hail Mary" touchdown pass he threw while a senior at Boston College, which ultimately earned him the Heisman Trophy. Both Marino and Flutie have an autistic son. However, their sons are at very different points along the autistic spectrum which has in turn led the two to form vastly different views about the subject. Dan Marino's son Mike has Asperger's, and had a virtually normal childhood. He attended a private school, was on the football team, and is now starting a career as a DJ. In a 2005 interview, Marino said that his son was "cured," but has since backed off that statement and is now supporting neurodiversity. A few years ago, Marino's charitable foundation sponsored a television ad featuring Ari Ne'eman, the founder of neurodiversity. Flutie's son Doug Jr. has childhood disintegrative disorder, which is a severe, regressive form of autism that does not improve with age. Doug Flutie Jr. is now 22 years old, but still requires round-the-clock care and likely will for the rest of his life. Doug Sr. dreamed of his son playing in the NFL, but he has never spoken a single word. Doug Flutie founded the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Curing Autism in honor of his son, and due to the severity of his son's condition he obviously supports a cure. Perhaps as consolation, Flutie's daughter Alexa is now an NFL cheerleader for the New England Patriots, which is Flutie's hometown team. I wonder if this subject comes up at all when these two men meet (which they undoubtedly have), and whether it has caused a rift between them. Both men were employed as analysts following their retirement; Marino was recently fired from his job with CBS after it was revealed he had an illegitimate child, and Flutie became a college football announcer for ESPN and now works with NBC. Even during their careers, I am almost positive they played against each other at least once, so even then the issue probably came up. Speaking of the NFL, when is LA gonna finally get a team?