Okay,  I don’t really expect anyone to call me doctor, but on Sunday May 3rd, I received an honorary doctorate from New England Tech.   I was deeply honored to receive this “Doctor of Humane Letters” recognition.

   Doug Flutie also received the special designation and then delivered the commencement address.    What a great guy.  Before we marched into the Convention Center, we spent time together in the “robing” room.   He’s still very handsome, youthful looking really and “down to earth.”   Flutie loves his sports and talked about his “40’s age group” baseball team.   Like every aging athlete, he says he pays for the aches and pains the next day and  always has to load up on the Advil.   He remains extremely competitive, which I think is just part of his DNA.  

  Everyone wanted their picture taken with him.  He accomodated them all. As we sat on the stage for over seven hundred graduates to receive their diplomas, he talked quietly about his love of sports.   Down the road, he hopes to spend more time in Florida where he and his wife bought a beach house in a very isolated area.  

   I just want to thank all the staff at New England Tech who made it such a memorable day for me.  NET President Richard Gouse is such a great guy.

  Meeting Flutie was a rare and unexpected pleasure.   His speech to the graduates was all “off the cuff.”  I asked him before we went in, if he had a written speech.  He told me, he started one and then decided to just put a few thoughts on a note card.   His message was basically that no one expected him at his size to excel in football.  But he found ways to do that.  He told the graduates they need to find their skills and use them.  But probably most important was his message of giving of yourself.  He does that now, even though he admitted he took awhile to come to that point, to possess that knowledge that helping others should be a part of all our lives.

   It was a tremendous day.  I’m sorry my parents couldn’t be there, but I’ll send them video and some great pictures of Karen Adams and Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie!