Former Tyler Lee, LSU and NFL quarterback Matt Flynn inducted into ETCA Hall of Honor

Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, May 16, 2023

LONGVIEW — Matt Flynn is a two-time BCS national champion and a Super Bowl champion.

He said growing up in East Texas and the work he had to put in along the way helped him get to those places.

Flynn was inducted into the East Texas Coaches Association Hall of Honor on April 23 inside the Holiday Inn North Infinity Event Center.

Flynn was honored alongside coaches Mike Vallery of Kilgore, Dennis Parker of Marshall and Clarence McMichael of Nacogdoches, along with sports writer Phil Hicks (Tyler Morning Telegraph), football official Bobby Bain (Tyler Chapter) and the 2022 state champion Carthage Bulldogs football team.

“It’s an extremely big honor,” Flynn said. “I’ve always been uncomfortable with the thought of individual awards in a huge team sport. I was very fortunate to be a part of a lot of good teams in high school, college and the professional level.”

Flynn said his first football experience was in Pop Warner when he was in the third grade and played left guard. He said he wanted to quit football and didn’t think he ever wanted to play again.

The son of former Baylor quarterback Alvin Flynn, Matt said he decided he wanted to try to play quarterback.

“I was a decent pitcher, and I knew I could throw it, so I went out for the team at Hubbard Middle School in Tyler,” Flynn said. “Seventh grade started out a little tumultuous. I was competing for the starting quarterback spot in the seventh grade with one of my childhood best friends. His name was Ty Wright. Ty was a heck of an athlete in his own. We always competed in everything we did, baseball, basketball, and he beat me out. He was the starting quarterback in seventh grade. I sat the bench and watching him, cheered him on, high fived him.

“Then come the eighth grade, I beat him out. I was the starting quarterback, and he did the same for me. So me and him, we went back and forth, driving each other, even at that young age.”

As a freshman at the school formerly known as Robert E. Lee High School, Flynn was the starting quarterback for the junior varsity, while Wright was the starting quarterback for the freshman team.

“Fast forward to sophomore year, me and Ty were competing for the varsity spot at Lee,” Flynn said. “This was big time. This was serious. This was to go and be the starting quarterback at Rose Stadium. This was as big as it gets. He beat me out. He beat me out in the second game, and we were splitting reps. And now he’s the starting quarterback. He had a good season, and he played really well.

“At that point, it was heartbreaking for me at the time. I didn’t know what I was going to do. All I knew was go to school and play football.”

After a conversation with his father, Flynn decided he was going to try to beat Wright out.

“I was going to win the job,” Flynn said. “I was going to outwork everybody. I was going to outwork Ty.”

Flynn became the starting quarterback as a junior for head coach Mike Owens’ Red Raiders and was 101 of 199 for 1,650 yards with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. As a senior, Flynn was 124 of 206 for 1,679 yards and nine touchdowns with 305 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing, leading Lee to a trip to the state semifinals while playing the final four games on a broken foot.

Flynn ended up going to play at LSU for head coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

After redshirting during LSU’s BCS national championship season of 2003, Flynn was in a position battle with Jamarcus Russell, who went on to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

“In 2005, Jamarcus and I are competing for the starting job,” Flynn said. “He beats me out. It was humbling. I thought I could beat him. I couldn’t. He was just an extremely talented guy. He was better than me at the time.”

Flynn did start in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl that year and led LSU to a 40-3 win over Miami.

“Then 2006 came, and I didn’t beat him out,” Flynn said. “He got me again and had an incredible season. Finally in 2007, it was my time to start, and of course, we had a great season. We won the BCS national championship. We had an incredible team, our coach at the time was Les Miles and our offensive coordinator was Gary Crowton.

“So the four coaches that I’m very thankful for in my college career were Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher, Les Miles and Gary Crowton. They were very influential to me. They believed in me, and they gave me a chance. I think I did them proud.”

During his time with the Tigers, they won two BCS national championships (2003 and 2007). In the 2007 season, he finished the season with 2,407 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for 215 yards and four touchdowns. In the BCS national championship game against Ohio State, Flynn completed 19 of 27 passes and four touchdowns, and was named offensive MVP of the game.

“When I think about football, I get emotional,” Flynn said. “How many lessons can be carved out by being a part of football? I had been beaten down in my career a couple of times, and I was probably one of the few potential draft picks at quarterback that in his whole football career had started two-and-a-half seasons, including high school. But I stuck it out, and I grinded.”

Flynn was drafted with the third pick in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft as East Texas native, the late Ted Thompson from Atlanta who was the general manager of the Green Bay Packers at the time, gave Flynn a call and informed him they were selecting him.

While on the phone with Green Bay’s director of football logistics, Matt Klein, Flynn was asked what number he wanted.

“I said ‘alright, I was 15 in college, so I’ll take 15,’” Flynn said. “I heard crickets on the other side of the phone. He said, ‘you don’t know anything about Green Bay, do you? And he was like, ‘we had a quarterback that played here for a little while, his name was Bart Starr, and he was No. 15.’ Basically, you’re SOL, pick another number. I ended up taking No. 10, loved 10 ever since. But man, I wish they would’ve made an exception one time for a seventh round pick.”

Green Bay also selected Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm in the second round of that draft, so Flynn knew he had an uphill battle, but that was nothing new for him.

“My career, in the NFL at least, almost ended before it started,” Flynn said. “We were at a rookie symposium in San Diego and Brett Favre was in Green Bay, negotiating with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy to potentially come back to Green Bay. This was after he had retired for the first time. I can do math, there’s going to be four quarterbacks in camp, I’m the seventh round pick, if Brett comes back, I’m gone.

“I’m thankful for Aaron Rodgers being so good that they let Brett Favre walk, because if that didn’t happen, then I never would’ve gotten a shot.”

Then at training camp, Flynn was battling with Brohm for the backup quarterback spot. Brohm was a four-year starter in high school and at Louisville and was a Heisman finalist. Flynn, on the other hand, was used to being in competitions like this.

“Here I am, that’s all I’ve done, every year grinding for a job, grinding for a spot,” Flynn said.

Flynn ended up being the No. 2 quarterback behind Rodgers. They won Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6, 2011.

On Jan. 1, 2012, Flynn started the final game of the season against the Detroit Lions, and he threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in the 45–41 victory, both of which set Packers single-game records.

Flynn also played for the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, the Packers again, New England Patriots, New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. He was signed by the Saints in 2015 after fellow East Texan Luke McCown, from Jacksonville, suffered a season-ending injury.

In his NFL career, Flynn was 219 of 357 for 2,541 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and he carried the ball 65 times for 69 yards and a touchdown.

“I had a great career,” Flynn said. I had some great games. There were a lot of ups and downs. My proudest moment came in 2015, at my last stop, when my son got to watch me play. He was a baby. He doesn’t remember it, but he was there. That was my proudest moment in my NFL playing days.

“Then after that, I got to retire. Few players get to say this, but I was one that got to go out on his own terms. I got to choose to leave the game.”

Flynn is the son of Alvin and Ruth Flynn. Ruth was a director for the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles. She was also a member and choreographer of the Kilgore College Rangerettes.

Flynn and his wife, Lacey, have three children, Huck, Tuzette and Hemingway.TWITTER: @BrandonOSports