Flint Fleming

[Bisonguy]

From today's The Forum:

Bison would welcome prodigal son Fleming
By Jeff Kolpack
jkolpack@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 05/14/2003
The NCAA suspended Flint Fleming for testing positive to anabolic steroids in 1986. One year later the North Dakota State football star played his last game on a Saturday, then packed his bags and left Fargo on a Tuesday.

He hasn’t been back since.

The steroid test followed him to the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL. He was on a first-time offenders program.

“They got me out of bed at

4 a.m. to test,” he said.

In a way, it has followed him across North America, from his NFL tryout to the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL and a 13-year career in the Arena Football League.

That included stops with the Detroit Drive, Massachusetts Marauders, Orlando Predators, Arizona Rattlers, Milwaukee Mustangs, Buffalo Destroyers and Florida Bobcats.

He was the head coach and director of football operations last year with the Columbus Wardogs of the AFL2. He returned to the AFL this year as the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Cobras.

Through all the city stops, the

38-year-old Fleming remains loyal to his old university, albeit from a distance.

He reads his Bison Briefs newsletters and continually logs on to the school’s athletic Web site at www.gobison.com.

He keeps close tabs on the football program, hoping like most former players that the team can get back to a national-elite level.

He loves his old school. He’s just not sure his old school loves him.

“I feel bad if I gave the university a black eye,” he said.

Fleming was one of two NDSU players who tested positive for steroids during the 1986 NCAA Division II playoffs.

He took steroids to speed up his recovery from a knee injury during his freshman year. It was a cheap shot that caused the injury, he said, so perhaps that was a justification of sorts for steroids.

Whatever the case, it was a mistake that he has owned up to several times.

“We’re all human,” said Tyrone Braxton, Fleming’s former teammate and a close friend to this day. “He’s the type of person that has the will to move on -- what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

Fleming is hoping to persuade Braxton to coach with him in the AFL. Braxton said if the situation is right, he would gladly consider it.

Braxton is the CEO of KRSK Transportation in Denver. The appeal of coaching in the AFL is the work load: it’s not so overwhelming that it would take a ton of time away from his family.

“They don’t put in that many hours, there are not a lot of plays and there’s not a lot of meeting time,” Braxton said. “That would be perfect for me.”

Braxton retired from the NFL two years ago after a 13-year career, most with the Denver Broncos. Phil Hansen retired from the Buffalo Bills last year after an 11-year career.

Braxton has been back to Fargo several times for charity functions, the latest a basketball game in West Fargo last weekend. Hansen lives in nearby Detroit Lakes. Former New York Giants receiver Stacy Robinson has returned on occasion as a motivational speaker.

Most of the great players from the 1980s have returned for one reason or another.

Except Fleming.

[Bisonguy]

Part II:

Personally, I would welcome him back,” said NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor. “One mistake, that doesn’t mean he can’t come back. That was a lot of years ago. I’m sure he could tell a good story on what not to do and how it affected him.”

Taylor, in his second year at NDSU, said he hadn’t heard much about Fleming. That’s a good thing in one respect, he said, because he hears about athletes of the past who have been in trouble. Fleming’s name has not surfaced.

Fleming, from Madison, Wis., was part of a dominating 1986 team that rarely was challenged on its way to a Division II title. The 1987 team wasn’t as successful, but Fleming performed well, nonetheless.

“This was a period in my life,” he said in a 1987 article. “I look at my whole career. Now it’s time for Flint to move on.”

At 6-foot-4 and about 260 pounds, he was considered a “tweener” by NFL standards -- too small for a defensive lineman and not fast enough for a linebacker.

He found his niche with the AFL. He played almost all of the 16 positions.

“I was a jack of all trades, master of none,” he said. “Selfishly, if I would go back, I wished I would have played tight end in college. That’s what everybody else was recruiting me for.”

He’s still in shape. Three weeks ago, he put on the pads and went toe-to-toe in a local minor league game. Perhaps it was a way to work off frustrations.

The Cobras are 0-15, setting an AFL record for most consecutive losses.

Fleming, however, is still moving forward with the league. He likes the fans close to the action, the fast pace and the simplicity of the game.

The AFL was in its infancy when Fleming arrived. The league’s growth has coincided with Fleming’s maturity.

He was named to the league’s 15th Anniversary All-Time Team as a combination offensive lineman and defensive lineman and is a shoe-in for the AFL Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible. He played in six Arena Bowls, winning three championships.

“I feel a kind of kinship to it,” he said.

Yet, he said the allure of coaching outdoor football is there.

He likes the old school coaching style, “where if a coach or administrator said jump, you said how high,” Fleming said.

But that style doesn’t always fly anymore, he said.

“As a coach, I miss that,” he said. “Nowadays, they’ll say, ‘Coach swore at me and that’s unprofessional.’ If you’re swearing at them, it’s not because you’re mad at them. They don’t understand that it’s because you don’t want them to waste an opportunity. Soon, they’ll be 38 years old and missing that opportunity that they wasted.”

Obviously, Fleming has not wasted his opportunities in football.

The game has treated him well -- with the exception of one incident in November of 1986. He said he received calls from Nightline and David Letterman television shows.

“If rules are broken, you pay the consequences,” he said. “But that was not me. I made mistakes and I just feel like going to NDSU wasn’t about taking steroids.”

Fleming is married with a 5-year-old daughter. He said his wife is curious to see where he went to college and they’ve talked about coming up for a game.

He would like to see the Fargodome. He knows NDSU offensive coordinator Dan Enos; the two played together for one year with the Detroit Drive.

“Good guy, good person, good player,” Enos said of Fleming.

Fleming has followed the hiring of Bison head coach Craig Bohl.

“Coach Bohl rekindles my passion for Bison football,” Fleming said. “Now with us having a longer off season and it’s my job to watch a college game, I could call it work. My excuses are becoming eliminated.”

Taylor said the NDSU administration would second that. Braxton said Fleming’s mistake should not be his NDSU legacy.

The NCAA apparently banned several players that year, including a player from Concordia College, but Fleming’s name grabbed the headlines.

“He was given a bad rap,” Braxton said. “I’ve always loved and respected the guy.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546

[Bisonguy]

Flint, get your butt to a game this year! ;D It's good to see that Bohl is rekindling interest in Bison football.

[Schemer]

I agree! Flint, you need to get to Bison/Sioux.....at the very least! You're always welcome at SU!!