Theodore Thomas Alflen (born September 13, 1946) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. A

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and halfback, he played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

, and played professionally in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in 1969 and in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

in 1970.2012 Grey Cup Alumni Update
Retrieved October 18, 2019. Alflen returned to the AFL to play with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in 1971, but suffered a knee injury returning a kickoff in the pre-season against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. Nine weeks later he was released and retired due to numerous injuries. Alflen held Springfield College's record for most points scored in a game, 36 versus

Tufts Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1968, a record which stood until 2006. Alflen's moment in the limelight came during his short stint with Montreal. Alouettes coach

Sam Etcheverry Samuel "The Rifle" Etcheverry (May 20, 1930 – August 29, 2009) was a professional American football, American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the quarterback position, most famously with the Montreal Alouettes of ...

had suspended running back Dennis Duncan and receiver Bob McCarthy for curfew violations. Alflen, who had been playing for the Long Island Bulldogs, was brought in just in time for the playoffs, and played only three games in his brief but noteworthy career as a Lark. During the first quarter of the 1970 Grey Cup game, the Alouettes were third-and-one at the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

' ten-yard line. Alflen was sent in as a play courier with instructions for a hand-off up the middle to running back

Moses Denson Moses Denson (born July 6, 1944) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Denson played three seasons for the ...

for the third-down gamble. Denson was forced wide to the right by Calgary's Terry Wilson. Wilson was flat on the ground but had Denson's ankle in his grip. Denson caught site of Alflen open downfield and launched a perfect strike. "I was blocking and saw Moses was in trouble. I headed for the end zone, he saw me and lofted a perfect pass to me. It was a magical sort of play; something instantaneous. It was an amazing moment for me."''Montreal Gazette'', November 5, 1986, p. C-6 After his football career, Alflen worked in sales for a chemical company, was an assistant football coach at

Miami Edison High School Miami Edison High School is a secondary school located at 6161 NW 5 Ct. in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Its provost is Leon Maycock. Miami Edison is an ...

in Miami, Florida, for two years, and then worked as director of sales and development for a sun-care products company. In 1991, Alflen founded a natural products company, Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal. He manufactured natural deodorants which were distributed in 60 countries and by most major US retailers. In October 2013, he sold the company, although he presently still a consultant for the company. Currently, Alflen is the Chief Executive Officer fo
Skuze Shoes

References

See also