QB Doug Flutie's Parents Die an Hour Apart

"They say you can die of a broken heart and I believe it," football great Doug Flutie said in a Facebook post on Wednesday after his mother and father died within an hour of each other after 56 years of marriage. The 53-year-old Heisman Trophy winner says his father, Dick, had been sick and died in a hospital of a heart attack Wednesday morning, CNN reports. His mother, Joan, died of a sudden heart attack soon afterward.

"I would like to honor my parents for all that they did throughout my and my brothers' and sister's lives," Flutie wrote. "My parents were always there for their children, from the days my Dad coached us as kids and my Mom would work the concession stands, through to this morning," he continued. "The most important part of their 56 years of marriage was providing opportunities to their children." Flutie, who spent 12 seasons in the NFL and eight in the CFL, is best known for his 1984 "Hail Mary" pass against Miami while playing for Boston College, which tweeted its condolences to Flutie and his family Wednesday, ESPN reports (More college football stories.)