Doug Flutie Says Dog Bite Derailed Daughter's Run At Maxim Cover

Doug Flutie says his gorgeous daughter, Alexa, was "in the mix" to become a Maxim cover model ... but a gnarly accident with a dog forced her to back out of the contest.

TMZ Sports spoke with the ex-football star about the former NFL cheerleader throwing her hat in the ring for Maxim's cover girl contest earlier this year ... and he says he was "very proud" of her success.

"Very good," Flutie says. "Very proud of her. She really made a good run at that."

Flutie says Alexa made it a few rounds before a bad dog bite kept her from continuing through the competition ... but she's doing much better now.

"She kind of just ignored the whole thing and left it and went on to take care of herself."

"She’s doing great, she’s fine but would've been interesting to see if she kept promoting herself online and kept after it a little bit how she could of done."

We also asked how he feels about people eyeing his daughter ... and he says he's used to it by now!

"I gave up on that a long time ago," Flutie jokes. "She’s spent 5 years in the NFL as a NFL cheerleader, she went to school for dance, she been in production, she’s been in this and that."