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 .