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Discipline problem in Miami

FinAtic8480

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There is right now, in front of your face, a discipline problem in Miami. How does that make you feel?

Like a BLACK EYE.

Under Don Shula, it was clear as day and understood by all that discipline problems with players would not be tolerated.
Coach Shula even went on to have year after year of teams with the lowest penalty rate in the NFL and all the while becoming chairman on the Rules committee of the NFL and moving the league toward a new era; ushering in such things as the dynamic passing game and the faster-paced games we have now inherited in this generation. Back in the 1970’s there were long waits while a team was in the huddle and the game clock ticked slowly by with no action – totally different watching a game now. A man of integrity and ethics, Shula believed in winning outright by following the rules. And he deeply frowned on players getting drunk and beating their girlfriends or driving home from bars late at night or walking away after early-morning car crashes.

Bill Parcells, aka Big Tuna, we all know came out publicly and stated that he would not tolerate such behavior on day 1 of his tenure here. And yet it is not only happening and continuing it is possibly even worsening. Feel proud of this team and it’s commitment to becoming a Champion? Clearly the players do not fear or respect this man at this time

http://phinphanatic.com/2010/07/14/discipline-problem-in-miami/
 
Different time and era with Shula and today.

I am on the fence on this one. Way too many players getting in trouble. On the other hand, these incidents are happening beyond the FO and coaches control. How does a coach prevent Brown from driving when he is attending a wedding in the off season and in a different state? How does a coach stop Merling from domestic violence when that may be what he grew up with? How does a coach stop Hartline from doing whatever he was doing at 4am when there is no training camp going on?

Ultimately, these behaviors fall on the players. What has happened are simply beyond the FO and coaches control. These are players with lots of money and free time on their hands.
 
I'm guessing this was written because of the Hartline incident . . . what a joke. Of course you would like to have no issues, but everybody has their personal life. I agree to hold professional athletes to a higher standard, but a few DUI's, a traffic accident and a domestic violence case where the player was on the field the next day hardly constitues "discipline". There aren't any Marvin Harrison, Pacman Jones incidents here . . . and the majority of the cases have been first time offenders. Let's hope they all learn their lessons, they are all grown men.
 
I hate to bring up what should be obvious to anyone who doesn't get paid to write this garbage, but...

This isn't really a valid comparison. Back when Shula was coaching there wasn't a 24/7 media and the fugly things that go with that unnatural, JUDGEMENTAL, beast.

If anyone was arrested back then nobody would have found out and there wouldn't have been any internet or print stories about tar and feathering or stoning to death, etc...

Back then the Dolphins media writers were all actually football fans who wrote stories about the NFL, it's players and the games on SUNDAY and on MNF. There weren't people who got paid to vilify and slime young professional atheletes like there are today.

We don't know if there were any arrests or incidents from back then. Nobody knows, especially not the lazy arse who wasted his time & our time writing that m0r0nic article.
 
It's not even the regular season yet and people are being forced to make excuses for character issues. That doesn't look good. I wish I could be more optimistic about this season, but I think Miami will struggle to finish ahead of the Jets. And that means it might get ugly in the AFC East. I don't think Miami has to worry about a collapse like 2007, but more like an average ranking in the middle of the pack somewhere around 8 - 8 or 9 - 7 and no playoffs. But you never know what might come together with the the changes to the roster and the coaching staff. The Wildcat in 2008 revived the offense. But I think in 2010, there will be lots of growing pains to go through. We'll see. Hope I'm wrong.
 
When Shula was coaching if you got pulled over while driving drunk the cop would tell you to be careful before he sent you off to drive the rest of the way home.
 
Rules about drinking and driving AND about domestic violence have changed (mostly for the better) radically.

I am old enough to remember when drinking and driving was only a problem if the driver was SO tanked he/she could not see straight or drive at all, or God forbid, they really hurt or killed someone. It was frowned upon for sure but people drove drunk more because the law handled the infraction very different.

Legal limits are very low now, and technology is in place to determine if a driver is drunk. This is not an excuse for players caught behaving illegally, I am only stating a fact, that with today's law enforcement techniques, less drinking will likely get a person in much more trouble with the law.

Also, domestic violence against women and children is tolerated WAY less (still too much in my opinion) then it was when Shula was coaching in the 70's, 80,s and mid 90's. Many NFL players would likely be in prison or on the outskirts of society if they were not playing professional football. Again, I do not mean this as a put down of players, I am simply stating that an NFL player is by definition young, coddled and given encouragement to do violence (as in football). It takes a certain kind of hardwiring to want to play a violent sport!

Also, lets remember that Shula was pushed out of the NFL because of his "inability to relate to the players of his day".

Parcels has the right angle - Jimmy Johnson overshot the mark in the other direction - please see Cecil Collins and that troubled defensive end that lasted 3 days in training camp until he used a knife to stab himself or another (cannot remember).
 
When Shula was coaching if you got pulled over while driving drunk the cop would tell you to be careful before he sent you off to drive the rest of the way home.

MADD didn't get those DUI laws passed until the 80's, it wasn't even illegal to drink and drive back then.

Back then players didn't just drink and smoke, they drank & smoked a LOT. The only way someone could get arrested for assault if they threw a phone at someone was in a comedy on TV. The political climate was very different.

The guy who wrote that sad excuse of an article needs to look up what the word 'discipline' means. He is using it out of context. Marital problems are not something to laugh at, they aren't something to be aired in public either. Comparing Parcells who is an executive with Shula who was the head coach is obviously not a valid comparison regardless. The article is completely lacking in any perspective and merit. It belongs on PFT. ;)
 
Can somebody fill me in something. did another player get picked up in the last 3 or four days ?

I have have had some bad vibes about the Tuna and this orginazation because the number of arrest of dolphin players have gone up in the last 4 years so there is some discipline issues with this team.

Parcells needs to stop pulling a jimmy johnson and start coming down on these yo-yo s before we have another Cecil Collins incident.
 
This is why they drafted so many "stand-up" guys this year. I don't think it is an issue with the team's handling of the players...just the realization that there are so many issues with "children with a wad of money." I think they see what is happening on our team, and throughout the league, and are doing there best to minimize it. In any case, I don't think there is much they can do...aside from just cut someone...but that isn't happening.
 
they do need to make an example of someone. merling could become convenient (for multiple reasons).
 
Hey goonboss please add some texas ranger to these thoughts!
 
What is frustrating is that the players have access to volunteer off duty cops who will pick them up and take them where ever they want to go. The only requirement is they leave a tip.

In todays NFL, the league office has become the enforcer and teams tend to let them issue out public penalties on the players. I am sure the FO is taking some type of action privately.
 
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