The two consecutive 200-yard rushing performances by Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi could be an indication that the franchise is taking on a new identity. Sunday’s game against the rival Jets is an opportunity to further develop it. CHARLES TRAINOR JR.
ctrainor@miamiherald.com
Not for the longest time have the Miami Dolphins been an NFL team associated with macho, with brute force. You might have to go all the way back to when Larry Csonka was carrying opposing safeties on his back, thundering like a rhinoceros booming across an open savanna.
Any team’s image is partly drawn by success, of course, so the mere fact Miami has not won a playoff game since 2000 invites and hardens the perception of a team that gets pushed around. But it has been more than that.
This was the franchise that made national news because one of its players complained he was being bullied. The team whose coach before this season, Joe Philbin, looked like a Pentecostal preacher from the 1890s.
Neither is your team’s image enhanced when its color ensemble leads with aqua and its namesake is a bottlenose dolphin — which no embellishment of artist’s scowl or squint can make appear the least bit menacing.
I think this is why Dolfans (“Dolfans,” itself a rather wimpy word if we’re being honest) were so delighted when their team signed Ndamukong Suh last year. It wasn’t just that he was a great defensive tackle; it’s that he was, shall we say, an ornery fellow. A guy known for mean, for personal fouls, even for dirty play. A grown man to toughen up a team’s flaccid perception.
A few emailers to me even made a fair point that the recent stadium name change was an upgrade on the macho scale for a club that needed all the help it could get. “Sun Life” sounded like a day at the beach. “Hard Rock” sounds like you’re in the mines with a sledgehammer.
