Zach Vigil has been getting a lot of attention lately around Dolphins training camp.
He’s been getting more and more opportunities during practice, looked impressive during the intrasquad scrimmage at FIU and then turned in a solid showing in the preseason opener against the Chicago Bears.
Vigil is one of four rookie free agents the Dolphins have at linebacker this summer, but he’s the one who has stood out because of his instincts and his knack for being around the ball.
But when he was surrounded by reporters after practice Monday and was asked what he thought was the first thing fans would notice about him on the field, his answer had nothing to do with football.
“Probably my horrible hair,” he answered quickly.
As the media around him laughed, Vigil proceeded to explain that his brown hair is the longest it’s ever been and that he decided to grow it out on a whim.
He also was quick to point out he sees no magic powers in it and that it might be gone quickly.
“This? Shoot, I don’t know,” Vigil said. “We’ll see how things go. One of those days, if it’s too hot out here, it’s going off. I promise you that. I’m not that attached to it.
“I just really haven’t taken the time to go get it done yet. We’ll see how much longer it lasts.”
It’s not just the long hair that’s different for Vigil these days.
For the first time in three years, his brother isn’t lining up at linebacker next to him. See, Zach’s younger brother Nick also was a linebacker at Utah State.
While two brothers playing next to each other always makes for a nice story, the Vigils actually were stars. Both of them.
As Dolphins fans might know by now, Zach was selected as the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. Guess who else was a member of the All-MWC first-team defense: Yep, Nick Vigil.
“Man, that was awesome,” Zach said of playing next to his brother. “That was something that not a lot of brothers get to experience together. You know, I miss playing with my brother. I was able to play with him for two years. We started together last year and that was special. And that’s something, whether I play for 15 more years or if I never play again, that I’ll always hold real close to my heart because I love my little brother and I wish him the best this coming year.”
Nick Vigil will be a junior at Utah State this fall and will be looking to continue doing the family name proud.
