Dreadful outing spells end of Miami's season
BY DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com
-- Zach Thomas was broken.
Cracked like a windshield hit by a brick. Shattered like porcelain fallen from a shelf.
Fin-ished.
This happens to him after the worst losses, so many of which have come in this awful and dreary place. Whether he screams or whispers, his soul opens and the frustration speaks on his behalf. He has screamed at giant teammates in this locker room after defeats, angry and confrontational. And Sunday, after a 20-17 defeat to the hated New York Jets dropped his 1-5 Miami Dolphins deeper into last place, Thomas' voice gave up, and he sounded like he was very close to crying.
''Embarrassed,'' he began.
His hair was still wet from the shower. The bloody scars all over his body were still fresh.
''We're the worst team in the NFL right now,'' he continued.
He was surrounded by cameras and notebooks and questions. So many questions.
''This is ridiculous,'' he said. ``This is tough.''
His voice cracked. He turned away from the cluster of cameras as that happened and said, ''I'm not going to say any more.'' Thomas bent down and tugged at his luggage, and what he whispered next, to himself, was hard to hear. He either said, ''This [expletive] will make you real tired'' or ``This [expletive] will make you retire.''
Pretty huge difference between those two things, even if it's just frustration talking and he is one of the most unusually raw athletes you'll ever hear. He was asked to repeat himself, but it was still hard to make out. Nobody had the heart to ask him yet again. Dressed, Thomas dragged himself out of the losing locker room, defeated in every way an athlete can be.
Fin-ished.
BY DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com
-- Zach Thomas was broken.
Cracked like a windshield hit by a brick. Shattered like porcelain fallen from a shelf.
Fin-ished.
This happens to him after the worst losses, so many of which have come in this awful and dreary place. Whether he screams or whispers, his soul opens and the frustration speaks on his behalf. He has screamed at giant teammates in this locker room after defeats, angry and confrontational. And Sunday, after a 20-17 defeat to the hated New York Jets dropped his 1-5 Miami Dolphins deeper into last place, Thomas' voice gave up, and he sounded like he was very close to crying.
''Embarrassed,'' he began.
His hair was still wet from the shower. The bloody scars all over his body were still fresh.
''We're the worst team in the NFL right now,'' he continued.
He was surrounded by cameras and notebooks and questions. So many questions.
''This is ridiculous,'' he said. ``This is tough.''
His voice cracked. He turned away from the cluster of cameras as that happened and said, ''I'm not going to say any more.'' Thomas bent down and tugged at his luggage, and what he whispered next, to himself, was hard to hear. He either said, ''This [expletive] will make you real tired'' or ``This [expletive] will make you retire.''
Pretty huge difference between those two things, even if it's just frustration talking and he is one of the most unusually raw athletes you'll ever hear. He was asked to repeat himself, but it was still hard to make out. Nobody had the heart to ask him yet again. Dressed, Thomas dragged himself out of the losing locker room, defeated in every way an athlete can be.
Fin-ished.