Dolphins fans will remember this name:
Alfred Oglesby.
The former defensive lineman passed away in late September.
Here's
the story.
And here's a story that Mike Mayo wrote for the Sun-Sentinel in 1992:
MIAMI -- Finally. An Alfred Oglesby abduction story rooted in reality.
On the night the Dolphins began doing penance for Oglesby`s one-day disappearance and fish tale, Oglesby was tree-ted to a little revenge.
About 20 players ganged up on the nose tackle at 10:30 p.m. Monday, dragging him from a pay phone and taping him to a palm tree outside the St. Thomas University dormitory. Oglesby stayed trussed up for 30 minutes until lineman Gene Williams took pity and cut him loose.
``I deserved it,`` Oglesby said Tuesday. ``That`s why I took it like a man.``
``Yeah, right,`` said nose tackle Shawn Lee, one of the ringleaders. ``You should have seen him, swinging and kicking and screaming. It took nearly the whole team to get him.``
Oglesby had been talking to a friend on a pay phone outside the dorm. Led by Lee, safety Louis Oliver and defensive ends T.J. Turner and Jeff Cross, the group carried the reluctant 280-pound Oglesby to a nearby tree and wrapped several rolls of heavy-duty equipment tape around him.
``Houdini couldn`t have gotten out of it,`` one player said.
Meanwhile, Lee went back to the dangling phone.
``Uh, sorry, but Alfred can`t talk right now,`` Lee said. ``He`s tied up.``
The prank served to ease tension that had surrounded camp since last week, when Oglesby overslept, missed two Thursday practices after a night of drinking and returned with a fabricated tale of being abducted at gunpoint.
The next day, coach Don Shula scrapped his stay-at-home policy for veterans, which he introduced last summer. Starting Monday, players had to stay in St. Thomas` cramped dorm on nights of team meetings.
The change translates to seven nights in Hotel Hell, as players call the shoddy accommodations, until the end of camp.
``I messed it all up, so I just got to sit back and take it,`` Oglesby said.
He might have more to take. Some players hinted that Oglesby will be treated to pranks every night the team has to stay in camp.
``We`re dragging you behind a car tonight,`` safety Liffort Hobley told Oglesby after morning practice Tuesday.
Shula didn`t hear about the revenge until Tuesday lunch. When told players taped Oglesby to a tree, Shula asked, ``Where? Right outside the bar?``
Oglesby`s misadventure began last Wednesday night at the Bootlegger Lounge, a strip bar near camp.
``I think anything like this brings the team together,`` Shula said. ``It`s much better than silent resentment. It`s just jock humor. I don`t think anything is meant to be harmful unless it becomes more serious, like hitting him over the head with a sledgehammer.``
