BGtoKNfor6
Where is the reset button?
Listen guys. I have been a dolphins fan as long as I have memories. I am 30 years old. I wasn't privileged enough to watch the dominant phins of the 70's, as I am sure most of us on here weren't.
That being said, most of us really probably remember the middle 80's and more vividly the 90's to current. We remember marino making all the bombs to clayton/duper but coming up short because the F.O. didn't know what a defense was. We remember guys like j.b brown/vestee jackson getting torched repeatedly by andre reed. We remember Louis Oliver running back a Jim kelly interception 103 yards for a td in 92. We also remember the 92 AFC championship game where Kelly and Co. ran repeated screen passes to thomas/davis the whole game and killed us.
THOSE years were dissapointments to me because we knew at any given minute dan and co. could bring us back only to have the lead taken away on a flick of the wrist by warren moon, jim kelly, or ken O'brien. Football seemed to mean so much back then, or at least to me back then.
Then the scenery started to change. Marino went down in the cleveland game. We endured that only to see him come back as a very good qb and continued to watch the team erode. Then jimmy johnson took over and we know how that ended. Then we had to endure the years of wanny and saban and cam. The team spun into mediocrity.
I always stayed a die had fan. My direct tv bills prove it. It isn't cheap. However, win the continued losing and the broken promises, I didn't expect this year to be any different.
We got a supposed busted up qb and a loud mouthed linebacker that we "overpaid" for just the year before who didn't amount to much at the time. We also got a new front office and coach. I didn't know what to expect because this was occuring so often that realistically I didn't think it was going to make any different. I was burned by our supposed savior saban after practically rejoicing when wanny resigned and bates too over. Saban bolted but the repeated jabs from the franchise started to sting less and less over time as apathy started to reign in.
This year though, I was overly critical of the team because of things that had happened in the past. Then I started to see a change. This new guy TS started to demand accountability for players peformances. Players didn't fake injuries and actually were over performing. When I look at the team, I don't see a team loaded with individual talent. Sure we have some guys and we all know the household names but it was/is obvious where our holes are and what needs to be done in the long term. That being said though, the guys were still finding a way to win.
Looking on that I began to start to see that the culture of the dolphins was changing. For years, I had seen guys like marion, surtain and madison leave the team. The problem was the end result was the same when we had them than when they were gone. We still were losing. Ok maybe not as bad when we had our real solid defense in the early 2000's but again we didn't overall amount to much. I started to wonder about the culture that was left from this losing regime. That led me to thomas and taylor. I liked them but began to wonder if we should cut ties and start over. I wrestled with that because surely "they" weren't part of the overall problem.....or were they???
Now that they are both gone, the attitude and mentality of this team has done a complete 180. We are wininng with the odeyle's (sp?), hills and goodmans of the nfl. Who? My point exactly. These guys would be 2nd team players on other teams but yet since the atmosphere has changed, we had guys that weren't relying on their own individual talents or lack thereof and buying into the program in which BS and more importantly TS was laying the foundation for. What was the end result of that? An AFC championship and an 11-5 record. All for a team that was basically discarded as the 80's lions and bucs of the NFL.
What am I saying here? HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU BE UPSET AT ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR? Rome wasn't built overnight and yet as usual, people are jumping the gun and lashing out at players who will be the framework for a very good dolphins team in the years to come. Pennington is the stop gap mentor for hopefully henne, beck or someone else that we are going to bring in. Porter may be the same for crowder or another emerging linebacker that may be brought in. You guys have to see the bigger picture. If you want any proof that the culture and mentality is changing in the locker room, get a hold of any of the mic'd up stuff of TS in the locker room with our guys or even pennington walking the sidelines. A better indicator is that our guys are re-learning how to be football players? How do I know this? Fundamentally sound teams don't turn the ball over and they win close games. Didn't we tie an amazing record this year for lack of turnovers? Now magnify this by the fact that we have glaring talent holes, a new regime and F.O. and players that didn't even probably know each other but yet were relying on each other to get it done in the trenches. THAT tells me enough.
That being said and many thoughts have elluded me as I write this but be proud to wear your aqua and orange. There are what 23 other teams in the NFL that cannot say they are where we have been this year, let alone hoist a division champtionship bannner AND say they came around from a 1-15 record to win their division.
Next year is going to be the big year. Our schedule is brutal but who knows. Teams ebb and flow. This years titans could be next years 4-12 team.
Keep your heads up. Any long term fan that has been with the club long enough can sense what I am talking about.
That being said, most of us really probably remember the middle 80's and more vividly the 90's to current. We remember marino making all the bombs to clayton/duper but coming up short because the F.O. didn't know what a defense was. We remember guys like j.b brown/vestee jackson getting torched repeatedly by andre reed. We remember Louis Oliver running back a Jim kelly interception 103 yards for a td in 92. We also remember the 92 AFC championship game where Kelly and Co. ran repeated screen passes to thomas/davis the whole game and killed us.
THOSE years were dissapointments to me because we knew at any given minute dan and co. could bring us back only to have the lead taken away on a flick of the wrist by warren moon, jim kelly, or ken O'brien. Football seemed to mean so much back then, or at least to me back then.
Then the scenery started to change. Marino went down in the cleveland game. We endured that only to see him come back as a very good qb and continued to watch the team erode. Then jimmy johnson took over and we know how that ended. Then we had to endure the years of wanny and saban and cam. The team spun into mediocrity.
I always stayed a die had fan. My direct tv bills prove it. It isn't cheap. However, win the continued losing and the broken promises, I didn't expect this year to be any different.
We got a supposed busted up qb and a loud mouthed linebacker that we "overpaid" for just the year before who didn't amount to much at the time. We also got a new front office and coach. I didn't know what to expect because this was occuring so often that realistically I didn't think it was going to make any different. I was burned by our supposed savior saban after practically rejoicing when wanny resigned and bates too over. Saban bolted but the repeated jabs from the franchise started to sting less and less over time as apathy started to reign in.
This year though, I was overly critical of the team because of things that had happened in the past. Then I started to see a change. This new guy TS started to demand accountability for players peformances. Players didn't fake injuries and actually were over performing. When I look at the team, I don't see a team loaded with individual talent. Sure we have some guys and we all know the household names but it was/is obvious where our holes are and what needs to be done in the long term. That being said though, the guys were still finding a way to win.
Looking on that I began to start to see that the culture of the dolphins was changing. For years, I had seen guys like marion, surtain and madison leave the team. The problem was the end result was the same when we had them than when they were gone. We still were losing. Ok maybe not as bad when we had our real solid defense in the early 2000's but again we didn't overall amount to much. I started to wonder about the culture that was left from this losing regime. That led me to thomas and taylor. I liked them but began to wonder if we should cut ties and start over. I wrestled with that because surely "they" weren't part of the overall problem.....or were they???
Now that they are both gone, the attitude and mentality of this team has done a complete 180. We are wininng with the odeyle's (sp?), hills and goodmans of the nfl. Who? My point exactly. These guys would be 2nd team players on other teams but yet since the atmosphere has changed, we had guys that weren't relying on their own individual talents or lack thereof and buying into the program in which BS and more importantly TS was laying the foundation for. What was the end result of that? An AFC championship and an 11-5 record. All for a team that was basically discarded as the 80's lions and bucs of the NFL.
What am I saying here? HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU BE UPSET AT ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR? Rome wasn't built overnight and yet as usual, people are jumping the gun and lashing out at players who will be the framework for a very good dolphins team in the years to come. Pennington is the stop gap mentor for hopefully henne, beck or someone else that we are going to bring in. Porter may be the same for crowder or another emerging linebacker that may be brought in. You guys have to see the bigger picture. If you want any proof that the culture and mentality is changing in the locker room, get a hold of any of the mic'd up stuff of TS in the locker room with our guys or even pennington walking the sidelines. A better indicator is that our guys are re-learning how to be football players? How do I know this? Fundamentally sound teams don't turn the ball over and they win close games. Didn't we tie an amazing record this year for lack of turnovers? Now magnify this by the fact that we have glaring talent holes, a new regime and F.O. and players that didn't even probably know each other but yet were relying on each other to get it done in the trenches. THAT tells me enough.
That being said and many thoughts have elluded me as I write this but be proud to wear your aqua and orange. There are what 23 other teams in the NFL that cannot say they are where we have been this year, let alone hoist a division champtionship bannner AND say they came around from a 1-15 record to win their division.
Next year is going to be the big year. Our schedule is brutal but who knows. Teams ebb and flow. This years titans could be next years 4-12 team.
Keep your heads up. Any long term fan that has been with the club long enough can sense what I am talking about.
