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Miami Dolphins not the biggest joke in NFL
By Armando Salguero The Miami Herald
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The Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland, left, and owner Stephen Ross, right, introduce new head coach Joe Philbin at the Miami Dolphins Training facility in Davie on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Al Diaz / miami herald staff
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By Armando Salguero
asalguero@MiamiHerald.com
WEST PALM BEACH -- Before going any further, it’s time to correct the record:
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said Monday he’s excited about how this offseason is going. The truth is most of his fans are not.
Ross said the Dolphins are “probably the best place in the NFL to play football …” There is no accounting for taste, but it’s probably fair to say Pittsburgh, New England, Green Bay, the Giants, and perhaps half a dozen other NFL outposts would rank ahead of Miami right now.
The owner also said the Dolphins currently boast “one of the best organizations” the franchise has had in a long time. Seems to me the club was pretty well organized in 2008 when it won a division title.
The world according to the Dolphins was on display Monday afternoon at the Breakers Hotel, and the club’s view of things and everyone else’s don’t always seem to line up.
But let’s agree to disagree at this point, shall we?
The easy thing now would be to give in to this keyboard that’s begging me to rip the Dolphins because the club was kind enough to provide multiple new assailable quotes as ammunition.
That’s not where we’re headed here.
I’m calling a one-man ceasefire on the Dolphins and encourage Dolphins fans everywhere to do the same. This offseason has been painful enough. Why add to the ache?
It’s time to stop the friendly fire, folks.
The fan base’s anger, the media’s disconnect, the shock jock attacks and jokes, all of them are getting kind of worn considering the Dolphins are struggling. But we have no actual proof of it because, well, nobody is playing Sunday and certainly nobody is keeping score.
The narrative around the halls of the NFL annual meeting is that the Dolphins are a hot mess of a franchise. They’re a joke. They attract attention only by tripping over themselves.
I guess that’s the reason NFL Network reporter Albert Breer asked Ross about his failure to land Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher and Peyton Manning, and the question just about caused Ross to blow a gasket.
Sensitive subject
The Dolphins are a little sensitive these days because they have been taking a solid bruising for weeks.
But can we take an actual census of this league and measure if the Dolphins are truly the wheezing collapsed lung of a team we seem to think?
The Saints are in the middle of a truly unpleasant time coming off the Bountygate scandal. They don’t have a coach for the next year because he will be suspended. They won’t have their top assistant or general manager for part of the season while they also serve suspensions. The hammer is about to come down on some of their players, and their best chance to survive the crisis might be to turn to 70-year-old Bill Parcells to coach.
Comparatively, the Dolphins are not doing so terribly.
The Jets are a circus in of themselves. Just when the anonymous whispers from locker room sources ripping quarterback Mark Sanchez went silent, the club traded for Tim Tebow. Then they held a big welcoming news conference that sent the message to everyone in the locker room Tebow is an ordinary backup on the team like Namath made another guarantee about something or other.
Is it any surprise more anonymous player quotes appeared recently in The New York Post complaining about the Tebow acquisition, club chemistry, the news conference and who knows what else?
That’s the Jets — the club the Dolphins beat the last time the teams met.
Comparatively, the Dolphins are not doing so terribly.
And no, the Dolphins didn’t land Jeff Fisher. The black eye is still healing on that one. But have you stopped to think if Miami had gotten Fisher that would be Miami defensive coordinator Gregg Williams suspended indefinitely for Bountygate instead of Rams coach Gregg Williams?
Unhappy with Miami’s salary-cap management? It cries for attention. So ask the Washington Redskins or the Dallas Cowboys how to manage the salary cap, if you know what I mean.
All the glitters is not San Francisco 49ers’ gold. That team missed out on Manning after not landing an interview at their team facility, either. Yes, the Niners were much closer to getting Manning than Miami.
Another mess
But when it was all decided, the 49ers had to take back their game-managing quarterback just like the Dolphins had to with Matt Moore and David Garrard. And the difference is Alex Smith is costing about $8 million a year compared to $2.5 million to $4 million for the local guys.
Sure, San Francisco is a very good team. But comparatively, folks, the Dolphins are not the joke everyone believes.
Granted, it’s hard to find someone not employed by the Dolphins who seriously thinks this team will be a big winner in 2012. I look at Miami and see another rebuild afoot.
But is the team headed for another 1-15 season? Are they Matt Millen’s Detroit Lions?
Many of those saying general manager Jeff Ireland has to go also argued last season on behalf of Vince Young, Kevin Kolb, Travaris Jackson, Kyle Orton or Donovan McNabb. Ireland signed Moore, and he was better than all the others.
Is that the move of incompetence?
“We think we have a fine nucleus, and we’re excited about where we’re going,” Ross said. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. …We know where there are some weaknesses. We’re looking at that. We’re looking to correct that.”
They probably won’t get it all corrected next season. But to suggest they will get most everything wrong? That’s not fair.
Things aren’t quite that bad.
By Armando Salguero The Miami Herald
Buy Photo
The Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland, left, and owner Stephen Ross, right, introduce new head coach Joe Philbin at the Miami Dolphins Training facility in Davie on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Al Diaz / miami herald staff
Related Content
- Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross on team’s critics: ‘Rome was not built in a day’
- Blog | Dolphins in Depth
By Armando Salguero
asalguero@MiamiHerald.com
WEST PALM BEACH -- Before going any further, it’s time to correct the record:
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said Monday he’s excited about how this offseason is going. The truth is most of his fans are not.
Ross said the Dolphins are “probably the best place in the NFL to play football …” There is no accounting for taste, but it’s probably fair to say Pittsburgh, New England, Green Bay, the Giants, and perhaps half a dozen other NFL outposts would rank ahead of Miami right now.
The owner also said the Dolphins currently boast “one of the best organizations” the franchise has had in a long time. Seems to me the club was pretty well organized in 2008 when it won a division title.
The world according to the Dolphins was on display Monday afternoon at the Breakers Hotel, and the club’s view of things and everyone else’s don’t always seem to line up.
But let’s agree to disagree at this point, shall we?
The easy thing now would be to give in to this keyboard that’s begging me to rip the Dolphins because the club was kind enough to provide multiple new assailable quotes as ammunition.
That’s not where we’re headed here.
I’m calling a one-man ceasefire on the Dolphins and encourage Dolphins fans everywhere to do the same. This offseason has been painful enough. Why add to the ache?
It’s time to stop the friendly fire, folks.
The fan base’s anger, the media’s disconnect, the shock jock attacks and jokes, all of them are getting kind of worn considering the Dolphins are struggling. But we have no actual proof of it because, well, nobody is playing Sunday and certainly nobody is keeping score.
The narrative around the halls of the NFL annual meeting is that the Dolphins are a hot mess of a franchise. They’re a joke. They attract attention only by tripping over themselves.
I guess that’s the reason NFL Network reporter Albert Breer asked Ross about his failure to land Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher and Peyton Manning, and the question just about caused Ross to blow a gasket.
Sensitive subject
The Dolphins are a little sensitive these days because they have been taking a solid bruising for weeks.
But can we take an actual census of this league and measure if the Dolphins are truly the wheezing collapsed lung of a team we seem to think?
The Saints are in the middle of a truly unpleasant time coming off the Bountygate scandal. They don’t have a coach for the next year because he will be suspended. They won’t have their top assistant or general manager for part of the season while they also serve suspensions. The hammer is about to come down on some of their players, and their best chance to survive the crisis might be to turn to 70-year-old Bill Parcells to coach.
Comparatively, the Dolphins are not doing so terribly.
The Jets are a circus in of themselves. Just when the anonymous whispers from locker room sources ripping quarterback Mark Sanchez went silent, the club traded for Tim Tebow. Then they held a big welcoming news conference that sent the message to everyone in the locker room Tebow is an ordinary backup on the team like Namath made another guarantee about something or other.
Is it any surprise more anonymous player quotes appeared recently in The New York Post complaining about the Tebow acquisition, club chemistry, the news conference and who knows what else?
That’s the Jets — the club the Dolphins beat the last time the teams met.
Comparatively, the Dolphins are not doing so terribly.
And no, the Dolphins didn’t land Jeff Fisher. The black eye is still healing on that one. But have you stopped to think if Miami had gotten Fisher that would be Miami defensive coordinator Gregg Williams suspended indefinitely for Bountygate instead of Rams coach Gregg Williams?
Unhappy with Miami’s salary-cap management? It cries for attention. So ask the Washington Redskins or the Dallas Cowboys how to manage the salary cap, if you know what I mean.
All the glitters is not San Francisco 49ers’ gold. That team missed out on Manning after not landing an interview at their team facility, either. Yes, the Niners were much closer to getting Manning than Miami.
Another mess
But when it was all decided, the 49ers had to take back their game-managing quarterback just like the Dolphins had to with Matt Moore and David Garrard. And the difference is Alex Smith is costing about $8 million a year compared to $2.5 million to $4 million for the local guys.
Sure, San Francisco is a very good team. But comparatively, folks, the Dolphins are not the joke everyone believes.
Granted, it’s hard to find someone not employed by the Dolphins who seriously thinks this team will be a big winner in 2012. I look at Miami and see another rebuild afoot.
But is the team headed for another 1-15 season? Are they Matt Millen’s Detroit Lions?
Many of those saying general manager Jeff Ireland has to go also argued last season on behalf of Vince Young, Kevin Kolb, Travaris Jackson, Kyle Orton or Donovan McNabb. Ireland signed Moore, and he was better than all the others.
Is that the move of incompetence?
“We think we have a fine nucleus, and we’re excited about where we’re going,” Ross said. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. …We know where there are some weaknesses. We’re looking at that. We’re looking to correct that.”
They probably won’t get it all corrected next season. But to suggest they will get most everything wrong? That’s not fair.
Things aren’t quite that bad.
