There was talk in another thread about who is who's favorite player, and how age of fan comes into play and so forth. So, I wanted to see who fans would put on their own Dolphins Rushmore, not who you think has been the most significant Dolphins players, but just your favorite 4 Dolphins players as a fan. Side note, for this thread, there is an entire mountain already dedicated to Shula, lol, so just looking for players. So here's mine; Larry Csonka - Dan Marino - Jason Taylor - Zach Thomas
Marino, Zach and JT for certain. Those are extremely easy. Choosing the 4th is much harder. The glory days all came before I was born, or with the early 80s teams that went to two Super Bowls, when I was very young, and I would limit my personal list to guys I watched play as it happened. I would say at this point that anyone I would choose could easily be bumped by another player who comes along and proves himself.
For me, it's the #5 player thats tough, Cox, Wake, Surtain, Gadsden, Jensen and Ricky are my top candidates for rounding out my top 5, but really difficult to pick just 1.
Jake Scott, Manny Fernandez, Larry Csonka, Earl Morrall. They all starred for the undefeated and Super Bowl Champion Miami Dolphins. To me, winning Super Bowls are all that matters. The greatest individual player in Dolphin history was Marino and even though it certainly wasn't his fault. No Super Bowl victory means no place on my Mount Rushmore of Dolphin players.
Marino, Wake, JT, and Thomas #5? Lamar Smith, the only playoff win I really remember well was when I was 10 and Lamar Smith ran down the Colts throat in 2000. I'll always love him for that one game.
Hold on....you, as a Dolphin fan, who know all of the reasons that the team didn't win a title, hold a lack of a championship against Marino???
Marino, Zach, JT are the obvious front runners for most. Choosing a 4th is difficult. For me probably Ricky or Wake.
Since Rushmore's faces were chosen for very specific reasons, I will do the same. here is the quote from the website for Mt Rushmore describing what each face represented... So... Our George Washington, present at our birth in 1966, would be Joe Auer, with 4 rushing TDs, 4 receiving TDs and a kick return TD in an otherwise tough year for us. JOE AUER Thomas Jefferson, representing our growth, has to be a player from our ascent to being champions - Jake Scott, our Superbowl MVP in the 1972 season, when we won our first Superbowl trophy. JAKE SCOTT Our Abe Lincoln has to be a player who held our team together during down years. Kept the franchise together when it could have gotten bleak. That man has to be Zach Thomas. Where would we have been without that Zach-led defense? Well, we found out once he was gone. ZACH THOMAS If Teddy Roosevelt represents the development of a nation, then the player who took us to the next level was Dan Marino. He set more records than any Dolphin, our winning percentage during his tenure was sky high, and we were KNOWN to be the AFC East favorites many years. DAN MARINO Finally, the missing fifth face of Mount Rushmore, the Women's Rights Activist Susan B. Anthony was never actually added. This would be best represented for us by the player that ALMOST was, but didn't materialize. Perhaps the most painful example of this was our opportunity to draft Drew Brees in 2001 but opting for Jamar Fletcher, then almost signing Brees in 2006 but instead choosing Daunte Culpepper. DREW BREES
Dwight Stephenson 5× Pro Bowl (1983–1987) 5× All-Pro (1983–1987) 2× AFC Champion (1982, 1984) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team Walter Payton Man of the Year (1985) Instead of handing an award to a quarterback or running back when other players at less glamorous positions enjoyed far superior seasons, we decided to simply recognize the best overall performance of the NFL season each year – the best player in football – and bestow the Dwight Stephenson Award to that player. The award is named after a player who pre-dates Pro Football Focus but does not pre-date the site’s ethos. Dwight Stephenson played only eight NFL seasons for the Miami Dolphins, but was a five-time All-Pro and was selected to the All-Decade team of the 1980s. More importantly, you only need to throw on a couple of minutes of tape to see that he was something special.
Great idea! But, really tough for me. I think there are two locks; one pretty solid sure thing; and then several tough calls My Rushmore: Dan Marino (no reason necessary) Larry Csonka (no reason necessary) Bob Griese (QB and player leader on 3 straight SB teams with two wins) Nick Buoniconti (had to go with the leader of the No Name D that won two SBs) Honorable mention (in order): Zach Thomas (for my money, should be in the HOF - 7 Pro Bowls, 5 time All Pro) Paul Warfield (arguably the most underrated WR in NFL history, imo) Larry Little (tough call to not put him on there - so great and the best O-lineman in Dolphins history - though Langer is right there). Jason Taylor (He and Zach would be locks for HOF if the Dolphins had every made it to the SB or won one). Langer Jake Scott (imo, he was one of the best safeties of the 70's. Great big play playmaker) Dick Anderson (right there with Scott; some thought he was better and probably was more consistent. But one of the greatest safety duos in NFL history) Dwight Stephenson (May be the greatest Dolphins lineman in their history but short career knocks him out) Richmond Webb (best O-lineman aside from Dwight since the early 70's).
I stated quite clearly that Marino was the best individual player to ever play for the Dolphins. I simply reserve my own personal Dolphin Rushmore for those players who actually played on and contributed to the greatest season in NFL history. As I have stated ever since I came on this forum years ago. To me it is all about winning the SB and if the team doesn't win the SB, individual stats mean absolutely nothing to me.
If Ricky hadnt retired in 2004 and was on and off the field after, he mightve finished his career up there with Marino and the rest. The second best, after Dan, offensive player in Miami Dolphins history. That 2002 1800+ yard season was historic, not just the stats but how he ran. A few more of those, and you're talking about not just best RB in Dolphins history but one of the best alltime. Its a shame he had Wannestedt as his coach. Who knows what might have been. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
I'm too young to have the old school guys like those old members Fin and Da Fins..so, my favs are. Danny..Zach..Jason..Kraken..
My selection criteria. First Team All-Pros. Larry Little (5) 1971,72,73,74,75 Zach Thomas (5) 1998,99, 2002,03,06 Jim Langer (4) 1973,74,75, 77 Dwight Stephenson (4) 1984, 85, 86, 87 My anti-Rushmore. Those who have harmed Miami more than others. Dave Wannstadt Jeff Ireland Rick Spielman Nick Saban (did less harm than the others, but was the weaseliest)
My selection criteria. First Team All-Pros. Larry Little (5) 1971,72,73,74,75 Zach Thomas (5) 1998,99, 2002,03,06 Jim Langer (4) 1973,74,75, 77 Dwight Stephenson (4) 1984, 85, 86, 87 My anti-Rushmore. Those who have harmed Miami more than others. Dave Wannstadt Jeff Ireland Rick Spielman Nick Saban (did less harm than the others, but was the weaseliest)
Top 3 so far; Dan = 17 votes Zach = 13 votes Csonka= 8 votes This shows the impact of Csonka and Dan imo, they were true "faces of the franchise" and are still toting a bunch of water in Miami, I thought JT would get more votes, rounding out the top 5; JT = 6 votes J Scott = 5 votes Maybe younger posters aren't posting?
Those guys weren't very talented but weren't team damaging. I would put Sammy Smith, Dion Jordan, Eric Kumerow and Cecil Collins on my Anti Rushmore. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Correction: Dave Wannestedt ruined the best overall team we had in 20 years. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
As a relatively young 'Fins fan, I was never blessed with the opportunity to watch the likes of Marino, Taylor and Thomas and be able to appreciate their greatness, both as leaders and as football players. That being said, my four favorite Dolphins are Cameron Wake, Jarvis Landry, Ryan Tannehill, and Channing Crowder (I know he sucked, but as a kid, watching him play, I loved his enthusiasm on the sidelines - I remember one specific moment where I asked to use my dad's binoculars to get a better view from our seats, and I found Crowder on the sidelines in a 2008 match with the Rams. He was simply ecstatic, jumping up and down and making the whole bench laugh. For some reason, that stuck with me, and so did Crowder himself). I was a huge fan of Yeremiah Bell, Chad Pennington, Chris Chambers, Jake Long, and Ronnie Brown as a kid, too. Still have my Brown jersey to this day!
I remember that 4 INT game he had against Buffalo like it was yesterday. Lucas sucked, but so did every other QB to suit up for us for most of those years after Marino retired. The defense was highly talented, but collapsed at just the wrong time to lose a few games. So many heartbreaking losses that year.