The gaffe will be forgiven, provided Jeff Ireland also doesn't slip up in next weekend's draft. Ireland had a "Wanna Get Away?" moment Thursday during his first pre-draft news conference as Miami Dolphins general manager. Reflecting upon having the No. 1 overall pick, Ireland said he hopes that player becomes "a pillar of your defense for a long time." Oops. The Dolphins were reportedly negotiating exclusively with University of Michigan tackle Jake Long. Now, it appears highly touted defensive ends Chris Long and Vernon Gholston are back in the picture. Ireland tried putting the genie back in the bottle by jokingly claiming the comment was a "Freudian slip." But that still didn't stop the flood of media and internet speculation that followed. One local television station breathlessly teased whether Ireland had given away Miami's draft plan when touting its late-night newscast. Others believe Ireland intentionally leaked bad information hoping to lower Jake Long's asking price and/or affect other teams' pre-draft preparation. And to think Ireland began the day as a virtual unknown on the South Florida sports landscape. Bill Parcells became the public face of the Dolphins in December when hired as the franchise's executive vice president of football operations. Because of his legendary standing, Parcells is generally attributed with any personnel and draft decisions Miami makes. He unsuccessfully sought such power while New England's head coach in the mid-1990s. Parcells bemoaned that situation with one of his most famous quotes: "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." Ireland, though, is the one providing Parcells with the list of necessary ingredients in Miami. Parcells didn't attend the Senior Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine or any "Pro Day" workouts on college campuses. Ireland was there, doing groundwork to try and improve the league's worst team in 2007. "I think Jeff has a tremendous amount of input in Miami," said Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, who has worked closely with Ireland and Parcells. "Obviously, the scouting department does a lot of the heavy lifting." Good Read LINK to rest of story http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8046388/One-little-goof-won't-sink-new-Dolphins-GM
Still tough to believe he could fake turning monkey-*** red after making that remark. But I do think its funny that many believe the Parcells brass can do no wrong. If CamRam had made this mistake we would be crucifying them right now, instead we suggest Tuna and Co. are mind F'ing the entire NFL...
Parcells wrote in his book that he is more than comfortable with lying to get his way, especially during the offseason. Right now there is no market for the #1 pick, Miami is trying very hard to drum up interest. They've let it be known that they are negotiating with Jake Long and then Ireland "slips" up a few days later to make people think just the opposite. They are trying very hard, but I still don't think we have a snowballs chance in hell to trade down unless we take alot less than what the pick is worth.
I think they still may not know who they want at the top of the draft. Ireland could be alluding to personally wanting to go defense (accidentally of course). It could be planned but I'm not sure he's that good an actor.
Irish needs to be nominated for an Academy Award then, the guy reminds me of Matt Damon's character in 'The Good Shepherd'. Our front office went from DMV to CIA in one offseason...amazing.
Well, I'm not saying that they can't make mistakes, but this FO is a Parcells FO, they know what they want, how to get it and will use the media to make sure they get it. Cam and Randy are nowhere near as media savvy or calculating as this regime is. Remember they were the ones swindled out of a 5th round pick for a QB that KC was going to release anyway.
I'm not interested in what Ireland says, I'm more interested in what he does. As long as we end up with quality players that produce I'll be happy!!!!
Honestly, the supposed slip will not hurt or help us that much. I mean we are picking 1st overall; if we did let the cat out of the bag what could a team do to get the player we want? Trade up in front of us? I dont think so. Ireland did a good job of covering his slip up and that is what I am impressed with. If it does cause a team to trade up with up I will be praising the "Fruedian slip." That being said I would have been upset if we were picking around 10 - 15 and that happened.
Just for ****s and giggles, if we were to trade down with Atlanta to #3 with the hope that Jake Long would fall to us and the Falcons chose Dorsey at #1, you'd want teams like Kansas City to think that we would pass on Jake Long so that they wouldn't then try to trade with the Rams to select him before us. Now, I don't think that's our plan, just addressing your question. I still think Miami is trying very hard to drum up interest in the #1.
If that did happen I would still consider the slip a success because we will have traded down and acquired more picks; which we need. If we do lose out on Jake Long, Gholston and Long will be sitting pretty for us at #3.
It really appeared to be staged imo.. The way he made the statement seemed calculating.. I didnt really notice a change in pigmentation.. Ireland is always pretty red anyway..
Actually pre draft I think most of us were drinking the CamRan Cool-Aid. Cam was gonna nail us the perfect QB, and Randy had a long history of great drafting blah blah. To say we would have beat them up over something like this is just silly. We would have accused them of playing mind games just like we say Jeff might, or Saban before him, or JJ before him, or Shula before him etc etc. You always try and hope/think the best of your team, be it players staff whatever. Its entirely possible it was a bad gaffe and we are about to select Chris. Its possible he is a good actor and pulled it off. Perhaps it was just poorly worded and he really doesnt know who we will take. Whatever, we find out in a week
Ireland has everyone fooled. He planned his "our pillar of the defense" speech and everyone bought it hook, line and sinker.
You know I saw the video and it seemed like a slip up. It was kinda funny actually because they way it sounded was that were taking someone with alot of upside. So then why talk with Jake Long? To get someone to jump in and trade with Miami?
Ugh I was trying dammit!! And Maj, the reason to negotiate with Long are many. To bait someone like KC into a tradeup would be a big possibility. Also, just to give us insurance if Long/Gholston are gonna be holdouts. Always smart to explore all your options. I really find the whole thing kind of funny tbh
