I would like to see some passion from Marino publicly...it is how he played. But on TV? He just is to PR for my taste.
This is interesting. I wonder how, if at all, his appearance relates to the ongoing discussions for him to join the team.
"I've been named Vice President of the sales dept"...lol. Just jokes man.. I would like to See him with the team and I would like to know if he's good..but who the hell knows what he could be good at, at least give him a position to see if he could work his way up to middle mgt..jk.
I doubt they would announce his joining the team on the NFL Network. There would be a team press release and a press conference, etc. But I do wonder if some of these appearances have some connection nonetheless. It could be as innocent as Marino getting out there to be publicly seen toeing the line in support of the Dolphins, just to build his case for joining the team. But it could also be a way of seeing whether he can handle the idea of being the public face of the team, if that's the role they're discussing.
I know you've stated that you like to see him in a role where he could prove himself, but what position could that start at specifically?
A role on the Board. If I were Marino I would pitch him the title of Executive Vice Chairman. Steve Ross holds the title of Chairman and Managing General Partner. There are three Vice Chairmen in Don Shula, Jorge Perez (who is also a Partner) and Matt Higgins. Then you also have the other Partners, people like the Williams sisters, the Estefans, etc. Executive Vice Chairman isn't a common title but this isn't a common business structure. There's commonly a difference between an Executive Chairman, who is involved in the day-to-day aspects of the business, and a Non-Executive Chairman, who is not. I would pitch Executive Vice Chairman as a means of differentiating Marino from Matt Higgins, Don Shula and Jorge Perez but still being subordinate to Steve Ross. For background, Jorge Perez is pure real estate. He helped found The Related Companies with Steve Ross. As a Partner, that means he has financial ownership of part of the Dolphins. But he most likely is not ever anywhere near the facility and probably isn't consulted on anything having to do with even the most important decisions like hiring a General Manager or Head Coach. Matt Higgins is a little bit different. He's been seen in the hiring process jetting around with Ross and being present at the interviews for General Manager. Thing is, his background in football is HIGHLY limited. Higgins was Press Secretary for Mayor Rudy Guiliani for a long time (including during the September 11th attack). He then went on to do some real estate stuff, and became the Jets spokesman. He eventually was promoted to Executive Vice President of Business Operations. He was purely financing and that sort of thing, helping the Jets attempt to broker a stadium deal on the West Side (which failed) and then brokering a deal for the Jets and Giants to share the New Meadowlands (which succeeded). He became Co-Founder and CEO of RSE Ventures with Steve Ross. That company does stuff like FanVision and also advertising and marketing type stuff. Basically the only guy coming from the Board standpoint who has any kind of football background is Don Shula, who isn't in great health, doesn't keep up with the game, and probably isn't very interested in being any kind of adviser to Steve Ross. This is probably why Steve Ross keeps having to turn to Carl Peterson whenever he does anything important like hire a new Head Coach or General Manager. When those things need to happen suddenly Ross has to turn around and hire Peterson to come in like a headhunter consultant for a temp job running the search or at the very least aiding in it. But Carl Peterson is not with the Dolphins in an official capacity and I don't think he's interested in joining the Dolphins for anything short of being the head of football operations. Having him be your "football guy" during those events is not a very efficient way to do things and it's only come about because Ross lacks a more permanent fixture with a football background to help him out. So if I'm Dan Marino that's what I'm pitching to him. He's a Hall of Famer. He *is* the Miami Dolphins (to millions of fans, anyway). He's never going to leave the Dolphins for some other team. He played the game for 17 years and analyzed it for another 12 years or so. He has a ton of industry contacts from both of those experiences and is very well respected by football personalities. Would he be asking to run the team? No. Steve Ross makes all final decisions with the Dolphins, like it or not. But he could be the guy that helps Steve Ross make those decisions, someone who essentially already is a permanent fixture with team and whose team-first loyalty he could trust, and someone who is NOT necessarily deeply involved with the day to day football operations of the team. That would be key because if he were to be heavily involved with the day to day football operations of the team then it would be him that would need to be up for review every year, instead of him being the guy that helps Steve Ross put others up for review. The title doesn't really matter. Once your close to Ross your influence grows and wanes based on how much you seem to know what you're doing and what you're talking about. That would be where Marino needs to prove himself. His role could be minimized to that of a total rubber stamp figurehead who is there purely for the fans' sakes, or it could grow to the point that many believe he actually runs the Miami Dolphins, and it would all be about whether he proves himself.
he's probably pimping himself and his appearance for the Montana vs Marino flag football game in July.. .last game in Candlestick Park.
I would be pleased with the role of advisory for Ross, more so than anyone that currently holds that role, especially Peterson.
....or maybe it's his audition to join NFLN in the future. Ya know, get him familiar with the situation there. My guess is as good or better than some.
