It is time to call my Phins out: Where have we gone wrong? We've lost our identity. We are no longer leaders in a league of followers. We even try to take credit for bringing the scourge of the "Wild Cat" to the NFL, a scheme that screams inadequacies in the offense, even though it was Carolina's first. The turning point to calamity came in 1995 and Don Shula's last draft. It was the beginning of the end. That draft focused on building an O-line not only to protect the coveted and aging Marino, but to find tackles who could run block for a potential 1000 yard rusher. Something Marino never had until the arrival of Karim Abdul-Jabbar in 1996. That was also when the franchise was handed over to Jimmy Johnson. Identity Change. Here came an arrogant coach who won big with the Hurricanes and Cowboys. After 2 years in the Broadcast Booth, he was going to change the face of the Dolphins and Marino's game. It was a move away from the passing game, forever, and into a regime of smash mouth football and Defense. The result? A respectable defense with names like Surtain, Madison, Jason Taylor, and Zach Thomas. But where was this coveted Running game to run the clock and goal line scores? It was CRAP! His big first round Running back hope was John EFFIN Avery! Even better was running back Cecil Collins, who I might add, is eligible to be released from prison in 2014. Before him it was Lawrence Phillips! So Jimmy leaves the Phins citing "Burn Out" and recommends good friend, Dave Wannstedt. Well Davey boy decides what a great thing Jimmy has been doing and it worked for his 55.3% winning percentage to Shula's 65.8%! HELL YES! Lets have a tenure of horribles drafts where we pass up Reggie Wayne to help out gun slinger Jay Fiedler, for Bust Corner Jamar Fletcher! Who the hell needs offense to win?! Better yet, let's sign the mustache ride for another year past contract and fall to a 1-8 start! It's getting real Effing exciting now Phin Fans! By the way has anyone seen Ricky Williams in the Locker Room lately?! But guess what! We got LSU coach and NCAA champ Nick Saban! Saban decides we might need a QB to run this offense. So lets look past Drew Brees again and send a second round pick to the Vikes for Daunte Culpepper! Brilliant! Okay, okay, he might have missed on Culpepper so he made amends by trading for...Joey Harrington! Saban admits he was a little distracted because he was interviewing with Alabama! Enter Cam Cameron. Cam, being the offensive football mind that he is decided it would be beneficial to trade Wes Welker away to the Patriots, where Dolphin garbage become New England Gold! See: Larry Izzo, Rob Ninkovich, Terrell Buckely, Heath Evans and Damon Huard. All, except Huard, extracted revenge on the Dolphins. It gets better. So to start off with a 1-15 record, the worst record in the NFL that year and the worst in the team's 40-year history let's draft Ted Ginn Jr over Brady Quinn and grab and aging rookie John Beck in the second round. Lets also trade Olindo Mare and Chris Chambers. Ta DAAAA! 1-15! Help us! Here comes Bill Parcells to the rescue! New Owner Stephen Ross, "I think it's a great idea to sell shares of the franchise to Mutli-ethnic celebrities!". We've already got Gloria! The Good. Bill Parcells comes in to run all football operations. The Tuna is a Phish! Super Bowl here we come! The Tuna says we need old fashioned smash mouth football and a QB to run it. The bad starts early. The Tuna brings in Sparano and Jeff Ireland. Chad Pennington comes in to lead the Dolphins to an 11-5 AFC EAST Championship. The future has been drafted in Chad Henne and passed up LeSean McCoy for Pat White. It was a good idea at the time. So was Bill Parcells stepping down to Jeff Ireland and his Combine Questionnaire asking players if their mother was a prostitute. A ***** owner, Stephen Ross, publicly courting a hot new coach prospect in Cali with his new weasel Ireland, while the current coach waits to see if his potential replacement will sign..BUT EVERYTHING IS OKAY! WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE! You know the rest...now you know how we got here. I for one am sick of the dysfunction of what was a storied and respected franchise. GO PHINS!
The team has sapped my will, I no longer have the energy to read that kind of post. probably better. I don't need a refresher on how sh$#$Y the last 20+ years have been as a dolphins fan.
You know...It was a long paragraph. A long paragraph that had a hell of a lot of heart and substance that all of the long time dolphin fans feel right now.
I agree, but I don't know if you would have felt better or worse if you were 10 years older and had the chance to enjoy the '72-'73 teams. Teams that really put his franchise on the map. They need the #1 pick to give the franchise some hope, but unless the Colts pull that horseshoe off their helmet and stick it where it counts I see a #2-4 pick that won't do much....At least in the hope department anyway.
