Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Patrick Surtain, Jamie Nails - all pillars of my past favorite team. I hadn't always been a Miami Dolphin fan but I made a point to watch as many games from this incantation as possible because I was a huge fan of so many of their players. When Ricky was traded to the Phins I became an official fanatic.
Sidenote: My friend Alan P. told me that Ricky was traded to the Dolphins. I knew it was a joke, instantly. Like "some supermodel is at the door and asking for you, naked" skeptical. I didn't even check to see if it was true.
This team never made the playoffs during my short tenure as a fan (timeline: from when Ricky was traded to the team to when Thomas became a Cowboy) but I was very happy as a fan. I loved watching the team compete, I had scapegoats on the team I could blame shortcomings on, I had statistical support for my adoration (Ricky leading the league in rushing, Thomas leading the league in tackles, Taylor leading the league in sacks, Nails leading the league in being nails) - it was a happy time. I even busted out my OJ McDuffie jersey to write this piece (thank you obscure NFL players in Canadian discount bins). Also, though the Dolphins were a widely popular and successful franchise (mostly due to Dan Marino) their fans were not braying jackasses nor was the team media darlings.
The saga of Ricky will have to wait for another day, today I am trying to determine what team I can show devotion to for the forseeable future. NFL fan free-agency works for some folks, not I. I don't want to follow the best QBs and the brightest young stars in the league, I want to follow Jamie Nails.
to be continued...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment