The Dolphins at 50: Legends and Memories from South Florida's Most Celebrated Team

The Dolphins at 50: Legends and Memories from South Florida's Most Celebrated Team

Relive the drama and excitement of the Miami Dolphins' amazing journey to their 50th year in the NFL. This commemorative book, chronicled by the Sun Sentinel team of sports reporters and photographers, takes you inside all the thrilling championships, the heartbreaking losses, the legendary coaches and players and so much more. Foreword by Jason Taylor. The Sun-Sentinel Media Group , a subsidiary of Tribune Publishing Company, is a multiplatform media company that reaches an audience of more than 1.7 million people across all platforms. As the dominant voice in the community, they interact with South Florida through award winning print and digital products, an array of niche products, and customized marketing solutions. They also publish the leading weekly Spanish-language newspaper, El Sentinel , and its companion website, ElSentinel.com. Dave Hyde is an award-winning sports columnist for the Sun-Sentinel . He has covered sports in south Florida since 1985. A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Hyde authored the book 1968: The Year that Saved Ohio State Football . The Dolphins at 50 Legends and Memories from South Florida's Most Celebrated Team By Kathy Laughlin, Keven Lerner Triumph Books Copyright © 2015 Sun-Sentinel Company, LLC All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62937-178-8 Contents 1} THE TRADITION, 2} THE SEASONS, 3} THE PLAYERS, 4} THE COACHES, 5} ON THE FIELD, CHAPTER 1 THE TRADITION Foreword Jason Taylor NO 99 LOOKS BACK OH HIS UNEXPECTED JOURNEY TO MIAMI AND HOW HIS COACHES AND TEAMMATES — SHAPED HIS LIFE AND CAREER {AS TOLD TO DAVE HYDE} When I think about it now, it's funny how everything changed in my mom's Pittsburgh home that Saturday in 1997. I didn't want a draft party, but mom did, and so I sat anxiously among family and friends to see where my football future led. Would Tennessee take me, as rumored? My hometown Steelers, as hoped? Somewhere in the third round, the phone rang and the voice at the other end said, "Hey, Jason, this is Jimmy Johnson of the Miami Dolphins...." So my football path started with a team I knew casually from being a fan of Dan Marino, another Pittsburgh guy who I grew up watching. Now he was my teammate. And soon my friend. He also in time became a bridge for me to the great history of the Dolphins, since he played with Hall of Famers like Don Shula and Dwight Stephenson, who in turn played with members of the legendary teams of the 1970s. One thing you learned quickly with the Dolphins was tradition mattered and the great names endured. I met them all through the years — Larry Csonka, Larry Little, Paul Warfield, Bob Griese and on down the line. I enjoyed being part of a franchise with deep roots of success. It set a standard for us to try to meet. When my name was added to the Dolphins' Honor Roll, that carried significance in part because of the group I was joining. Of course, I was a skinny young kid upon arriving to the Dolphins. In fact, I was so skinny that for the first three years in the league I'd eat peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches as fast as they could be made and drank bottles of water before team weigh-ins just to appear a few pounds heavier than I was. It wasn't until midway through a struggling third season that I took the advice of veteran teammate Trace Armstrong: Be yourself. That was it. That's when I turned the corner, too. I quit trying to gain weight and become a prototypical, 275-pound defensive end. I played around 240 pounds. I tried to be the best version of myself. I went from doubting myself to being dumbfounded I was good enough as I was. That's the advice I have for players today — and for students who will never play pro football. Be yourself. Trust that's good enough. That's what I learned. I had plenty of help from those around me, too. My teammates, of course. Jimmy taught me to be a pro. Nick Saban arrived and changed my entire role in a manner that worried me. Instead of playing as a normal hand-in-the-dirt defensive end, I moved all over the defense. I remember talking to Nick about that role and his philosophies on the phone for 45 minutes while driving a boat to the Keys. In that new role, I was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2006. So another lesson was learned. Don't fear change. Embrace smart change. As my career went on, everything changed. I met my wife. We started a family. We also worked to become part of the community. For years, I went to players' charities in the offseason to watch how they ran events. I watched Marino, again, in his work with autism. I didn't just want to have a great career. I wanted to impact my community. I knew what it was like to grow up poor and without direction. I loved when an athlete came to talk at an event. So it's important, years after my career is over, that The Jason Taylor Foundation is helping students find their path through staples such as after-school programs and creative ideas like poetry contests. I was lucky.