Miami Dolphins using a longstanding New England Patriots tactic to improve their team
In September of 2002 a photo of former Miami Dolphins players Damon Huard, Terrell Buckley, Grey Ruegamer and Larry Izzo arrived at the Dolphins training facility for everyone to see.
The four men, showing off their sparkling New England Patriots Super Bowl rings, were raising a finger to signify winning the championship and being No. 1.
Curiously, they decided to raise the middle finger instead of the index finger.
And it was funny, more or less, to players still on the Miami roster that their former teammates had gone on to bigger and better things with a division rival. So the photo made the rounds.
But the message was clear: The former Dolphins were basically saying it was better to leave Miami and be in New England.
That moment served as something of a marker.
For years following that photo, Dolphins fans started noticing former Miami players leave and go somewhere else -- often New England -- to enjoy greater success.
The list became pretty extensive:
Bryan Cox.
Bert Emanuel.
Terrance Shaw.
Junior Seau.
Izzo.
T-Buck.
Sammy Morris.
Huard.
And even when the players didn’t become major cogs in the Patriots’ championship machine, it became unpleasant to witness a division rival snatch talent the Dolphins didn’t think was good any longer and win with those guys as contributors.
This addition of resources by the Patriots at the expense of the Dolphins and other division rivals has been going on for years, with receiver Chris Hogan being among the latest in the pipeline.
And if you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for the Dolphins to fight back. You’ve been waiting for them to do to New England what has been done to them for years.
This year that has happened.
We saw it in the offseason. And we saw it pay dividends all season, particularly last Sunday.
The Dolphins in the offseason went after free agent receiver Danny Amendola, who spent the past five seasons with the Patriots. They had New England running back Dion Lewis on their free agent list and wanted him -- until his price got beyond what Miami would pay and he signed with Tennessee.
And when the Patriots waived Brandon Bolden, as they had done the previous year as one of Bill Belichick’s roster juggling moves, with the intentions of re-signing him eventually, the Dolphins swooped in and signed Bolden instead.
And this should make you feel good for three reasons:
Firstly, revenge. Yes, revenge. It should feel good to serve it up to the team that has dominated the division the entire century.
Secondly, it’s wisdom. The players a front office and coaching staff should know best are their own players. And right behind that, come the players within their division because of the familiarity in playing them so often.
Thirdly, it has helped the Dolphins. On the field.
Tangibly.
Amendola is Miami’s leading receiver with 49 catches. And while he isn’t a deep threat or a superstar, he’s a good contributor to have on the team. He also is a mood setter and locker room leader.
Amendola is a net-plus player for the Dolphins.
Bolden, similarly, is a true professional. He accounted for a kick return touchdown with a block the first game of the season -- about four days after signing with Miami.
And on Sunday against the Patriots, he scored two touchdowns, including one on a 54-yard run.
That is all sorts of smart roster improvement and coaching staff use of players. It’s New Englandy.
Taking from division or conference rivals while improving one’s own team is great stuff. It’s smart to find those players.
“Most of those guys don’t usually get out of whatever team they’re on because they get re-signed when it is free agency and things like that,” coach Adam Gase said. “It probably happens a little bit when you see a guy and you’re like, ‘Man, that guy is a really good player.’ So if that ever comes up, you remember stuff like that, especially when you play them. You can remember all of the things that guy disrupted.”
The Dolphins last offseason did that with receiver Albert Wilson.
The Chiefs dealt Miami’s 2017 season something of a death blow. But in preparation for that game and afterward, the Dolphins noticed Wilson making plays. They recognized he presented problems.
So when the offseason rolled around, the Dolphins came back to that knowledge to chase him.
Is that a tactic the Patriots have been using for years? Frustratingly, yes.
Is it now in the Miami arsenal?
“Yeah,” Gase said. “If you get around them and those guys are really contributing for you, then that’s a good thing for us.”
