The decade is ending in a few days and the top 10 lists of all kinds are all over the place. I figured it would only be right if there were a top 10 Miami Dolphins moments of the decade blog out there as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if there already has been a few of these Dolphins blogs created in the last week. I’ve only seen lists for the top 10 Dolphins players, so I hope this is at least a little bit original.
It’s been another rough decade of being a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Not much has changed in 10 years, but this team never fails to deliver moments that stick out. That’s why it’s never dull covering this team. Whether it’s a positive moment on the field or something ridiculous that happens off of it, the Dolphins are always relevant even when their record says that they shouldn’t be. This list has moments that were very important for the franchise in terms of obtaining wins. This list also has some really bizarre, uncomfortable, confusing and downright hilarious moments that, to me, stuck out more than individual wins.
There’s one more game this decade and I know anything can happen when Miami plays the Patriots(foreshadowing). But without further ado; the Top 10 Miami Dolphins moments of the decade.
10. The Dolphins play the Titans in what wound up being the longest game in NFL history
I swear, the schedule makers have to stop having Miami play Tennessee in Miami on opening day. I say this because this isn’t the first time the Dolphins and Titans were interrupted due to Mother Nature being all pissy. A hurricane once made a Dolphins Titan opener played on a Saturday. This time, it was lightning that caused delays during an opener between Miami and Tennessee. The game lasted an NFL record 7 hours and 8 minutes with the Dolphins winning in the end. It was a clunky game that was tough to watch due to all the lightning delays. But, it did deliver this Jakeem Grant return.
9. Michael Thomas Picks off Brady in the endzone to seal the game
This was a lot of fun when it happened. The Dolphins were not supposed to beat the Patriots, end up beating New England in dramatic fashion. It’s a tale as old as time. For this particular play, everyone, including myself, thought Brady would fire one in for a tying score because its Brady and that’s what he does. Not this time. This time a dude named Michael Thomas stepped up in his first-ever game and made a play that won’t soon be forgotten. Michael Thomas, the original Michael Thomas, still plays in the league on the Giants and has carved a solid career for himself. I bet he would attribute a lot of that to this play.
8. Tannehill gets hurt in preseason leading to Jay Cutler
The dreaded non-contact injury. Is there a worse phrase in sports when associated with any player? Every time you hear it, you know someone is down for a long time. This time it was Ryan Tannehill. He was coming off his best season as a pro until this year somehow. He got hurt towards the end of the 2016 regular season. It was the only season the Dolphins made the playoffs in the decade and Tannehill couldn’t play in the game.
The thought was, Tannehill finally figured it out and was ready to do some real winning. Then he rolls out and his knee explodes. Adam Gase, in his infinite wisdom, decided that instead of going with Matt Moore, the guy who took over when Ryan got hurt the previous season, that he would go with recently retired Jay Cutler. One year, 10 million dollars. That’s what Cutler got. We got another fart of a season where the Dolphins went 6-10.
7. Chris Foerster snorts coke a white substance off his desk before a meeting
This is the first of a few off the field situations that the Dolphins found themselves having to deal with during the decade. I understand that all franchises have to deal with weird stuff from time to time. But, I would bet my soul that the Dolphins have the longest resume in terms of stupid, completely avoidable situations that happen nowhere else.
An offensive line coach snorting cocaine off his desk, wishing he was doing it off a ladyfriend’s southern muscle is right up the Dolphin’s alley in terms of classic Miami Dolphin’s antics that seem to only happen to the Miami Dolphins. When this got out, it was in the midst of Cutler stinking up the joint and the Dolphins looked lost. This caused Miami fans to simultaneously roll our eyes as if we all saw a loved one embarrass themselves at a wedding, again. Folks were able to add this to the list of Dolphin’s dumb issues. Amazingly or not amazingly, Chris Foerster is back in the league this year. He’s a game-planning assistant for the 49ers. No wonder why they surprised everyone this year. Do you think a typical mind can come up with exotic running plays?
6. Cam Wake bulldozes Andy Dalton for a walk-off safety on Halloween night
2013 was a big year for the Dolphins and dramatic victories. I put this moment ahead of Michael Thomas’s INT of Brady to seal a victory mainly because it was on prime time. That and because this had only happened twice before.
It was Halloween night and the Dolphins and Bengals had the stage. A barn burner is what the game ended up being. Miami gave up a two-score lead and the game went to OT. Both teams had the ball and the Bengals got it back deep in their territory. Then, out of nowhere, Cam Wake buried the Red Riffle for a walk-off safety, in what would probably be a penalty today. The coolness of it was simple; who wins a game on a safety? The answer is Miami because why not?
Watching Cam Wake crush opponents throughout the decade was a joy to watch. Wake is easily the best player of the decade, for the Dolphins. It’s a shame that he didn’t end his career with the Dolphins, but I’m glad he’s still playing. Miami could use another Cam Wake, but so could every team.
5. Miami drafts Ryan Tannehill, their first 1st round QB since Marino
You can make the case, that this moment should be a bit higher. It’s a moment that molded the Dolphins for years and put into motion what the franchise is currently doing.
Obviously, I remember where I was when Tannehill was selected 8th overall. Most of us knew that Miami was going to take him at eight. But seeing Ryan hold that jersey up gave me and countless others the most dangerous thing a fan or an inmate can have and that’s hope. Even though I wasn’t completely sold on him, due to him playing mostly receiver in college,(did you know that?), I eventually convinced myself that this was the right move. It was 28 years since Miami took a QB in the 1st round with Marino and the team has been mostly dreadful since he retired.
The Dolphins tried around 350 QBs since Dan and none of them were any good(Pennington was alright that one year) and the team didn’t win. It was time to try and fix this QB issue with a 1st round pick. It worked as good as all the free agents that were brought in and failed. Typical Dolphin set of circumstances.
Tannehill was traded this past offseason to the Titans for a few picks and has revitalized his career. He has Tennessee on the verge of making the playoffs and has Miami fans on the verge of throwing up all over themselves. It’s almost like the coaches in Miami didn’t know how to use Ryan. It seems impossible that a Dolphin’s coach would misuse a player, but I think it’s something to consider.
4. Bullygate
The smart money says you may have forgotten about this time in 2013. Lord knows I did until I started thinking about this blog. I didn’t forget because I actively tried too. I did because there’s nothing about this story that’s fun to bring up other than of course a bullying scandal with professional offensive linemen would happen on the Dolphins. The answer to why this happened on the Dolphins and never anywhere else is because why not?
It’s such a weird story. You have Richie Incognito not a pillar of stableness, but by all accounts, he was generally liked by his teammates. Then you have Jonathan Martin, who was a rookie and was getting harassed by Incognito. I have no doubt that Incognito said all things he said besides this voicemail, but I also believe that this is something that happens in many locker rooms to some degree.
I think Incognito had no idea he was dealing with a person like Martin who suffered from depression and who was bi-polar. That’s on Richie for not understanding who he was dealing with. But even if he did why would I think Incognito would care about Martin’s mental state? I’m sure Richie was like this his whole career before this and it was never an issue because nobody ever got to upset. But you need to be able to read the room and know what to say to people.
The Dolphins handled this situation as well as they could. These guys are football players, not HR workers. So I imagine it was difficult dealing with these kinds of waters. Martin went to the 49ers and was out of the league by 2015. Incognito was out of the league for a stint, came back, was out again, and then landed surprisingly with the Raiders.
3. Laremy Tunsil draft day gas mask saga
Not since the Manti Teo fake girlfriend chronicle was the NFL world ablaze over a situation. 10 minutes before the 2016 NFL draft a video of Laremy Tunsil smoking out of a gas mask was released. It sent the country into a frenzy because nothing like this ever happened. It was the kind of situation that even the old women where I worked, who know nothing about football were asking me about it. That’s how polarizing a night it was.
I recall sitting with friends watching this and just being in a state of disbelief. We were like that because 1. it was hilarious to see this visual and 2. because we knew it meant that Laremy was going to lose out on a ton of money. Tunsil was supposed to be a top-five pick, possibly #1 overall. He fell to 13 and sure enough, Miami took him. I loved the pick. You get the best o-linemen at 13? Sign me up.
Tunsil went to Miami and was very good from day one. Ole Miss got exposed for, believe it or not, giving money to players. Laremy was traded this offseason to the Texans when the Dolphins were looking to get rid of anybody with talent. He had a decent year in Houston but not Earth-shattering.
Every draft I wait to see if a guy gets his whole world blown up from a past video. Besides some old bad texts from when a guy was 13, nothing has been close to Tunsil. I’m down for an electric night like that night again. Here’s to 2020 providing one of those nights where the internet is on fire.
2. The Dolphins make the playoffs
I was really debating with myself if I should even have this on this list. I went with it, at #2 no less because it was the only time the Dolphins made the playoffs this decade. 2016 was a fun year as a Miami fan. It was Gase’s first year and we all convinced ourselves that he would turn Tannehill into Peyton. The team started 1-4, looked like a long year and out of nowhere Jay Ajayi starts ripping 200-yard games like it’s his job. They start making a serious charge to the postseason and then Tannehill gets hurt. Matt Moore becomes the starter and gets them to playoffs only to be throttled by the Steelers. The Dolphins were now one of those teams to look out for in 2017, but Tannehill goes down in the preseason and Cutler couldn’t care less about what was happening.
Miami went to the playoffs, but I knew there was no chance they could hang with the Steelers. I was proven right in about two minutes. It was another classic Dolphins playoff showing and I didn’t like it.
But as a fan, it was a really fun year. Every week was a big game and there were real stakes at play. Hopefully, sooner than later we can all experience that feeling again.
The Best of the Rest
Not to steal Brain Kenny’s segment from Top 5 Reasons you Can’t Blame, but I’m totally doing that. These are the moments that didn’t make it into my top 10 moments of the decade but are still big deal moments.
-Jay Ajayi becomes the 4th back ever to post back-to-back 200-yard games in 2016
This was a cool stretch during the playoff year. Ajayi came out of nowhere and the team needed it. There’s no way the Dolphins reach the playoffs without Ajayi.
-The emergence of Dan Campbell
Joe Philbin was fired midseason for being lifeless. Dan Campbell had enough life for the entire western hemisphere. The team went 5-7 with Campbell, but they played with passion and it with a flair not seen in a while.
-The Dolphins trade everyone ushering in a tanking attitude by management
Notice I said management and not players or coaches. I said that because I’m not a doofus. They traded Tunsil, Stills, Drake, Minkah and brought in a 37-year-old journeymen QB to run the show. They’ve won 4 games and showed that purposely tanking in football is really hard to do.
-Matt More gets murdered in Pittsburgh
This is kind of when Chaz from Wedding Crashers goes “oh I’m hang gliding ohhh… I’m dead.” Instead, it’s “oh I’m Matt Moore, I’m in the playoffs ohhh… I’m dead.”
-Haack to Sanders
Haack to Sanders, need I say more?
1. The Miami Miracle
This, to me, is the best moment of the decade. I don’t care that this victory didn’t lead to a playoff victory or even a playoff birth. This was the best feeling I had being a fan of the Miami Dolphins. We’ve all seen teams attempt this only for 99% of them to go nowhere. This time, it went to the house against the Patriots no less.
I know Patriot fans and hardcore cynics will say me and others are making a big deal about a regular-season win that really meant nothing. That, the Patriots care about Super Bowls and me a Dolphins fan are glamorizing a week 14 win that ultimately catapulted Miami to nothing. To that, I have to quote the philosopher Jeff Lebowski who once said: “you’re not wrong you’re just an asshole.”
The missed extra point by Gostkowski earlier in the game, when it happened, registered in my brain that that could matter if there was more time. There were only a few seconds that would remain after the kickoff so I was there slumped in my chair. And then after a few clean laterals, there was Drake near the middle of the field, with space in front of him and blockers catching Patriot jerseys running free. You could tell that when Drake was holding that ball like a loaf of bread that he knew he had something. He caught the sideline with only Gronk to beat. Gronk, who Dan Fouts was speaking about with glee as the “hail Mary preventor,” was and is still wearing a permanent Tanooki Suit couldn’t stop Drake from scoring. It was awesome.
The next day at work, folks were shaking my hand as if I had something to do with it. It was like when everyone came up to Vince Papale’s dad at the bar when Vince scored that TD. Everyone wanted to tell me just how blown away they were that the Dolphins pulled it off. It was odd. I knew the Dolphins took a game that they shouldn’t have had, but they did and I was all for it. A better day as a Dolphin’s fan during 2010-2019, did not occur.
Fin
Well, there we have it. The top 10 Miami Dolphins moments of the decade according to me. I’m sure I forgot a few plays and things that happened off the field. Let me know what you think should have been included.
I like to think that the next decade can’t possibly be as bad in terms of wins, but who knows. I’ll let you know how it all went in 2029 pending that the planet doesn’t get overtaken by robots, rising sea levels or an asteroid doesn’t take everyone out.
