Speaker 1: Practice Rolphis Paffricks touchdown. What a win for this Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphin team. Wow? What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins official
Speaker 1: podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins, each and
Speaker 1: every day. How's it going everybody? It is Friday? Who
Speaker 1: on that? I am your host, Travis Wingfield and I'm
Speaker 1: here to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, it is Flashback Friday. We are
Speaker 1: going to go back to the Dolphins beat that then St.
Speaker 1: Louis rams in St. Louis to get into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: We're gonna hear from both Seth Levitt and o J
Speaker 1: McDuffie of the Fish Tank Podcast. O J caught a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass and recovered an offensive fumble in that game.
Speaker 1: Will get his perspective on Don Shula's final win as
Speaker 1: the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and in his
Speaker 1: brilliant Hall of Fame co chin career. We'll get to
Speaker 1: John congenmi's takeaways, update you on the latest injuries here
Speaker 1: for Dolphins, and rams on Sunday. All of that more
Speaker 1: on this Friday, October thirty edition of the drive Time podcast,
Speaker 1: and drive Time is brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: There are so many reasons to drive pink, but for
Speaker 1: Auto Nation, there's only one, to finish the fight against cancer.
Speaker 1: In fact, Auto Nation has helped raise over twenty five
Speaker 1: million dollars to drive out Cancer. To join the fight,
Speaker 1: visit the Auto Nation store near you or drive pink
Speaker 1: dot com. Let's go ahead and jump into the Friday
Speaker 1: injury report for Rams and Dolphins for Sunday's one o'clock
Speaker 1: kickoff at hard Rock Stadium. And first, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get you ready for game day with the latest
Speaker 1: injury report. The Friday the final injury report for Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Rams. For the Miami Dolphins relatively healthy. Two players
Speaker 1: listed with game status is The injury report has several
Speaker 1: players on it, but most players were will participants and
Speaker 1: have no distinction as far as their game status. Cornerback
Speaker 1: Jamal Perry's gonna miss the game he has a foot injury.
Speaker 1: Did not practice on Friday. He will miss Sunday's game.
Speaker 1: Tight End Adam Shaheen is questionable with a shoulder injury
Speaker 1: for the Rams. Check out Miami Dolphins dot com Top
Speaker 1: news for their Friday latest. On Thursday, only one player
Speaker 1: was limited and that was tight end Tyler Higbee, the
Speaker 1: only player on their injury report for Thursday. And before
Speaker 1: we get to the Friday flashback with O J McDuffie
Speaker 1: and Seth Levitt, let's go ahead and hear from John
Speaker 1: con Gemmi his three keys to the game against the Rams.
Speaker 1: Number one, staying ahead of the chains. An easy way
Speaker 1: to gain early momentum is to stack positive plays together,
Speaker 1: especially for a rookie quarterback making his first NFL starts.
Speaker 1: One of the hardest jobs, John says on Sunday will
Speaker 1: be determining the correct play calls at the most critical
Speaker 1: times for coach chan Gaily, the offensive coordinator. He will
Speaker 1: need some blend of run and pass, some things the
Speaker 1: Rams defense has not seen before, and it could create
Speaker 1: for a creative mix of runs, play action and quick
Speaker 1: time thing throws there for quarterback to a tongue of valoa.
Speaker 1: Number two control Aaron Donald and company, Where's number nine
Speaker 1: and how many bodies will take to slow him down?
Speaker 1: That's usually the first question in the offensive meeting rooms
Speaker 1: when facing the Rams and arguably the best player in
Speaker 1: the league, and Aaron Donald, says John the Dolphins offensive
Speaker 1: line cannot allow Donald to build on his eight sacks
Speaker 1: and six tackles for lost this Sunday. Doing whatever it
Speaker 1: takes to slow him down is what's required when facing
Speaker 1: such a dominant player. John writes number three, flipping the field.
Speaker 1: My feeling this week, John says, is that in order
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins to win, they must be successful on
Speaker 1: early downs on offense and somehow get Rams quarterback Jared
Speaker 1: Goff to turn the football over. So if you guys
Speaker 1: want to read all of John's three takeaways, the entire
Speaker 1: article up on Miami Dolphins dot com, it's there for you.
Speaker 1: As he writes every single Thursday here on Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. And it's now my favorite time of the week.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I want, I don't want to make
Speaker 1: their heads too big. We'll call it my second favorite
Speaker 1: podcast of the week, The Fins Flashback when I welcome
Speaker 1: in the co host of the Tank podcast, O J McDuffie,
Speaker 1: Seth Lovitt Fellas, what's going on to be here? Man,
Speaker 1: don't don't apologize. This can be your favorite. There's no
Speaker 1: shame in that, man, there's no shame. But second to
Speaker 1: his though, I think it's I think we're second to his,
Speaker 1: but his his work. This is a labor of laws, right,
Speaker 1: and you can't make our heads any bigger. Juice and
Speaker 1: I were talking off air about his his wife and realty,
Speaker 1: and he said that he's she is his his quarterback. Now,
Speaker 1: I said, hey, you can call her your favorite quarterback
Speaker 1: of all time and he said, yeah. Now that Dan's
Speaker 1: not throwing me footballs anymore, I don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about upsetting him. So there you go, right, So we're
Speaker 1: gonna flash listening. It keeps me, keeps us better at
Speaker 1: home to you know what I mean. Dan is not
Speaker 1: cooking dinner, He's not you know, he's not doing work
Speaker 1: around the house, you know. So yeah, she's my my
Speaker 1: number one quarterback, A long time married man right there
Speaker 1: speaking known exactly the language to go ahead and use
Speaker 1: on that, because stuff. The reason we have these guys
Speaker 1: on today is because we're gonna flash this thing back
Speaker 1: a game against the St. Louis Rams, as the Dolphins
Speaker 1: will welcome in the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday to
Speaker 1: hard Rock Stadium for two a tongue of Iloa's first
Speaker 1: NFL start as the Dolphins look to get over five
Speaker 1: hundred for the first time in the coaching career of
Speaker 1: Brian Flores. And the reason we're doing this game fellows
Speaker 1: one because Jews played in it, and too because it
Speaker 1: was the last win in the illustrious career of Don Shula.
Speaker 1: And I want to start there with you, Juice and
Speaker 1: ask you, you know, were you guys, Did you guys
Speaker 1: ever think about the win total for Shula going for
Speaker 1: the records? Is that kind of something you guys had
Speaker 1: in the back of your mind or was it just
Speaker 1: one play of time, one series, one game, or was
Speaker 1: there a bigger picture of things that you thought about.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't know much about the record books,
Speaker 1: especially when it came to the Dolphins or anybody involved, man,
Speaker 1: But it was always about trying to get a win.
Speaker 1: You know. We never talked like the teams do nowadays
Speaker 1: about going one and over this week, But we always
Speaker 1: just want to look at the next opponent, whore who
Speaker 1: were playing. It's kind of the same motto of playing,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, you know, trying to go one and
Speaker 1: oh for the week. And so any time we got
Speaker 1: out here and we gotta win, you know, it was
Speaker 1: always important. We had such a u such a I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's an arrogance about us that we
Speaker 1: knew that we're gonna be competitive every single game we
Speaker 1: go off to and win a lot of games. We
Speaker 1: also knew that we're gonna make playoffs, so it was
Speaker 1: all about going out there trying to win the division,
Speaker 1: win every single game at home or whatever. But you know,
Speaker 1: every single win that we won, it was nice to
Speaker 1: see a stack up on on on shoeless Tally, you know,
Speaker 1: And I'm sure he appreciated, but he wasn't even thinking
Speaker 1: about it either. He was we're gonna get that record.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get that record no matter what. But no
Speaker 1: matter what, it was week by week, game by game,
Speaker 1: trying to get onto the next phase and you know,
Speaker 1: and trying to get into the playoffs. And it would
Speaker 1: go down to shoot seven career win in that game.
Speaker 1: The season finale against the St. Louis Rams. Different back
Speaker 1: then because now you finished the season against a division
Speaker 1: opponent every single year in Week seven team, But back
Speaker 1: then an interconference game, I forget how the phrasing on
Speaker 1: that works. Playing across the conference against the Rams and
Speaker 1: we were trying to figure out a game to do.
Speaker 1: Four flashback here, and I was thinking about sixteen, the
Speaker 1: two touchdowns late in the game to come back and
Speaker 1: win that game. But a lot of those guys are
Speaker 1: still playing, so it's hard to get them on the
Speaker 1: podcast here. So we're going back. And that was right
Speaker 1: before you got to Miami, right Seth. Yeah, well I
Speaker 1: was right before I got back to my Yeah, so
Speaker 1: obviously grew up down here, but I was working with
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers at that point in time. The only
Speaker 1: thing that in my first connection with o J as
Speaker 1: I drove to Cincinnati and watched o J catch a
Speaker 1: game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter there in front
Speaker 1: of all his his Ohio wands, and I think I
Speaker 1: sat up there in the chief seats with with your
Speaker 1: family all all the way back up there wherever Harvey
Speaker 1: stuck us. But at this point in time, I was
Speaker 1: just a fan, just keeping an eye on the team.
Speaker 1: And and like you said, I think at that point,
Speaker 1: you're just counting the wins for coach Schula to know
Speaker 1: that he's just further, He's putting more, more and more
Speaker 1: distance between him and anybody else who's going to coach
Speaker 1: just one of those records never expected to be broken. Um,
Speaker 1: and and you love to see as a fan at
Speaker 1: that point, you love to see Danny throwing it around
Speaker 1: and hitting o J and hitting Friar and putting points
Speaker 1: on the board. Hey o J. Speaking of of the
Speaker 1: Ohio days and going back up to college. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: the way I watched Penn Stay football games has kind
Speaker 1: of changed since I met you. And I know the
Speaker 1: last Saturday didn't go your way, But does that take
Speaker 1: away some of the shine from from tomorrow's game against
Speaker 1: the buck Eyes? Hell, no way, no way. You know,
Speaker 1: we're back in and we beat the buck Eyes, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's an important game again against those guys, you know,
Speaker 1: and you know we you know that game was as
Speaker 1: a rough game. We didn't play very well. We didn't
Speaker 1: deserve the win in my opinion. But whenever we're playing
Speaker 1: against those those those buck Eyes, man, it's always huge
Speaker 1: for us. And who knows how much we look ahead
Speaker 1: past Indiana to get to that point. But anytime you
Speaker 1: get a chance to play against team that's perennial top five,
Speaker 1: top three, you know, been number one in the country,
Speaker 1: you know, every single year for last fifteen years, it's
Speaker 1: it's important and they've dominated the big ten. So you
Speaker 1: get those opportunities. It's it's it's it's it's it's huge
Speaker 1: for us and our boys be ready for for a
Speaker 1: great as usual or how State team. That's the kind
Speaker 1: of response I was expecting. Hell, no, I'm not. There's
Speaker 1: no shine away from that game whatsoever. It's it's funny
Speaker 1: you say that because we had Miles Gascon on the
Speaker 1: podcast a couple of weeks ago, and I was all
Speaker 1: charged up to ask him about the Apple Cup and
Speaker 1: how Washington Huskies perceived that game. Was I'm sitting here
Speaker 1: wearing my Cougar's hat right now, and he basically said, like,
Speaker 1: you guys are step child man, like Utah Oregon, those
Speaker 1: are the ones that matter. We don't give a crap
Speaker 1: about the freaking the Cougars. Like I guess you lose
Speaker 1: seven straight Apple Cups. That's what that's how it becomes.
Speaker 1: But that's it's it's rough that way, man, And I
Speaker 1: think Ohio State has treated everybody in the big tent
Speaker 1: that way. You know for the last probably twenty years
Speaker 1: now you speak doing Michigan that we're back and forth,
Speaker 1: but now Ohio State is like they're a creamat the
Speaker 1: crop and everybody's you know, trying to get to where
Speaker 1: they're at, especially in the Big Tent, but you know,
Speaker 1: even nationally as well. So that's what we're that's what
Speaker 1: we're aiming for. So anytime we get a chance to
Speaker 1: play them at home, it's not the white out like
Speaker 1: we're used to having, you know, which is always a
Speaker 1: difference maker at night there on with you know, late
Speaker 1: in October with the all white out crowd was always
Speaker 1: an advantage for us. So it's going to be, you know,
Speaker 1: are we better them or are they going to you know,
Speaker 1: continue to their dominance. Well, it's the Big Ten being back.
Speaker 1: I said on Twitter last Saturday that it just made
Speaker 1: me feel like college football was finally back, because there's
Speaker 1: something about those October gloomy Big Ten games that you
Speaker 1: just can't replicate. And I was back home in Washington
Speaker 1: stay and it was like thirty degrees that Saturday too,
Speaker 1: so I was like, this is this is where I'm comfortable.
Speaker 1: This is my my football comfort zone. Next week we
Speaker 1: get the Pack twelve, So go Coog's baby back on
Speaker 1: the football field. We already had the SEC previously. And
Speaker 1: that's my shameless transition here into a topic about a
Speaker 1: play in this Dolphins Rams game. Getting back on track here,
Speaker 1: Oh Ja, you recovered a fumble in this game, and
Speaker 1: I wanted to The reason I mentioned the sec with
Speaker 1: with old Miss and DK Metcalf was he made that
Speaker 1: play on Sunday night that everybody's talking about where he
Speaker 1: ran a hundred yards and ran down Buddha Baker of
Speaker 1: Washington the Washington Huskies. He ran him down and made
Speaker 1: a touchdown saving play that kept seven points off the board.
Speaker 1: Now my question for you, o J is when you
Speaker 1: see an interception when you're on offense. I saw I
Speaker 1: was looking at you on the replace. I'm like, I
Speaker 1: want to see how juice reacts to this, and you
Speaker 1: booked it over to the guy that picked off the ball.
Speaker 1: Is that mindset like this dude's not gonna get any
Speaker 1: yards on the interception return? Like, what's your mindset when
Speaker 1: the quarterback throws a pick? Yeah, I'm looking for a
Speaker 1: big hit. I'm looking for a big hit right there, man,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get me something, you know what I mean? Like, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, as a wide receiver, you very seldom get
Speaker 1: an opportunities to get a big hit on somebody. But
Speaker 1: you know when that happens, and I wasn't the one
Speaker 1: that calls the fumble there, but I was there on
Speaker 1: the spot. You know. When I played at Penn State,
Speaker 1: if you look back, you know the immaculate reception by
Speaker 1: Franco Hares. Joe Paterno takes credit for that. He's always
Speaker 1: telling everybody to go to the ball, go to the ball,
Speaker 1: so he thinks that Franco was saying, you know, go
Speaker 1: to the ball, go to the ball, and that's how
Speaker 1: he was able to make that cats. You know, so
Speaker 1: anytime the always turned over. I'm just so used to
Speaker 1: flocking torts of footballs. I had a touchdown with Charles
Speaker 1: Jordan's inside the five, and I picked up against the
Speaker 1: Jets and went into the end zone and score with it.
Speaker 1: You know. I ran a DV down against the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears one time and poked it out, you know, and
Speaker 1: we got that interception. So it's just always about going
Speaker 1: to the ball. So you just never know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: When when the football is in somebody's hands, you need
Speaker 1: to go to it because as we know, football's bounced
Speaker 1: oddly a lot of times, so you better be ready
Speaker 1: to make a play on it. Yeah, it's like a
Speaker 1: it's like a mindset, right, Like that's that's how you play,
Speaker 1: that's how you train. You treat every play and every
Speaker 1: down the same. And I have to imagine that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of what goes into that right. Absolutely, mean you
Speaker 1: just never know. You want to be there support if
Speaker 1: I gotta throw a block, if I gotta recover phone ball,
Speaker 1: if I gotta do whatever I have to do. You know,
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about. So always, always, always just
Speaker 1: go to the football Seth. You're always the one that
Speaker 1: kind of helps provide some some background to your guests
Speaker 1: for o J. Because he's not going to brag about
Speaker 1: himself ever, but you always been a pretty good job.
Speaker 1: He's just telling the truth. He's a spitting facts. You're
Speaker 1: the one that comes in at if it's true exactly.
Speaker 1: You're the one that comes in with the superlatists. I
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you, like it was was there a
Speaker 1: moment that to find O J's career for you and
Speaker 1: o JAM. Sorry this is awkward for you being on
Speaker 1: the call right here, but was there a moment that
Speaker 1: really defined who o J McDuffie was to you? Wow?
Speaker 1: So I don't know if I could point to one
Speaker 1: specific moment, but I I, well, actually I take that back.
Speaker 1: It's funny when he just said, how you know he
Speaker 1: was trying to get a hit in. I never forget.
Speaker 1: And I think we talked about it last time against
Speaker 1: the Jets on that punt return and that you signaled
Speaker 1: fair catch and in those days, and the guys looking
Speaker 1: back for the ball and sees o J fair caught
Speaker 1: the ball and he wants to make sure he can
Speaker 1: try and down it. And the guy turned his head
Speaker 1: and o J laid him out. And you know, we
Speaker 1: heard Dan Marinos say that this is the toughest player
Speaker 1: he ever got in the huddle with. And I think
Speaker 1: just the physical nature of the way o J approached
Speaker 1: the game is something that that defined his career in
Speaker 1: so many ways. That and uh, there's no way that
Speaker 1: any of us could forget the spin the first thing,
Speaker 1: you know, third down and whatever it is, Juice was
Speaker 1: gonna find a way to get open. And when he
Speaker 1: made that first down, he's gonna let you know that
Speaker 1: he did. And then you know everybody likes to signal
Speaker 1: first down. Juice would just leave that thing spinning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: some people want to they want to kick it, said
Speaker 1: they want to play it. They didn't. They hated that.
Speaker 1: That's yeah, it was on this point for a long
Speaker 1: time to taunting, right, I mean it is anymore? Man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: well you didn't. You didn't have a spin in this game.
Speaker 1: Maybe you did. I didn't see it on the replay,
Speaker 1: but you did have a very emphatic spike on that
Speaker 1: turf out there in in St. Louis. And we were
Speaker 1: talking about this again off air a little bit. I
Speaker 1: was curious because you catch a little slant route in
Speaker 1: between three monsters and let's let's actually go ahead and
Speaker 1: start there, because you catch this pass in between a
Speaker 1: trio of RAMS defenders and on the on the highlight,
Speaker 1: you go out of frame and Dan just sticks that
Speaker 1: thing in there and I see a collection of RAMS players.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I hope juice comes out of this thing alive.
Speaker 1: Of course you did, and you caught the touchdown. Like
Speaker 1: back then, it was different, man, going up into the
Speaker 1: middle of the football field was different than it is now.
Speaker 1: What was that like, Man, Like, did you was that
Speaker 1: ever in the back of your mind like footsteps or
Speaker 1: here comes the big shot? It wasn't just I'm going
Speaker 1: to catch the ball. I don't care what happens. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the thing. That's a great point there, Travis,
Speaker 1: because no matter what catch it or drop it, you're
Speaker 1: gonna get lit up most of the time, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, So you might as well go ahead
Speaker 1: and make the catch. So for me, it was always
Speaker 1: a focus on the football, you know, in the football alone,
Speaker 1: and then I worry about that everything else afterwards. Um.
Speaker 1: So you know, especially if Danny's trusting you and and
Speaker 1: throwing the ball in there like that, Um, I think
Speaker 1: in that player, I'm not I think on that player.
Speaker 1: I think Danny might have made that play call to
Speaker 1: give me an opportunity to, you know, to to make
Speaker 1: that that that catch. But man, once you get that
Speaker 1: opportunity and he's throwing it, Tam and he's actually saying, look,
Speaker 1: I'm throwing the ball. Team, you have to make that
Speaker 1: play no matter what. But guys are gonna light you
Speaker 1: up no matter what. Back then, they're a little a
Speaker 1: lot safer. Now guys aren't getting hits as as they
Speaker 1: used to when I play. But back then, if I
Speaker 1: dropped it, caught it, whatever, I was gonna get lit
Speaker 1: up anyway. So I might as a way to made
Speaker 1: me catch and that was my mentality all the time
Speaker 1: over the middle, you know, down the sideline, whatever it was,
Speaker 1: just go for the ball because you're gonna get hit regardless. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that that was That was one of the things that
Speaker 1: really was the selling point for football at that age
Speaker 1: was was the big hits and how can guys you know,
Speaker 1: lay the lumber to receivers and offensive players alike. And
Speaker 1: also in the nineties was Dan Marino and man on
Speaker 1: that highlight, there was a couple of plays where I
Speaker 1: was just watching it, like, this guy can still drop
Speaker 1: that release and just get it out in a second.
Speaker 1: It never changed for him. It was so much fun
Speaker 1: to watch. Another player in that game who's a little
Speaker 1: bit legendary, reminds me of the nineties, was on the
Speaker 1: other side of the football and Isaac Bruce and they
Speaker 1: said on the replay that that was his ninth yard
Speaker 1: game of the year, a Rams record at that point,
Speaker 1: very early on in his career. But after your touchdown, Juice,
Speaker 1: you did this emphatic, you know, kind of windmill type
Speaker 1: of spike where you sent the ball off the turf
Speaker 1: and that thing must have punctured the ceiling there at
Speaker 1: the at the A Stadium because I think went flying
Speaker 1: up into the air. And what I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you about was later in the game, Isaac catches a
Speaker 1: touchdown and he did the exact same spike. Was that
Speaker 1: one of your guys? The celebration was it like, Hey,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna do that in my house? Like what
Speaker 1: happened there? But you know, Isaac was a local kid,
Speaker 1: you know, growing up down here in South Florida, So
Speaker 1: he's he's probably trying to emulate the old guy, even
Speaker 1: though it's not I went that old at that point,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to get his little spike in, especially
Speaker 1: after you know that they're seeing how you know, I
Speaker 1: had a couple of catches in that game, so you
Speaker 1: know I talked I've talked to him a couple of times,
Speaker 1: and who knows how, you know, was that imitation is
Speaker 1: the greatest form of flattery. That's what I'm feeling like
Speaker 1: right there in that situation. So, but what a great
Speaker 1: player was mean when I was looking back at this game,
Speaker 1: you talk about games in a season that's that's that's unbelievable,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And he was yards in
Speaker 1: this game along right. I also saw in that game
Speaker 1: where he had a little chat with his buddy Calvin
Speaker 1: Jackson on the sideline. There two dealer boys, you know guys,
Speaker 1: and you know, so I know Calvin was like, man,
Speaker 1: stop that. You know, he was children as that game
Speaker 1: now he yeah, he got off and that's that's kind
Speaker 1: of what he did throughout the course of his career.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned imitation being the s and serious form
Speaker 1: of flattery. I'm curious, Seth, if you have any stories
Speaker 1: about maybe some guys that you ran across in the
Speaker 1: Dolphin your Dolphins days that you know, we we talked
Speaker 1: about Jews kind of had he had the prime real
Speaker 1: estate there right now he does his photop on the
Speaker 1: wall at the facility, and Davy he also had the
Speaker 1: prime real estate in the locker room. Was there some
Speaker 1: guys that ever came in was like, hey, I want
Speaker 1: what Jews has. I think a lot of them, and
Speaker 1: not just not just receivers. I think that uh, you know.
Speaker 1: O J was one of those guys that and look,
Speaker 1: I started ninety six, you were only in your third year, Juice,
Speaker 1: fourth year, and and o J was one of those
Speaker 1: veterans that guys looked up to and when young guys
Speaker 1: came in um and it was it was the way
Speaker 1: o J carried himself, certainly, the way he practiced and played.
Speaker 1: I think it was the status that he had in
Speaker 1: the community. Um O. You know, we talked about on
Speaker 1: the fish tank all the time, the basketball games and
Speaker 1: then the parties that would ensue, and so I think
Speaker 1: I just looked at oj Is like, this is what
Speaker 1: it this is what it is to be in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So I think there was a lot of that going on.
Speaker 1: But I also want to you know, we just talked
Speaker 1: about two hundred plus yards with Bruce. We talked about
Speaker 1: Penn State. You know, o J had a former Penn
Speaker 1: State teammate who became a teammate here with the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: But on this day he was wearing the Rams colors,
Speaker 1: and that's Troy Drayton. And you probably know Troy now
Speaker 1: from seeing him walk around the building, and he does
Speaker 1: a great work with youth programs. Is there anyway like
Speaker 1: Bruce could give some of his yards Detroit. I looked
Speaker 1: at his stats. You have one cash for minus six
Speaker 1: yards out a big set man. Minus six yards were
Speaker 1: ceiling in a day. I don't know what how could
Speaker 1: that have been either? Were they I mean, what are
Speaker 1: they doing? Like a screen to him myself? I don't
Speaker 1: even know. Rip had three hundred plus yards re ceiling,
Speaker 1: and thank goodness, if he had thrown any more to Troy,
Speaker 1: he might have been under well. Well, Joy certainly wasn't
Speaker 1: going to the who knows, I guess we'll find out.
Speaker 1: He certainly wasn't going to the after party at at
Speaker 1: Juice's house that night. But uh, you know, you guys
Speaker 1: must have been, because you find out later after the
Speaker 1: game that you know it was Dolphins had to win,
Speaker 1: Denver had to lose to get into the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: that's what happened Dolphins there in St. Louis. And I'm curious,
Speaker 1: like as a player, going back to kind of the
Speaker 1: same mindset of of you know, are you thinking about
Speaker 1: certain things in the course of the game. Were you
Speaker 1: cognizant of the outtown scoreboard? Was there? Did they have
Speaker 1: the score up on the on the big jumbo tron?
Speaker 1: Did you watch that throughout the course of the game,
Speaker 1: or was it again just play by play series by series? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not really sure. I knew we had to win.
Speaker 1: I mean, that was a muss. So that was that
Speaker 1: was the biggest point of the whole thing, and then
Speaker 1: the rest had to take care of itself. And you know,
Speaker 1: as a player and as a team, and you hate
Speaker 1: to put the outcome or you know, everything and and
Speaker 1: somebody else's control, and that's what we had done at
Speaker 1: that point. We really, you know, kind of didn't play
Speaker 1: well late season. Should have been a better team than
Speaker 1: we were, um I think in my opinion. And the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, we had to win definitely to
Speaker 1: get in and then have to wait for somebody else
Speaker 1: to lose is always a problem. So no, we weren't
Speaker 1: uh as concerned about what was going on the other
Speaker 1: way because we couldn't control that. But we had to
Speaker 1: go into you know, and St. Louis to get that win,
Speaker 1: and that was the most important thing. And you did
Speaker 1: take care of the business, and so did the Raiders
Speaker 1: on the other side to get the Dolphins into the
Speaker 1: playoffs that year. And Seth, you have to love this
Speaker 1: because you guys mentioned Harvey Green on Fish Tank all
Speaker 1: the time. He's a legend around these parts, and Chris
Speaker 1: Berman mentioned his name on that Primetime Highlights says, here
Speaker 1: comes Harvey Green. The legendary Harvey Green. He says, given
Speaker 1: shoot of the information, which I just found so fascinating
Speaker 1: because you know, that's what is that twenty five years
Speaker 1: ago and things have obviously changed. I'm sure the coach
Speaker 1: can bust out his phone and check a score, you know,
Speaker 1: today's game like like, no, no problem. But back then
Speaker 1: you had kind of like a spot or so to
Speaker 1: speaker would come up and say, hey, Denver touched on
Speaker 1: you know that they're winning, Like was is that something
Speaker 1: you guys did often? Or only in the playoffs? Are
Speaker 1: it really is? Because so again, if you think about
Speaker 1: the support staff and whatever your your role is with
Speaker 1: the team, your your job. Look, I we're never gonna
Speaker 1: go on the field and make a play. We're not
Speaker 1: gonna catch that touchdown that O J did. But your
Speaker 1: job is to do everything you can to minimize distractions
Speaker 1: and and put the guys and the coaches and everyone
Speaker 1: in the best position they can be so they can
Speaker 1: focus on what they're paid to do. Right and so
Speaker 1: while and I don't know, I don't know coach Flores,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how Matt and the team and
Speaker 1: the PR team works on on those things now, but
Speaker 1: I can't imagine that coach Flores is gonna pull out
Speaker 1: a cell phone and check the score in the middle
Speaker 1: of the game. You know, Number one, he's clearly too
Speaker 1: focused for that. And while he could have the access,
Speaker 1: Number two, you know, what message does that send to
Speaker 1: his players? What message does that send to to anybody
Speaker 1: in the stadium or or Chris Berman, right, who's the
Speaker 1: I M sky watching it? And so, yeah, the team's
Speaker 1: contra is gonna be We're only gonna focus on what
Speaker 1: we can handle. But you damn sure know that the
Speaker 1: PR staff and other folks are keeping an eye on
Speaker 1: those scores, and they're flashing the scores in the stadium
Speaker 1: and and and so you can see those things, and
Speaker 1: you know, an equipment guy or a trainer is keeping
Speaker 1: an eye on that. But typically what happens, Travis, is
Speaker 1: the PR team is going to keep an eye on
Speaker 1: whatever it is that that the coach needs to know.
Speaker 1: And there's gonna be somebody on that sideline, not even
Speaker 1: a coach. There's gonna be somebody on that sideline that
Speaker 1: really is your conduct there who you're gonna speak with,
Speaker 1: and and they may check and say, okay, you know
Speaker 1: so and so would like an update at this point
Speaker 1: and would happen, and they're gonna check in with you.
Speaker 1: But you've got to have that information because the last
Speaker 1: thing you want to happen is when the question does come,
Speaker 1: coach says, hey, what's the score in that game? If
Speaker 1: Harvey doesn't have an answer, Harvey's not flying at home.
Speaker 1: So you've gotta be armed with the information. You also
Speaker 1: have to be selective when and with and to whom
Speaker 1: you're gonna give it to. So you guys also like
Speaker 1: brought up like numbers of guys are approaching records or
Speaker 1: situation throughout the game, and that was that was weekly.
Speaker 1: You keep an eye on that. You know, sometimes a
Speaker 1: guy might have ninety something yard ninety seven yards rushing
Speaker 1: and going into the fourth quarter and it's it's really
Speaker 1: time to burn the clock, and you might let somebody know.
Speaker 1: You don't want to get here comes bell always Uh,
Speaker 1: you don't you don't want to get uh. You don't
Speaker 1: want to get in the coach's head, and you certainly
Speaker 1: don't want to tell them how to call the game.
Speaker 1: But you also want to let them know if a
Speaker 1: guy's three yards away from a hundred yard game, or
Speaker 1: if a guy. You know, if a guy's had a
Speaker 1: hundred and something straight games with a catch and he
Speaker 1: doesn't have on this game, you might want to just
Speaker 1: get that information. So again, you have somebody and I
Speaker 1: don't know who it is for this current team. I
Speaker 1: know who it was when we were there, But you
Speaker 1: have somebody that you get the information to, and you
Speaker 1: have to trust that they're going to get the information
Speaker 1: to the people that make those decisions. So when when
Speaker 1: you were there to that information comes through like a
Speaker 1: fax machine, a carrier pigeon. How did it get to you?
Speaker 1: That's it the pony Express. And it's terrible to say this,
Speaker 1: but we weren't texting when I started. That was not happening.
Speaker 1: And so there was the phone. There was the phone
Speaker 1: down behind right always behind the uh the bench, there
Speaker 1: was a phone there, and we had a guy down there,
Speaker 1: and so we would make those calls or we had
Speaker 1: the walkie talk He's eventually starting to text. But yeah,
Speaker 1: there'd be certain information, certain statistics. And the other thing
Speaker 1: you would see Harvey do all the time is he
Speaker 1: would walk off the field, is he would give certain
Speaker 1: key points to the coach who played, Well, what are
Speaker 1: the things? Because the coach is now thinking about what
Speaker 1: he's gonna go say to the team, and not not
Speaker 1: that he's gonna go spit out a bunch of statistics,
Speaker 1: but he just wants to have some idea, you know.
Speaker 1: And as much as you hear coaches asked about things
Speaker 1: afterwards and they said, I don't know, I need to
Speaker 1: go look at the film. I need to go look
Speaker 1: at the film. They're not just saying that to blow
Speaker 1: things off. They really want to be accurate. And and
Speaker 1: there's only so many that while they're watching the whole game,
Speaker 1: they're looking at it through a different lens than we
Speaker 1: are at home, or than the PR guys are up
Speaker 1: in up in the booth. So so that's where you
Speaker 1: just kind of prepare that information and to make sure
Speaker 1: that the guys who needed have it. Yeah. I find
Speaker 1: that really fascinating because you mentioned trying to pick the spot,
Speaker 1: like you don't want to disrupt coach while he's trying
Speaker 1: to make a key decision or me he's thinking about
Speaker 1: something important. But you almost can see the stress on
Speaker 1: Harvey's face just in that little clip, like Coach that
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna give you an update here, I
Speaker 1: hope I'm not crossing any lines or anything. So it's
Speaker 1: that's such a cool operation. It's it's interesting to see
Speaker 1: the way that happens. Now, Dolphins did get the win,
Speaker 1: they went to the playoffs, but once again, the freaking
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills knocked us out the following week and that
Speaker 1: was the end of coach Chula's career. It was a
Speaker 1: start of Jimmy Johnson here in Miami. Wanted to ask you, O,
Speaker 1: j did you have any inclination going into that playoff
Speaker 1: game or maybe after the game that maybe that was
Speaker 1: going to be the end here for Don Shula coming up. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, there are a lot of rumors about what
Speaker 1: was you know, what was in the background was gonna happen.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of rumors about Jimmy wanted to
Speaker 1: be the next guy and that you know it could
Speaker 1: possibly happen. Um me obviously a huge coach Shooler fan.
Speaker 1: The shot in the chance he took on me, you know,
Speaker 1: a wide receiver out of Penn State in the first round.
Speaker 1: You know that would never go and appreciate it. And
Speaker 1: the way he treated me as a man on that team,
Speaker 1: you know, it was it was a sad moment, but
Speaker 1: you know, we thought, you know, just continue winning, continue
Speaker 1: getting into the playoffs, you know, and that that was
Speaker 1: more important than anything. Of course, that year we are
Speaker 1: obviously underachieved, but you know, there's always next year. And
Speaker 1: we we felt like, you know, getting the playoffs every
Speaker 1: single year was was part of the deal. And then
Speaker 1: next thing, you know, you'll break it, you'll figure out
Speaker 1: what the missing parts are and we'll find a way
Speaker 1: to get you know, get to the top again. And
Speaker 1: so by no means that I feel that that was
Speaker 1: gonna be the last time go shooting whatever step on
Speaker 1: the football field as our as our head coach, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know it was. It was a sad day in
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphin history obviously, and you know, coach was my man.
Speaker 1: Coach looked out from me from beginning to the end.
Speaker 1: And I remember the day when, you know, when they
Speaker 1: were talking about all the rumans that year. You know,
Speaker 1: we're sitting there and I was like kind of sitting out,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, watching practice with him, and he he
Speaker 1: stated like it's it's amazing how quickly people forget. And
Speaker 1: I knew exactly what he was talking about and forgotten
Speaker 1: what he had done for the organization, what they've done
Speaker 1: for the for the community. And next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: they want a model Air and it was it was
Speaker 1: a sad day. Yeah, so what have you done for
Speaker 1: the lately type of league? Right? And it was you know,
Speaker 1: the Dolphins won so many big games in those in
Speaker 1: those years and that's why they were always in the
Speaker 1: playoffs in those years. And we got a big game
Speaker 1: coming up on Sunday, fellows, we got Dolphins hosting the
Speaker 1: Rams at hard Rock Stadium. Cannot wait to see that
Speaker 1: thing there live at the stadium and recap it on
Speaker 1: Sunday night here on the Drivetime podcast. But in the meantime,
Speaker 1: what are you guys working on on the fish tank, seth?
Speaker 1: What's coming down the pike? Well, we just had we
Speaker 1: went back to some of those glory days with coach
Speaker 1: Sula and uh and had a J doo A joined
Speaker 1: us and we had a lot of fun with a j.
Speaker 1: Um had a great career as a Dolphins, certainly that
Speaker 1: memorable game in the AFC Championship with the three interceptions
Speaker 1: against the Jets. But A j talked about everything from
Speaker 1: his his dietary habits to Um starting a rumble on
Speaker 1: the field but you know on the sideline when it
Speaker 1: actually took place, and and everything in between. A great
Speaker 1: storyteller and really one of the not not only one
Speaker 1: of the great players in the history of this franchise,
Speaker 1: but also one of the great characters in the history
Speaker 1: of the franchise. And and uh played with the killer
Speaker 1: bees but wasn't a isn't a killer b But he
Speaker 1: had he put himself in front of all of that.
Speaker 1: And you'll hear about that in the fish Tank, So
Speaker 1: that'll be what's next. Yeah, we had him on Drive
Speaker 1: Time this summer and I didn't have to say much.
Speaker 1: I just kind of let him go. We uh, we
Speaker 1: talked about the freaking field in the an FC Championship game,
Speaker 1: the mud soaked field, for about ten minutes. I had
Speaker 1: a buddy text me and said, man, we're talking a
Speaker 1: lot about this football film, Like, Hey, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to stop the great AJ do a lot of fun
Speaker 1: boys always fun on the podcast. Here to get the
Speaker 1: crossover fish Tank on Drivetime SETH levitt O, J mcduffee.
Speaker 1: Really appreciate your time today, guys, and we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you soon. All right, Chess, thanks for having thanks for
Speaker 1: having this triv It's always fun, man, always fun, is right.
Speaker 1: As there they go, the hosts of the fish Tank
Speaker 1: podcast flashing it back here on Drive Time, taking a
Speaker 1: look at the week seventeen victory over the St. Louis Rams,
Speaker 1: hopefully a foreshadowing of things to come on Sunday, as
Speaker 1: the Dolphins will host the Los Angeles Rams at hard
Speaker 1: Rock Stadium. Ask for today's podcast. As for the week
Speaker 1: of podcast, that's gonna be my time you all, please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from, Go ahead and rate review.
Speaker 1: Subscribe the fish Tank, Drive Time and the Audible podcast.
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Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins Until next time finds up