Speaker 1: Practice were Alfis Pafford drawing hot into the textow what
Speaker 1: a win for this Miami Dolphin. What is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins official podcast network covering your Miami Dolphins. I am
Speaker 1: your host, Travis Wingfield, and as always, I am here
Speaker 1: to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we're throwing it back on this
Speaker 1: Thursday Tonine to revisit the Monday night SmackDown of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. I'll be joined by a member of that
Speaker 1: team and a member of the Miami Dolphins Ring of
Speaker 1: Honor on this Thursday, April the second edition of the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast Dolphins. And we're gonna get to my interview
Speaker 1: real quick here in just one second. But a couple
Speaker 1: of news items off the top of this show today.
Speaker 1: First off, I really hope that everyone out there is
Speaker 1: staying safe and staying protected from this virus that has
Speaker 1: in the nation by storm, this pandemic that has really
Speaker 1: put a damper on our lives, our sports world, and
Speaker 1: everything in between. Hopefully this podcast and other podcasts and
Speaker 1: other sports outlets out there have brought you some joy
Speaker 1: and some entertainment during these difficult times, as I certainly
Speaker 1: know for myself that the Tiger King on Netflix, better
Speaker 1: call Saul, the new season of Ozark, and brock Meyer
Speaker 1: as well have really brought me some entertainment. I hope
Speaker 1: this Drive Time podcast and all the things we do
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins dot com, on the socials, the Audible,
Speaker 1: the Fish Tank podcasts, all the content we provide, hopefully
Speaker 1: it's giving you some relief during these difficult times. But
Speaker 1: I want to get some positive news on here, or
Speaker 1: at least a report from Ian Rapp report of the
Speaker 1: NFL Network, as he tweeted out on Tuesday that the
Speaker 1: NFL says the schedule release will likely be around May
Speaker 1: the nine, no later than that, so plan your calendars accordingly,
Speaker 1: and hopefully that's a positive sign that we get football
Speaker 1: back sooner rather than later, because I know we all
Speaker 1: love this game, We love this team, and especially this
Speaker 1: year heading into a new season where I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot of hope around Brian Flores, Chris career and
Speaker 1: this Miami Dolphins operation. On the topic of hope and
Speaker 1: a good football team, let's go ahead and go back
Speaker 1: now to night. It's Throwback Thursday, we're gonna do these
Speaker 1: podcasts and articles up on Miami Dolphins dot com and
Speaker 1: relive some of the best games and best moments in
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins history. And tonight we're going back to and
Speaker 1: I think most Dolphins fans do recall that game pretty well,
Speaker 1: especially those that were around to watch that game back
Speaker 1: in eighty five. But if you haven't seen it, go
Speaker 1: to YouTube. The game is up there, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: watch Dan Marino in his prime, in the first couple
Speaker 1: of years of his career, where I think there's a
Speaker 1: bit of a misconception about what kind of player Dan
Speaker 1: Marino was early on in his career. And on that topic,
Speaker 1: I'm really speaking specifically about the mobility, because in this game,
Speaker 1: you see a twenty four year old Dan Reno running
Speaker 1: a right out there, extending plays, getting out of pressure,
Speaker 1: and converting huge first downs on third and a mile,
Speaker 1: and that's just not what the NFL was us at
Speaker 1: that time. And Marino was so revolutionary in the way
Speaker 1: he was playing the game and converting third and eighteen,
Speaker 1: third and sixteen, throwing the football all over the field.
Speaker 1: I don't have to tell most of you Dolphins fans
Speaker 1: what that was like. But if you haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: I highly recommend going back because you want to talk
Speaker 1: about revolutionary play. I really think you'd be hard pressed
Speaker 1: to find anybody in the history of the league that
Speaker 1: really transformed the game the way Dan Marino did. And
Speaker 1: now the game we see every single Sunday across the
Speaker 1: entire NFL landscape has kind of taken on the mentality
Speaker 1: of what a Dan Marino led football team at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position looks like. With all the past happy rules
Speaker 1: in the NFL, the gaudy stats posted up. Marino was
Speaker 1: just so so ahead of his time, and he also
Speaker 1: had a receiving corps that was well ahead of its time.
Speaker 1: And that's where we're gonna go ahead and pivot into
Speaker 1: my guest today. He scored two touchdowns in that game.
Speaker 1: He is in the Dolphins Ring of Honor, certainly a
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins legend. He played thirteen years in the NFL,
Speaker 1: And let's go ahead and roll my interview with Nat
Speaker 1: More and I'm thrilled to be joined here on the
Speaker 1: Drive Time podcast by former Pro Bowl receiver Ring of
Speaker 1: Honor member with the Miami Dolphins. He caught five hundred
Speaker 1: and ten passes in his career over seventy undred yards
Speaker 1: and seventy four touchdowns. You know at my age, so
Speaker 1: sometimes you just need to sit back and watch the game. Well,
Speaker 1: that's that's what we love having you on here for,
Speaker 1: is to talk about this Dolphins team because you bring
Speaker 1: a good perspective from a former player, a guy that
Speaker 1: was in the league for a long time, with this
Speaker 1: Dolphins team for a long time, and that we talked
Speaker 1: off air. We're gonna go into this Monday night thriller
Speaker 1: against the Chicago Bears, an absolute beat down from your
Speaker 1: hometown Miami Dolphins, and I wanted to talk to you
Speaker 1: first and at about the perception of the Dolphins going
Speaker 1: into that game against an undefeated Bears team. We know
Speaker 1: about protecting this perfect season, all that stuff, but we're
Speaker 1: talking about the previous year's a f C champions a
Speaker 1: loaded offense. I have to imagine that the experts predictions
Speaker 1: for that game in your house at the Orange Bowl.
Speaker 1: I have to imagine that kind of rerabbed you guys
Speaker 1: up a little bit. Yeah, we were a little disappointed.
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, the right words piste off that
Speaker 1: for some some reason, everybody forgot that we were the
Speaker 1: team that we're in the Super Bowl the year before. Yes,
Speaker 1: we lost to the forty niners, but we had been
Speaker 1: to UH two Super Bowls in the past three years.
Speaker 1: And and of course the Barons were a great team,
Speaker 1: and UH defensively they were as good as it gets.
Speaker 1: They had Walter Payton. But to think that you're going
Speaker 1: to play us on a Monday night at home, UH,
Speaker 1: and we don't have a chance, And I think that's
Speaker 1: the thing that infuriated us. We didn't look down on
Speaker 1: the on the Bears. We thought the Bears were a
Speaker 1: great team. We thought they were as good as everybody
Speaker 1: made them out to be. But we also felt like
Speaker 1: we were pretty good football team. We've been an offense
Speaker 1: at Juggernaut for the past three years since the damn
Speaker 1: Marino UH entered our system and then in eighty three,
Speaker 1: but in eighty four we saw to found our our
Speaker 1: gate and UH really really started to put up some points. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: we were little disappointed and upset that no one gave
Speaker 1: us a chance on on a Monday night football game.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned Dan Marino and kind of the impact
Speaker 1: he had on the offense, and I spoke a little
Speaker 1: bit before I had you on about how he really
Speaker 1: revolutionized the game and the passing game in the NFL
Speaker 1: into kind of what it is now. And it started
Speaker 1: in that game very early, the very first series. You
Speaker 1: guys go down the field for a touchdown, and there's
Speaker 1: a third and eight team play on that first series
Speaker 1: where Dan breaks the pocket, gets away from pressure. He
Speaker 1: then directs traffic and kind of pulls up before the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage for a big time gain. Is that
Speaker 1: something that really inspired confidence and the rest of the offense,
Speaker 1: Like we know that no matter what the down and distance,
Speaker 1: no matter what the situation, this guy can really help
Speaker 1: bail us out. Well, you know, we we felt we
Speaker 1: were a pretty good football team after and then when
Speaker 1: we saw the abilities of Dan when he came in,
Speaker 1: his ability to throw the football and his ability to
Speaker 1: read coverage, the fact that he got it out so quickly,
Speaker 1: we knew that he was special. And as he grew
Speaker 1: year after year, he got even better. So the confidence
Speaker 1: level that we had in him was just mind bottling,
Speaker 1: I mean, and and the confidence he had in us,
Speaker 1: you know, um, that was the beauty of that football
Speaker 1: team is that we had so many weapons and then
Speaker 1: could pick and choose how to use them all. And
Speaker 1: he had confidence in everybody. And because of that, I
Speaker 1: think that year we led the league in storing. That
Speaker 1: was definitely a common occurrence for that Dolphins teams, those
Speaker 1: Dolphins teams of the eighties, I should say. And you
Speaker 1: got the scoring started that night with a thirty three
Speaker 1: yard touchdown pass from Dan Reno. And one of the
Speaker 1: things about these games on the broadcast net is you
Speaker 1: don't really get a chance to see, you know, the
Speaker 1: all twenty two angle, the six or seven replays they
Speaker 1: show nowadays on these broadcast versions. And I was curious
Speaker 1: if you could kind of walk us through that touchdown
Speaker 1: past because it looks like you pretty much just come
Speaker 1: off the line, you take a little bit of a
Speaker 1: chip from a defensive end on that play, and then
Speaker 1: you get out into the route and then that's when
Speaker 1: the magic starts to happen for you. Now you start
Speaker 1: breaking guy's ankles and make him plays. What when did
Speaker 1: you know you were going to score on that play? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you know a lot of times I think
Speaker 1: Coach Shuler don't get the credit that he deserves. You know,
Speaker 1: he's the winning's coach in football and and and and
Speaker 1: it's for a reason, you know, his strategy. His ability
Speaker 1: to look at uh the opponent and see what the
Speaker 1: weaknesses are of their defense or or their offense is critical.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that he looked at was
Speaker 1: the reason the Bears were having so much success was
Speaker 1: against this defense. Everybody kept trying to throw the fade
Speaker 1: and hit him for the touchdown versus UH, just get
Speaker 1: a safe play and line it up and play the
Speaker 1: next play. And Uh, he decided to move me to
Speaker 1: the tight end position, where now I'm going up against
Speaker 1: Dave Dorson or if he blitz, then Wilber Marshall the
Speaker 1: linebackers gotta cover me um or you know in the
Speaker 1: well in the defense, will Wilbur covers me and the
Speaker 1: regular defense they person has government. But if they're blitz
Speaker 1: then all I gotta do is five yard route break
Speaker 1: to the outside and force Gary Fitzick to have to
Speaker 1: tackle me one on one in the open field. Well,
Speaker 1: when you've got seven eight people going at the quarterback
Speaker 1: and they're all going uh south and the balls being
Speaker 1: thrown north, Well, once you catch the football, you've got
Speaker 1: Gary Fensick screaming trying to get there. To make a play,
Speaker 1: and I have to jump in here real quick to
Speaker 1: let the audience know that we dropped the call right there.
Speaker 1: But I called Nat back and picked it right back
Speaker 1: up at that spot of the conversation. So here is
Speaker 1: not more on the strategy of going against that Bears
Speaker 1: defense with coach Sula, Dan Reno and the Dolphins offense.
Speaker 1: The coach Shula felt that if they blitzed, what we
Speaker 1: would do is just run a little five yard out. UH.
Speaker 1: Forced the free safety, which was Gary Fensick. They have
Speaker 1: to come up and tackle me in the open field
Speaker 1: from thirteen years Steve, and all I have to do
Speaker 1: is make a move on him, and then there's no
Speaker 1: one there to make a tackle. And true enough at
Speaker 1: worked to perfection. Um, we're we score. The first series,
Speaker 1: we go up seven nothing and uh, and we were
Speaker 1: often running and that first score definitely set the tone
Speaker 1: of the game. Now, the next series the Bears had
Speaker 1: they had that that I'm not really sure what the
Speaker 1: rule is on it, since I'm a little bit younger
Speaker 1: of a Dolphins fan, but they kept coming to the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage and they couldn't get the snap off
Speaker 1: because they were complaining about the crowd noise. What was
Speaker 1: that like for you guys on the sideline to sit
Speaker 1: there and watch them basically get these restarts where they
Speaker 1: reached at the play clock and stop the game so
Speaker 1: the crowd can quiet down. Well, it's called home and
Speaker 1: field advantage. I mean that night, the stadium was electric.
Speaker 1: I mean, uh, you know, someone said something to me
Speaker 1: about did you see the perfect season team? Uh? The
Speaker 1: seventy two team on the sideline. I'm like they were here.
Speaker 1: I didn't even know. But that was the level of
Speaker 1: focus that the team had it and the excitement from
Speaker 1: the fans and et cetera. You know, we're we're so
Speaker 1: pumped up. And of course, you know, every time that
Speaker 1: they came up through a line of scrimmage and they
Speaker 1: wanted to snap the football, the fans got louder and
Speaker 1: louder and louder. You know, that's the one thing about
Speaker 1: great fans. They're very educated and note and they know
Speaker 1: that they can be a factor doing a game to
Speaker 1: help their team win, and they take the personal pride
Speaker 1: to do so. And they certainly made that impact in
Speaker 1: the Orange Bowl and now in that hard Rock Stadium
Speaker 1: renovation with the roof on top of the canopy. It
Speaker 1: gets rocking in that stadium as well. Let's go back
Speaker 1: to you. You mentioned a game planning schematic standpoint in
Speaker 1: terms of shoelag getting you guys into great situations. And
Speaker 1: one of the things that I noticed watching that game
Speaker 1: back was how Marino was under quite a bit of
Speaker 1: constant pressure. How much was that kind of on the
Speaker 1: forefront of the game plan that week, saying Hey, Dan,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to move around back there because these
Speaker 1: guys are coming. Well, I think Dan knew that. You know,
Speaker 1: he was gonna hand a lot of pressure on. We
Speaker 1: talked about it all week long. And the thing that
Speaker 1: made everything work is Dan can hold the ball of
Speaker 1: splits and longer and get rid of it and get
Speaker 1: it out of here because of the quick release, so
Speaker 1: you know, he didn't have to anticipate the throw as much, uh,
Speaker 1: and he has that ability to side step and throw
Speaker 1: around people. And and that's what we did. And and
Speaker 1: you know, by the end of the first half, you know,
Speaker 1: they can say what they want, the game was over.
Speaker 1: You know, at that point they were so frustrated because
Speaker 1: they couldn't get to the quarterback. You know, we had
Speaker 1: a pretty damn good offensive line that did the job.
Speaker 1: And and you knew that when they blitzed, they were
Speaker 1: gonna be one guy free and Dan was gonna throw
Speaker 1: around him. And Dan is a tough guy. Dan, you know,
Speaker 1: Dan wouldn't and one of them you know quarterbacks that
Speaker 1: can't take a shot, He'll stand in there and deliver
Speaker 1: the football. And that's what made him so great. You know,
Speaker 1: he took personal pride and being the best. And so
Speaker 1: when you see people talk about like, let's say the
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes and the Russell Wilson's of today's game, how
Speaker 1: do you compare what they do in today's you know,
Speaker 1: two thousand NFL compared to what Dan was doing back
Speaker 1: in those mid eighties. With you mentioned getting off that spot,
Speaker 1: having that quick release to be able to beat that
Speaker 1: free rusher, because he did have that great release. Well,
Speaker 1: I think the difference is, you know where Dan basically
Speaker 1: had bad knees and and couldn't move around as much
Speaker 1: as they did. But Dan was like a dancer in
Speaker 1: the pocket. You know, he didn't scramble for his goal
Speaker 1: was always to get the ball out and get it
Speaker 1: down field. So he might slide two steps left, two
Speaker 1: steps right, and and then two steps up. I mean
Speaker 1: he worked the pocket, uh you know, lack of pro
Speaker 1: and was able to get the ball off. And what
Speaker 1: we see today is uh, quarterbacks that have more scapability,
Speaker 1: but they all are an assemblance of what Dan wants
Speaker 1: were throwing the football. The fact that you have enough
Speaker 1: confidences you can get it in there to your receivers.
Speaker 1: Um you know, uh, you know. The one thing that
Speaker 1: has always been interesting about football is that quote backs
Speaker 1: are taught to not throw the ball in the coverage,
Speaker 1: do not make the big mistake, and then there's a
Speaker 1: fine line between the guys that have the ability to
Speaker 1: fit it in to tight quarters and Dan was one
Speaker 1: of the first that did it and made a living
Speaker 1: doing it. But that was because he had so much
Speaker 1: confidence that if he did throw it in there, his
Speaker 1: receivers gonna come down with the football. His receivers were
Speaker 1: going to get open. And that's what you see with
Speaker 1: some of the young quarterbacks today. You know, they give
Speaker 1: their teammates a chance to make a play. And that's
Speaker 1: what you have to love about some of these guys.
Speaker 1: We've got not more here. Dolphins Ring of Arm member,
Speaker 1: former pro bowler and member of that team that did
Speaker 1: knock off the Bears on Monday Night Football, and you
Speaker 1: mentioned that that the game kind of felt like it
Speaker 1: was over after the first half, after that block punt
Speaker 1: that turned into a touchdown which you scored. We'll get
Speaker 1: to that in just one second, but early in that game,
Speaker 1: the Bears were jumping off sides a lot. You mentioned
Speaker 1: the home field advantage, the crowd noise, and then there
Speaker 1: was the interception number forty three, but Brown comes down
Speaker 1: with it and then he gets into a bit of
Speaker 1: a scuffle with the Bears offensive lineman because you kind
Speaker 1: of sense that frustration mounting throughout the game from the
Speaker 1: Bears perspective. Yeah, I think any time when you're not
Speaker 1: having the great success that you're expecting, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: there's some frustration sets in and as you start to
Speaker 1: look at your game plan and and and wonder if
Speaker 1: you need to get out of something that you're getting
Speaker 1: hurt in. But you believe in your system. The question
Speaker 1: is when do you abandon that and and and try
Speaker 1: something new in the ball game. And to the Bears credit,
Speaker 1: they believed in the forty six. They stayed in the
Speaker 1: forty six the whole ball game. Well, that's where we
Speaker 1: were prepared to go up against so we you know,
Speaker 1: we we didn't have any issues with it. I think
Speaker 1: that if we had not lost the a f C
Speaker 1: Championship game to the Patriots, when we would have played
Speaker 1: them in the Super Bowl, that would have been the rematch,
Speaker 1: and I think we would have saw that changes that
Speaker 1: they would have made to make sure that we didn't
Speaker 1: take advantage of their forty six defense. I think I
Speaker 1: speak for Dolphins fans everywhere that would say that if
Speaker 1: we had a time machine can go back and replay
Speaker 1: one game, it would be the a f C Championship game,
Speaker 1: because I would love to see that Super Bowl rematch
Speaker 1: with y'all in the Chicago Bears. So you've talked about
Speaker 1: Marino's kind of ability to extend plays and make big
Speaker 1: plays down the field. There was one instance where he
Speaker 1: had a third and eight team back shoulder throw to
Speaker 1: yourself right up the seam and there was tight coverage
Speaker 1: on the play. You uncovered, kind of turned around Pirouette
Speaker 1: and made an excellent catch in coverage. What was that
Speaker 1: play like from your perspective and running that seam route
Speaker 1: where you get the back shoulder throw from Damn well,
Speaker 1: I mean, but that's the that's the difference, you know,
Speaker 1: having a quarterback that will make the decision and he's
Speaker 1: gonna throw it where you can catch it. Um. You know, uh,
Speaker 1: we had that counter report. You know, we worked on
Speaker 1: a lot of this stuff in practice, and you know
Speaker 1: the key is being under control so that you can
Speaker 1: make the adjustment and him knowing that you will make
Speaker 1: that adjustment. You know, that was the beauty of us
Speaker 1: having so many skill position receivers that we all played
Speaker 1: a lack. Even though we had different skill sets, we
Speaker 1: all played similar whether it was the three or four
Speaker 1: tight ends that played, whether it was the three or
Speaker 1: four of wide receivers or the backs, and and you know,
Speaker 1: we we all ran our routes with discipline, with the
Speaker 1: idea that the ball is coming and you just gotta
Speaker 1: be ready to make a play. And Dan made a
Speaker 1: fine throw and it was just easier for me to catch.
Speaker 1: And the entire night was one of making plays for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins offensively, defensively, and on special teams. We hinted
Speaker 1: about the blocked punt that went for a touchdown to
Speaker 1: you just a couple of plays later, the energy in
Speaker 1: that stadium, now I have to imagine was unlike anything
Speaker 1: most football players whatever experienced, was that the moment you
Speaker 1: knew this game was was kind of on ice. No.
Speaker 1: I mean I can say this is that you know,
Speaker 1: that night, the energy within that stadium. In thirteen years
Speaker 1: of planning profer snow football, I've never felt it before then,
Speaker 1: and I never felt it after that. And I've been
Speaker 1: in some big ball games. I've been in two Super Bowls,
Speaker 1: I've been around a loud and rambust his crowds. But
Speaker 1: that particular night, Ah, it was so electric that you know,
Speaker 1: the game just sort of slowed down and you can
Speaker 1: just see things happening. You can see the development of
Speaker 1: everything in front of you. So the game was was
Speaker 1: It was unbelievable game. And we covered your first touchdown,
Speaker 1: the big reception on the third and eight team play,
Speaker 1: and then you finally scored that six yard touchdown to
Speaker 1: make it thirty one to ten after that punt, And
Speaker 1: I want to get your your your feelings about this
Speaker 1: play because Dan, like we talked about, kind of falls back,
Speaker 1: buys a little bit of time, anticipates the rush and
Speaker 1: we can't see you now on the broadcast version of
Speaker 1: the game as far as what your route was, it
Speaker 1: looked like it might have been a little pivot route
Speaker 1: as far as where you wound up. But I'm curious
Speaker 1: to get your perspective on that play. What did that
Speaker 1: play look like from the receiver's perspective. Well, and I
Speaker 1: was actually running that particular play against wolver Marshall, who
Speaker 1: you know this time they don't blitz. He's in coverage.
Speaker 1: There's they're in their forty six defense. And I and
Speaker 1: it was called lex so where I started across UH
Speaker 1: with him trying to run with me, and I pivoted
Speaker 1: and I come back out um and of course once
Speaker 1: I once I slowed down and then spit up. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, he knows he can't run with me,
Speaker 1: so he's got to go as fast as you can.
Speaker 1: Now I spend I come back out and I catching
Speaker 1: him wide open, and once again, I go into the
Speaker 1: end zone untouched. You go up by twenty one points
Speaker 1: on that play. And I think the ultimate iSER, the
Speaker 1: ultimate capper on that game was the forty two yard
Speaker 1: touchdown from Marino to Clayton. That was a backbreaking play.
Speaker 1: Was that at the moment you felt like it was
Speaker 1: just okay, we got this in hand. Well, let me
Speaker 1: say this to you. You know, the Bears and the
Speaker 1: guys that played for the Bears, Richard Den, Jim McMahon,
Speaker 1: Otis Wilson, all those guys, Jim Thornton there our friends
Speaker 1: and and we hang out together all the time, you
Speaker 1: know nowadays and uh, to this day, they say, you know,
Speaker 1: we knew it was. It wasn't our night when the
Speaker 1: ball hits one of our guys at the head and
Speaker 1: it ends up in Mark Clayton's hands for a touch down.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it was one of those nights. And believe
Speaker 1: it or not, when when Jim came in the game,
Speaker 1: because you remember McMahon did not start. When he came
Speaker 1: in the game, um, because um, Walter was so close
Speaker 1: to getting his yards, uh to go over a thousand.
Speaker 1: He came in, and you know, I was handing the
Speaker 1: ball off to Walter, you know, because he knew the
Speaker 1: game was out of reach. You know, we're not gonna win,
Speaker 1: so we might as well make sure Walter goes over
Speaker 1: a thousand tonight. And he and I converse about that
Speaker 1: quite a bit. It kind of seemed like they knew
Speaker 1: they were up against a tough challenge. As far as
Speaker 1: the Dolphin's offense that night, because early in that game,
Speaker 1: they were putting the ball up in the air and
Speaker 1: they were handing the ball off to players that were
Speaker 1: not Walter Payton. So it almost seemed like they had
Speaker 1: to keep pace with your offensive juggernaut because you guys
Speaker 1: were scoring so quickly and so often. Yeah, that's one
Speaker 1: of the things about football is that, you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of times when teams go up, uh, it forces
Speaker 1: the other team to be one dimensional. So once we
Speaker 1: took that big lead, um, you know, knowing that if
Speaker 1: they don't get some stops, then there's no way they
Speaker 1: could ever catch up because they've got to score every
Speaker 1: time and they can't ground it out to try and
Speaker 1: catch up. So they were forced to throw the ball
Speaker 1: a lot more than they really want to. And in
Speaker 1: the process, um, you know, the more they threw the
Speaker 1: football and they went three and out and et cetera. Well,
Speaker 1: guess what that means. The defense is on the field
Speaker 1: way too long and then all of a sudden they
Speaker 1: start to tire out a little bit. We've got not
Speaker 1: more here talking about Monday night beat down of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears at the Orange Bowl in Electric crowd, an
Speaker 1: electric night there in Miami, and that I want to
Speaker 1: kind of change gears here and just talk about general
Speaker 1: topics as far as two Dolphins legends along with yourself.
Speaker 1: You had a good, a good chunk of time playing
Speaker 1: with both Dan Marino and Don Shula. What can you
Speaker 1: tell Dolphins fans out there something they might not know
Speaker 1: about Dan the quarterback that he was on the field
Speaker 1: and the kind of the leader he was in the
Speaker 1: locker room. Well, I think the one thing that you
Speaker 1: need to know about Dan is he was he was
Speaker 1: a players guy. You know, he hung out with the guys. Uh.
Speaker 1: We we we we did so many things together and
Speaker 1: still do uh. And that's one reason everybody loves him,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean I think you know, when you
Speaker 1: think about Don Shila to winners coach in football history,
Speaker 1: and you talk about those two icons, you know, I
Speaker 1: would be remissed if I don't talk about the Bob
Speaker 1: Greasey's and the Larry Zankas and the Larry Littles, the
Speaker 1: Jim Langer's, the Dwight Stevenson's. I mean, you know, the
Speaker 1: the what made us successful was that we had very
Speaker 1: talented guys that we're all willing to give a little
Speaker 1: bit of themselves for the overall of the team, including Dan.
Speaker 1: I mean, Dan could throw it every down if he
Speaker 1: wanted to, Okay, but you know he didn't. You know,
Speaker 1: he understood that the running game had to be a
Speaker 1: part of it, you know, not necessarily the main part
Speaker 1: of it, but a part of it. And and that's
Speaker 1: how you win um continuously is making sure that everybody's
Speaker 1: including everybody's involved. And you know that was one of
Speaker 1: the great things about planning for Don Shuley. He had
Speaker 1: that ability to look at his team, assess what the
Speaker 1: skill set was, and adapt to that talent. You know,
Speaker 1: when I when I played with Bob Greacey and larry's
Speaker 1: Anka and Larry Little and those guys, well, we ran
Speaker 1: the football. And and think about this, Bob Greacy was
Speaker 1: the quarterback and he called all his own plays. There
Speaker 1: were no offensive coordinators sending into place. So with all
Speaker 1: those victories, Bob Greasy was our was our offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: and he chose to run the ball when we had
Speaker 1: such a devastating offensive lines. And he had the best
Speaker 1: receiver from my money, to ever play the game at
Speaker 1: that time, Paul Warfield, who was also a tremendous blocker.
Speaker 1: Paul Warfield was the only receiver in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: the only one that averaged over twenty yards to catch,
Speaker 1: and every fifth time he touched the football it was
Speaker 1: a touchdown. And he played on a team that went
Speaker 1: the three straight Super Bowls and he only did what
Speaker 1: they needed him to do. It's it's the one about him.
Speaker 1: It's the ultimate team that atmosphere and team aspect, and
Speaker 1: I just I have to imagine for you not that
Speaker 1: playing for a guy like Shula, and not like you
Speaker 1: guys needed any any more evidence that he was an
Speaker 1: all time great coach, but I have to imagine as
Speaker 1: a player to see the way he transitioned from the
Speaker 1: run heavy offense that you all ran in the seventies
Speaker 1: into the early eighties, and then once Dan gets in
Speaker 1: there and it kind of goes into more of a past,
Speaker 1: morphs into a passing type of offense. That has to
Speaker 1: just give you so much more respect for a coach
Speaker 1: like that. Well, I think, you know, not for just
Speaker 1: the head coach, Don Shila, because like I said before,
Speaker 1: there's a reason he's the winning's coach in history. Uh,
Speaker 1: He's willing to make the tough decisions and and and
Speaker 1: make the adjustments that will help teams be better than
Speaker 1: what they think they are. Um, you know, but along
Speaker 1: the way, they were a tremendous group of coaches and
Speaker 1: a tremendous group of players that were all willing to
Speaker 1: listen and learn. You know. I mean, you know, I
Speaker 1: think sometimes today a lot of a lot of guys
Speaker 1: don't reach their full potential because as soon as they
Speaker 1: have success, they become said in their ways and it's
Speaker 1: all about them. Uh. The team is that I played
Speaker 1: on for thirteen years. Uh, that was not even thought of.
Speaker 1: It was what do they helped this team? Women this week?
Speaker 1: And am I going to help make this team better?
Speaker 1: And they were gonna be games where you two guys,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be games where you were the dec But
Speaker 1: it's the it's the work of bees that keep teams winning,
Speaker 1: Guys that will sacrifice. He is not More Ring of
Speaker 1: Honor in Miami Dolphins Legend. Nat, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for doing this with me today. Man, I had a
Speaker 1: lot of fun becaus my pleasure. Thanks for having me
Speaker 1: on and there he goes not More Boy, How good
Speaker 1: was that interview with Nat More talking about the ins
Speaker 1: and outs of the game, talking about Dan Marino, Don Shula,
Speaker 1: the importance of teamwork and work ethic and how that
Speaker 1: translates from to today's game. A lot of parallels between
Speaker 1: that team and what the Dolphins are trying to build
Speaker 1: here this year. I hope you all enjoyed that as
Speaker 1: much as I did. On tomorrow's podcast, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: to Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports, who spent a day
Speaker 1: with Ryan Fitzpatrick, so we'll get to know the Dolphins
Speaker 1: quarterback a little bit better. And then next week we're
Speaker 1: gonna turn things over to the draft and talk about
Speaker 1: the offensive line of quarterbacks, every position this class. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have you covered here on the Drivetime podcast, so
Speaker 1: do not miss that. Plenty of content heading your way
Speaker 1: as we are just three weeks away from the opening
Speaker 1: night of the draft, Round number one, where the Dolphins
Speaker 1: have three picks in that first round, two more in
Speaker 1: the second round, and fourteen picks and total exciting times
Speaker 1: here on Drivetime. Exciting times here for the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: but asked for today show. That is going to be
Speaker 1: my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast on Apple, podcast, Google, play, Spotify, wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcast from. Leave us a rating, leave us
Speaker 1: a review, Give me a follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL.
Speaker 1: Follow the Dolphins for all of our content at Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins of course, check out the Fish Tank and the
Speaker 1: Audible podcast and Miami Dolphins dot com. We have a
Speaker 1: written piece on the game and plenty of draft content
Speaker 1: coming your way on the website, on the podcast, everywhere
Speaker 1: you get your Dolphins football. But until next time, fins up.