Speaker 1: Cutdown Miami Run. What is up, Dolphans 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, New
Speaker 1: Year's Day. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and as always,
Speaker 1: I am here to bring you your daily dose of
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, we're gonna go
Speaker 1: back to the nineteen nineties with the Dolphins and Bill's
Speaker 1: rivalry with John Offer Doll, former Dolphins linebacker. We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about that rivalry, some of the best games, best
Speaker 1: moments for him over the course of his career up
Speaker 1: in Buffalo. Plus, we'll get you the latest on the
Speaker 1: Dolphins current injury report and Buffaloes report heading into the
Speaker 1: Week seven team game as the regular season finale is
Speaker 1: upon us. All of that and more on this Friday,
Speaker 1: January the first edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and kick this podcast off by getting you
Speaker 1: the latest on the Dolphins and Bills for Friday from
Speaker 1: Orchard Park from Bill Stadium on January three. On Sunday,
Speaker 1: we have the latest injury report on this Friday for you,
Speaker 1: and it looks like this four Dolphins are going to
Speaker 1: be questionable for the game. Wide receivers Jachem Grant and
Speaker 1: DeVante Parker, defensive and Shack Lawson and rookie guard Solomon Kinley.
Speaker 1: All four of those guys will be questionable for the game.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, Buffalo is gonna be without three players. Wide
Speaker 1: receiver Cole Beasley, offensive lineman John Feliciano, and tight end
Speaker 1: Reggie Gilliam will all miss Sunday's game. And joining me
Speaker 1: now on the Drivetime podcast is five time Pro bowler
Speaker 1: spent all eight of his NFL years with the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: He is John offerd All, John, how you doing today, sir?
Speaker 1: It's good to be on on with I'm doing great.
Speaker 1: I was looking forward to getting you on. We we
Speaker 1: were looking back at some of these nineties Buffalo Bill's
Speaker 1: rivalries and and you know, Scott Stone, our buddy here
Speaker 1: at the Miami Dolphins, said John offered would be great
Speaker 1: for it, and I said, we haven't had him on
Speaker 1: the podcast yet, haven't had a chance to meet him.
Speaker 1: I would be more than happy to do that. I
Speaker 1: told you before you came on that I grew up
Speaker 1: in the nineties of Dolphins fan all the way out
Speaker 1: here in Washington State. But hey, I would love to
Speaker 1: talk to John Offerd Doll. And the first thing I
Speaker 1: always asked my guests, the alumni, guess, is what's life
Speaker 1: like now for John Offerd Doll. Huh, Well, life is
Speaker 1: uh right now in the COVID mode. It's a little challenging,
Speaker 1: it is. I'm in the restaurant business, as is some
Speaker 1: of my other fellow alumni. And uh, the restaurant business
Speaker 1: has been challenged with COVID nineteen, but that's a one
Speaker 1: year element. Life after football has now been thirty years.
Speaker 1: I mean I I played in so yeah, I'm about
Speaker 1: twenties seven to thirty three years older than I was
Speaker 1: when I played at the young age of twenty. So
Speaker 1: my life is a slower, it is softer, thank God,
Speaker 1: and it's challenging, but in a different way. I don't
Speaker 1: get hurt as much in the kitchens of my restaurants
Speaker 1: as I do on the field of football, and for
Speaker 1: that I am thankful. At the age of what's interesting
Speaker 1: about this year is it's it's my number. I'm the
Speaker 1: big fifty six. I'm fifty six years old. This year.
Speaker 1: So first half of fifty six kind of challenging. Second
Speaker 1: half January to August is gonna be unbelievably stullar. That's
Speaker 1: the attitude you have to have. That's exactly why we
Speaker 1: got you here. We got the upbeat attitude heading into
Speaker 1: an important game Sunday for the Dolphins up in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: And you know it's to me, John, as a Dolphins
Speaker 1: fan life long, I wasn't really you know, privy to
Speaker 1: the eighties rivalry with the Jets or maybe the Patriot
Speaker 1: you know, the Patriots now coming in later into the fold.
Speaker 1: But in the nineteen nineties, it was the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: And so I just want to first off here with
Speaker 1: what do you remember most about those trips up to Buffalo,
Speaker 1: the games on the road in Buffalo. Yeah, so, first
Speaker 1: of all, let me tell you that I I absolutely
Speaker 1: respected the Buffalo Bills, the organization, the talent they had um,
Speaker 1: the offense and the defense. But the offense Jim Kelly,
Speaker 1: unbelievable offensive line, Terman Thomas Um, great receivers. So when
Speaker 1: we went up to Buffalo, there were two parts. There
Speaker 1: was the fan experience and the field experience. All right,
Speaker 1: First of all, the fan experience was unbelievably, unbelievably Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Let's just say that I'm not really gonna be heard
Speaker 1: in Buffalo on this interview, this podcast. So but but
Speaker 1: you never know, right, But I tell you, when I
Speaker 1: would go up to Buffalo, I would see things that
Speaker 1: I hadn't seen before. And I grew up and was
Speaker 1: gott since so I can kind of consider myself a
Speaker 1: Northern But um, you know, let's say that the women, uh,
Speaker 1: they were as aggressive a fan as I've ever seen
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and oftentimes. I mean I remember bus
Speaker 1: rides to and from the stadium where I saw things
Speaker 1: I probably shouldn't have seen I wouldn't want to see
Speaker 1: again in Buffalo. Uh, that's being very nice, I'm being nice. Um.
Speaker 1: I remember going onto the field for pregame warmups. That's
Speaker 1: the stadium was so close to the players, and it
Speaker 1: still is. You literally were practicing and hitting and doing
Speaker 1: things in pregame warmups, you know, five feet away from
Speaker 1: the fans that were either spitting on your throwing things
Speaker 1: at you, or showing things you don't want to see.
Speaker 1: So it wasn't a crazy environment to play football in.
Speaker 1: You had the cold weather, you had just the fall
Speaker 1: feel of Buffalo and then the fan experience in your
Speaker 1: walk away saying, oh, you either love that or get
Speaker 1: intimidated by it. Certainly it was entertaining. Um. The field
Speaker 1: experience wasn't as entertaining for us. However, we did do
Speaker 1: amazingly well a couple of games in Buffalo. Buffalo had
Speaker 1: an amazing team. Just an amazing team. They went to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl four years in a row when I played,
Speaker 1: and all four of those years I thought they were
Speaker 1: the best team in the league. And they didn't win
Speaker 1: one game in the Super Bowl. They should have. They
Speaker 1: had an unbelievable team. And uh they put together through
Speaker 1: Jim Kelly and the no huddle offense. Uh, such an
Speaker 1: effective offense that from a defensive players perspective, if you
Speaker 1: weren't on the top of your game, you're gonna get shredded. Um.
Speaker 1: So you know that when it got to the field time. Uh.
Speaker 1: Uniquely and unusually, we had some great games in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: I remember, UH, two years in a row we beat
Speaker 1: them soundly in Buffalo. Games that we were expected to lose,
Speaker 1: we won and surprised people. Our defense came alive. I
Speaker 1: remember a hunted yard return. I don't know, I'm exaggerating,
Speaker 1: maybe by Louis Oliver. In one of those games. Brian
Speaker 1: Cox alongside me was just fun to play with. And
Speaker 1: although they were so explosive and potentially damaging to us,
Speaker 1: we put together a package that I kind of think
Speaker 1: threw them off. We put together a new defensive scheme
Speaker 1: that they hadn't seen before. I think it was very
Speaker 1: effective with the talent that we had on our team,
Speaker 1: and we caught them by surprise. Typically, if I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: the first game in the series, the second game in
Speaker 1: the series down in Miami, I don't remember having such
Speaker 1: great success, and the third game for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: sadly in the playoffs, and we didn't have the success
Speaker 1: we would have loved. And you know, I look at
Speaker 1: those years as the prime years for Damn Rain on
Speaker 1: the offense and UH as challenging or as talented as
Speaker 1: that offense was for the Miami Dolphins. UH, the Buffalo
Speaker 1: Bills knew how to keep Dan off the field and
Speaker 1: their team on the field, and sadly, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: both those games I would have loved to have won,
Speaker 1: but we didn't, and that was the end of our
Speaker 1: playoff experience in my career. Those are the two years
Speaker 1: we got to the playoffs. I think they were nine, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were, they were, and you had you had mentioned
Speaker 1: that you guys kind of caught them off guard. There
Speaker 1: a couple of times I'm wondering, like, because you guys
Speaker 1: play each other so much, and in the playoffs again,
Speaker 1: you know, those three games of seasons, sometimes I have
Speaker 1: to imagine it's it's pretty hard to have to have
Speaker 1: mystery between the two of those two teams. Like, was
Speaker 1: it one of those cases of like we knew what
Speaker 1: we know what you're gonna do, you know what we're
Speaker 1: gonna do, and it's just best man wins type of deal. Well,
Speaker 1: to some degree, yes, but I mean, like I think
Speaker 1: both years, quite honestly, we put together a defensive package
Speaker 1: that kind of caught them off guard. They were prepared
Speaker 1: for it the second time, and they were probably fine
Speaker 1: tuned by the third time, so that the first games
Speaker 1: of those years we won. In the second and the
Speaker 1: third games of those years we didn't. But you know,
Speaker 1: I do feel like our defense just wasn't up to
Speaker 1: their offense. Although we every year, don't forget now, we
Speaker 1: brought in new talent that you know. I remember Brian
Speaker 1: Cox was a very talented player. He comes into our system.
Speaker 1: We put together a package that surprises them with new talent,
Speaker 1: and I think we we were fortunate to soundly defeat
Speaker 1: them up in Buffalo. But as the year went on
Speaker 1: and they prepared for us and knowing what we were
Speaker 1: coming with, uh, you know, they got the better of us.
Speaker 1: And quite honestly, not as an offense, but as a
Speaker 1: defense and a total team. Uh, you know, they were
Speaker 1: better than us. And and in that season you had
Speaker 1: mentioned the affair you played in the week fifteen game
Speaker 1: that was right before the season finale, and then you
Speaker 1: go back in the playoffs and you didn't play in
Speaker 1: that game. Does that do you ever think about that? John?
Speaker 1: Like what if I could have been out there for
Speaker 1: that game? Like? How does that kind of stick with you? So, yeah,
Speaker 1: it sticks with me, not in a really sweepful way,
Speaker 1: because in my prime of my career, uh, my fifth
Speaker 1: year in the NFL, I was fortunate to be All
Speaker 1: Pro and UM Pro Bowl and I just had a
Speaker 1: great year leading up to that playoff game. That playoff game,
Speaker 1: previous playoff game, I think it was against Kansas City
Speaker 1: but whatever, the game before I just tore up my
Speaker 1: ankle and I couldn't play. So we had a great team,
Speaker 1: we were prepared and ready, and I couldn't play in
Speaker 1: the biggest game of the year the I think it
Speaker 1: was maybe I don't know, it could have been a
Speaker 1: wild card game, but it was against Buffalo and we
Speaker 1: got beat up in Buffalo. And then the second time
Speaker 1: in the playoff game against Buffalo. It was another, you know,
Speaker 1: great year for me, but I wasn't able to play
Speaker 1: in the playoff game because of my health as my
Speaker 1: health started fading away in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: So both of those unbelievably special games, you know, the
Speaker 1: defensive captain, the leader, um, the player who was at
Speaker 1: his peak except for a couple of games when I
Speaker 1: couldn't play. They were the Buffalo Bills games. So I
Speaker 1: feel like I let not only let the team down,
Speaker 1: and let myself down because I wanted to play in
Speaker 1: the big games and I wasn't able to. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: you guys allow them just or hold them rather to
Speaker 1: just twenty four points in that Week fifteen game, they
Speaker 1: come back and score forty in the postseason. I have
Speaker 1: to imagine not having your defensive captain out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a big deal. It's a big deal. It's a
Speaker 1: big deal in so like, I can just imagine how
Speaker 1: how that you and at the time, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: your teammates as well, that you weren't able to be
Speaker 1: out there. But you know you mentioned reminding me again,
Speaker 1: Travis that often too good, John too good. You did
Speaker 1: mention something earlier about kind of their up tempo and
Speaker 1: aggressive attack, and a couple of the notes I read
Speaker 1: was they would come out to these these early sevens
Speaker 1: ago starts, they would march down the field. What was
Speaker 1: it about their offense that gave opposing defenses so much
Speaker 1: challenges of the in those you know, four Super Bowl
Speaker 1: year runs they had. Yeah, so Jim Kelly and there's
Speaker 1: they kind of had a spread offense before there was
Speaker 1: a spread offense, and they could take their Thurman Thomas
Speaker 1: and make him receiver in a second, and defenses weren't
Speaker 1: prepared for that. We were still in our base defense
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, you know, me and the
Speaker 1: other linebackers are covered in Thurman Thomas uh in a
Speaker 1: slot position. I'm like, gosh, I've never been on this
Speaker 1: far away from the ball in my life, So you know,
Speaker 1: it definitely put pressure on players who um weren't used
Speaker 1: to being in that situation. And then if you if
Speaker 1: you brought in a strong safety or any type of
Speaker 1: slot defender, they would just run the ball so effectively
Speaker 1: up the middle. So I do want to give credit
Speaker 1: where it's new. And they had a player like people
Speaker 1: ask me John, who is the best running back? John,
Speaker 1: who's the best lineman? Um Thurman Thomas was definitely one
Speaker 1: of the best top five running backs that went up against.
Speaker 1: But they had an offensive alignman Jim Richter, who I
Speaker 1: just respected uh so much. He was by far the
Speaker 1: best run blocker in the league, the best run blocker
Speaker 1: I've ever played against. And we I mean I remember
Speaker 1: going to games and just saying, this is a war
Speaker 1: against one person, Jim Richter, you know, and he just
Speaker 1: happens to wear Buffalo Bill's hot. But I mean that
Speaker 1: was the kind of respect I had for him as
Speaker 1: an individual, and it goes past him to the team.
Speaker 1: But you know that type of talent where you can say,
Speaker 1: the best player I ever played up against in in
Speaker 1: a run defense was a player against the UM you know,
Speaker 1: a division opponent the Buffalo Bills. That kind of shows
Speaker 1: you the town for the team too, because boy, if
Speaker 1: he's the best player, then you got Jim Kelly, you
Speaker 1: got Andre Reid, Thurman Thomas. It just goes on and on,
Speaker 1: and you just realize that this day you better show
Speaker 1: up to play. Yeah, and an embarrassment of riches on
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the football there, and you mentioned that,
Speaker 1: you know, they were this team that was a little
Speaker 1: bit more modern ahead of their time as far as
Speaker 1: the spread out attack, when you would have teams that
Speaker 1: were in based defenses to defend a fullback in a
Speaker 1: running back because that's when two backsets were those were prevalent.
Speaker 1: That was a common thing. Now it's obviously changed a lot.
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering because you know, talking about modern day football,
Speaker 1: teams talk about or at least maybe media and analysts
Speaker 1: and that type of thing, talk about how you have
Speaker 1: to play to win your division. You have to be
Speaker 1: able to beat the teams in your division to get
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. That's how you make a run to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Did you guys go into offseason workouts
Speaker 1: or off season programs or into training camp saying we
Speaker 1: gotta find a way to beat those Buffalo Bills. Like,
Speaker 1: was that something you thought of or was it just
Speaker 1: there another one of the sixteen teams in the schedule. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, divisional opponents um and highly talented. The divisional
Speaker 1: opponents become, uh, certainly on the top of the priority
Speaker 1: list for players. But I think that ends up being
Speaker 1: more of coaching and drafting and free agency and who
Speaker 1: are who are we going to bring on our team
Speaker 1: that twice a year can defend or perform against the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. So you know, I left that up to
Speaker 1: the coaches and the personnel directors. But as a player,
Speaker 1: you know, certainly those games, you know, become important. It
Speaker 1: was kind of funny, I'm wandering now, but my son
Speaker 1: and I were talking about football and how you looked
Speaker 1: at the preparation and the performance of a game. And
Speaker 1: I'm the I'm one of I fall into the slot
Speaker 1: that I prepared for every game like it was life
Speaker 1: or death. It was a war. I had to defeat
Speaker 1: my player in front of me, be a part of
Speaker 1: the team, lead the team towards victory. And I quite honestly,
Speaker 1: I think I did that regardless of who I played. Now,
Speaker 1: on the flip side, you know might be you know,
Speaker 1: a team that you might take advantage of, uh the
Speaker 1: percent might be the Buffalo Bills. There is always an
Speaker 1: enlightened mindset and you know, adrenaline that comes along with
Speaker 1: the game that matters, and uh, you know, not only
Speaker 1: do you prepare for it more maybe during the week,
Speaker 1: but it comes game time, you know, you're just that
Speaker 1: much more alert of the unbelievable importance of this game.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know to me that that's acceptable. I
Speaker 1: don't you know, I'd like to think I'm a great
Speaker 1: player every game and I, uh prepare equally, but let's
Speaker 1: not you know, let's not fool ourselves. I only give
Speaker 1: myself a one one percentage point advantage for a game
Speaker 1: against the Buffalo Bills, and probably Buffalo would be the
Speaker 1: number one team in my era that I felt that
Speaker 1: extra That's that's a really cool inside note. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure for a professional athlete, you know, a highly tuned
Speaker 1: machine as far as your body goes, and all the
Speaker 1: preparation that goes into that. I mean, I'm sure that
Speaker 1: one percent is is considerable, especially more so than the
Speaker 1: regular person who would have that same analogy. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure that that ramp up, it matters and you can
Speaker 1: definitely see the way it plays out on the field.
Speaker 1: So we talked John a little bit earlier about how
Speaker 1: you missed some of the games up in Buffalo in
Speaker 1: your career, but you did make seven trips to Buffalo
Speaker 1: in your eight year career, missed a couple of playoff
Speaker 1: game or two and a couple of regular season games
Speaker 1: up there as well. Do you mentioned the drive in
Speaker 1: You mentioned you told me a story off the air
Speaker 1: about a flag that hits you. Um, do you have
Speaker 1: a favorite moment in your Dolphins Buffalo rivalry when you
Speaker 1: went to Buffalo the road games? Yeah? So, I, um,
Speaker 1: I do? I do? I have a bunch of You know,
Speaker 1: I have a photo in my in my office at
Speaker 1: home that is a uh how do what I say? Well,
Speaker 1: it's a photo of a lifetime, I think because I
Speaker 1: was walking into the Buffalo bill Stadium right behind Brian
Speaker 1: Cox and that that moment is frozen and into me
Speaker 1: because Brian was talking to the crowd with his middle
Speaker 1: finger up and I was in the background just looking
Speaker 1: at him, going what are you doing? And then somebody
Speaker 1: took a photo of that and it just cracks me up.
Speaker 1: Every time I look at it, because it's it's it
Speaker 1: kind of I want to get Brian Cox where the
Speaker 1: credit that he deserves. He took football to another level
Speaker 1: that I wasn't used to and it was a little
Speaker 1: bit more emotional than for me. That than me than me,
Speaker 1: I mean for me, I wasn't as emotional. He was
Speaker 1: a very emotional player and he shared that emotion with
Speaker 1: the Buffalo bill fans and it was just great to
Speaker 1: be behind him that moment, to just get in the
Speaker 1: picture with that middle finger. Now, I don't I don't
Speaker 1: want to put the middle finger up to Buffalo because
Speaker 1: I absolutely I don't want to respect them and love them.
Speaker 1: But h I played in the game there there that
Speaker 1: Thurman Thomas spread out a little bit, I had to
Speaker 1: cover him in a man and man uh, I didn't
Speaker 1: really like to be in a man of man situation
Speaker 1: at any time in the NFL, but especially against Therman Thomas.
Speaker 1: Right the Thurman Thomas, the ball's high. Therman Thomas goes
Speaker 1: up our sideline kind of jukes mean goes up our
Speaker 1: sideline and I'm in a trail technique about ten yards
Speaker 1: behind him and so so, and it was Jim Kelly
Speaker 1: throws the ball and as I'm chasing Thurman Thomas up
Speaker 1: the sideline and uh, I know he's gonna catch the ball.
Speaker 1: I see Coach Shula and he's on the sideline and
Speaker 1: he you know you and I for whatever reason, I
Speaker 1: feel like I see his face and he's not too
Speaker 1: happy at me. But little did I know the next second,
Speaker 1: I fall on the ground and excruciating pain. And I
Speaker 1: look up and you know, thankfully Louis Oliver probably tackled
Speaker 1: him for attendant fifteen their gain. And I look up
Speaker 1: and Coachula has kind of got a smile on his
Speaker 1: face and he's laughing a little bit, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm gonna get chewed out by Coach.
Speaker 1: But he's laughing and I'm I'm excruciating pain. I looked
Speaker 1: out and there's a yellow flag between my legs. I
Speaker 1: couldn't believe what happened. I'm like, what the heck do
Speaker 1: I have a yellow flag between my legs? And the
Speaker 1: film the next day proved that the raf through it
Speaker 1: like a fifty yard pass. I think came wailing across
Speaker 1: the field and hit me right with the sun. Does
Speaker 1: he sign as I'm chasing Thurman Thomas in a trail
Speaker 1: technique and I fall in front of Coach Shula's feet
Speaker 1: and I look up and he's laughing at me, and I,
Speaker 1: you know, I use that as an example for my
Speaker 1: kids and others. That says and life as in football,
Speaker 1: you better watch out. You gotta keep your eyes and
Speaker 1: your head on a swivel because from left field, they're
Speaker 1: gonna come at you right when you're you're not expecting it.
Speaker 1: And thankfully, in my life, I've had good coaches who
Speaker 1: can actually laugh at something like that in the midst
Speaker 1: of getting you know, bottom line, I got beat. So
Speaker 1: keep your eyes open. You had on a swivel, You
Speaker 1: better watch out. I can't help but think of the
Speaker 1: Forest Gump story when he said it felt like a
Speaker 1: dog jump up and bit him in the backside there.
Speaker 1: That's kind of what that reminds me of. You tell
Speaker 1: him that story there. But that's great, John, that's great.
Speaker 1: He was an All Pro in spent all eight of
Speaker 1: his NFL years here with the Miami Dolphins. John Offer Doll,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your time today, so we
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Uh well, I appreciate being on the
Speaker 1: podcast with your Travis and go fins fins up. Hey, Hello,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Brian Cox. We have. We had him on
Speaker 1: The Fish Tank, our other podcast here in the network
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. That's available and I'm sure you would love
Speaker 1: to hear that. Can you shoot me at linking You
Speaker 1: heard it here first, folks, John offer doll fins up.
Speaker 1: Let's see you guys on Sunday. Take down the Buffalo Bills. John,
Speaker 1: thank you again, sir, and away he goes, John offered doll.
Speaker 1: That's gonna finish up our Friday edition here of the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast, our first podcast of the new year. We'll
Speaker 1: see you guys back here on Sunday for the recap podcast.
Speaker 1: Do not miss that. Also check out today's top news
Speaker 1: story up on Miami Dolphins dot com, as well as
Speaker 1: all the content for the course of the week for
Speaker 1: Week seventeen until next time. That's gonna be my time
Speaker 1: you all. Please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the podcast,
Speaker 1: check out the Fish Tank, check out the audible, follow
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Winkfold NFL, follow the team at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins, and of course, last but not least, Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot Com until next time. Until Sunday, fins up,