Miami Dolphins, if you want my money after we come out of this Coronavirus Crisis then you need to do the right thing and make this pick count.

I am the father of an 11-year-old boy whose exposure to Dolphins highlights has been limited to the Miami Miracle against the Patriots and—well, both of the wins against the Patriots. I could be selfish and say that I want more, but in all honesty, I want more for him. Like any parent, I am in love with my kids no matter what. With my daughter, it’s about doing things she wants to do and that’s weekly Hallmark Channel movies with me wondering what happened to Winnie Cooper, DJ Tanner, and Gretchen Wieners. With my son it’s about what I want to do and living vicariously through him.. And yes it’s selfish, but I temper that by knowing that he wants to do it too. Youth basketball? Check. Toss the football around the yard? Check. Watch games all day Saturday and Sunday? Check. Get crushed in NBA 2K even though I have the Warriors and he’s got the Knicks? Check. Have debates over how the Dolphins are mediocre or a dumpster fire instead of the great player impacting winning? Mmm, no thanks. Please, Miami, make the right pick.

My son is of the age, like many others, who are not just aware of sports but are fans of it. He’s the even rarer breed for a kid his age to know key players in college football and to be steadfast in his opinion of who is great and who is—in his words—trash. He eats up stats because he loves math. He even got excited with my fumbling explanation of how the salary cap, free agency and trades work. God knows what will happen if I decide to let him do fantasy football. Miami Dolphins, don’t you want someone like my son to be so excited about this team that he will pore over every box score after every game? If so, Miami Dolphins, make the right pick.

He has Heat jerseys, shirts, hats and basketballs. He wore his DWade jersey as we watched replays of the championship runs during this quarantine. Don’t you want someone whose name can excite a fan base? Don’t you want someone who’s name can move that kind of product? Hell, I still have an old Marino jersey that I gave to him just so he could be somehow associated with greatness. Make the right pick and I’ll be the schmuck who overpays for the merch!

We’ve been to Miami Heat games and I am happy to say that we are undefeated in all four that we’ve attended. I took him to a Miami Hurricanes game that ended in a win. I take him to his first Miami Dolphins game and it’s a big fat L! And it was against the winnable Detroit Lions! And I aged considerably just trying to get out of the parking lot. But you know what? I would go again with my son because there is a feeling that comes with being at a live game in person that cannot be replicated at home watching on the TV. Sure the bathrooms are cleaner but that’s neither here nor there. Ultimately, my son enjoys the experience as well. But know this: make the right pick and I will go because we all want to ride the wave of excitement!

Listen Miami. I’ll admit that I was a spoiled Dolphins fan who loved Marino and took him for granted, even towards the end. I would like for my son to be excited for this team like I was in the 80s up until Saban left. Yes, even the Saban years. That period of fandom—my period of fandom—at least had promise. Other than the strike year and Marino’s Achilles injury, I always felt like there was hope. And you know what a pick this high brings? Hope. Miami, make the right pick.

Let me say now that this is the most important draft ever. Ever. This has the potential to really change the course of a franchise.

Do it for my son, Miami Dolphins. I want him to be as die hard a fan as I was when I was his age. When he goes out in his Dolphins gear, I don’t want him to be looked at strangely because young kids wearing Dolphins gear after years of irrelevance is such an oddity. Make the right pick and my son, I promise, will bleed aqua and orange like his old man. And if you’re worried, I can assuage your fears. My son already knows how to pronounce and spell TAGOVAILOA.

So much noise. So much smoke. So much fluff.

So much guessing. So much reaching. So much lying.

So many questions.

And yet there are only two questions that truly matter, as the Miami Dolphins embark upon the three-day stretch that will likely define the next three years, if not decades. There are only two questions, to which the answers will determine whether the franchise continues to cling to stale memories that pre-date Richard Nixon’s resignation, or will finally rise above its own wreckage to something resembling relevance in a market. Relevance in a market that has mostly abandoned aqua and orange for White Hot and Back in Black. That has stashed No. 13 in its collective closet behind No. 3. That has flocked with greater consistency to a building where the home team actually, more than occasionally, wins — because it has created a culture of continuity, of stability and mostly, of never settling.

The first question?

Are they different — from the Dolphins we’ve known and grown to loathe? 

Dolphins fans are hoping Hawaiian born Tua Tagovailoa will be their quarterback next season. (Tony Capobianco for Five Reasons Sports)

It appears so.

They accomplished more in a 5-win season than in all the prior 7-9s combined.

They elevated and further empowered a man (Chris Grier) who was here for all the recent failures, though his role in many remains somewhat unclear. They conceived a plan, unpopular with many — including this writer, at times — to shed salaries and personalities who didn’t fit, either because their position and performance didn’t warrant a looming payday (Kenyan Drake), or didn’t buy into the process (Minkah Fitzpatrick), or simply because another team offered them too much to turn down (Laremy Tunsil), or because they simply weren’t at an age to offer what they had prior (Reshad Jones, Kiko Alonso). They stubbornly started a quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick) ahead of a guy they spent a second-round pick (Josh Rosen) to acquire, even though they were criticized on both sides — by those who believed Fitzpatrick was worse in preseason (he was) and those who believed he was better and would cost draft slots (he did). They trusted a coach (Brian Flores) with no managerial experience, one who seemed to make missteps in his first preseason (Kenny Stills, Jay-Z playlist), and whose Takes No Talent approach could have struck his players as a wee bit offensive.

And it worked.

Just about all of it.

They started as one of the most embarrassing entries in NFL history, and somehow earned wins while shedding supposedly irreplaceable talent. They won 5 of their final 9, including handling a motivated Patriots squad in the season finale, while only dropping four draft spots from the best case scenario. They created a semblance of a, dare we say, culture that attracted a bevy of useful free agents, including an elite cornerback (Byron Jones), a linebacking leader (Kyle Van Noy) and a pass-rusher (Shaq Lawson) at market or below-market prices, the truest sign that players want to play for a coach and an organization — which, again, is something we typically say about the Miami Heat, not their struggling northern neighbors. And they stacked more chips to fill the cupboard and all the storage bins too — 14 picks, 5 in the first three rounds, plus enough additional selections the next two springs to allow for more than a couple mulligans.

So they answered the first question affirmatively.

They are different — or so it appears.

And that’s good.

Now here’s the second question, as it applies to the organization with which they sort of share the South Florida stage:

Can they be something closer to the same?

If you have spent any time around American Airlines Arena, or Miami Arena before that, there’s a phrase you hear more than any other, more than “winning or misery,” more than “adapt or die,” more than “we have enough,” more than “don’t let go of the rope,” more than “keep the main thing the main thing,” more than “the hardest-working, best conditioned, most professional, unselfish, toughest team in the NBA.”

“This is a championship organization.”

So how did it get that way?

Because that’s what it believes it is.

Because that’s what it knows matters.

Because Pat Riley made it that way.

Boom, bust.

But quarterback? Those are not easy to find. For that, you do whatever is necessary. And more. Always. That’s the lesson since Marino declined and retired.

******

This is part of a series on Canes football games that have been lost to history. Information on the series including other articles is available here. 

The Year

The year is 1999. President Bill Clinton is in the penultimate year of his presidency. The week of October 23rd, 1999 saw Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas top the Billboard Hot 100 list. And Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling was #1 on the New York Times fiction best seller list. Gas was $1.24 a gallon. The big news story were the failure of a campaign finance reform bill in the Senate and that the National Debt was being reduced as the government ran a surplus.

The Combatants

Miami entered the game at 2-3, but was still ranked #23 in the country.

Boston College entered the game at 5-1, but unranked with their one loss coming at Temple.

The Context

The Canes had started the season really well, winning the Kickoff Classic against Ohio State 23-12. Ohio State was ranked 9th at the time, but it turns out they actually weren’t that good, finishing 6-6 and missing a bowl game. But the win still propelled the Canes into Top 10, rising to 8th in the polls before hosting #2 Penn State (it turns out Penn State wasn’t as good as thought by season’s end, where they finished 4th in the Big 10. They were good, but not National Title contender good). The Canes trailed by 2 TDs against the Nittany Lions, but a furious rally saw them take the lead 23-20, and put them in position to ice the game. On 4th-and-2, deep in Nittany Lions territory, the Canes went for it (got a bad spot) and came up just short. On the next play, Penn State threw the winning TD to win the game 27-23.

The next week, the Canes built a 23-3 second half lead at East Carolina (who was not even playing in their home stadium due to flooding and damage from Hurricane Floyd). Miami blew that lead and lost 27-23 for the second week in a row.

After a bye, the Canes headed to Tallahassee and played a great game, but FSU was the best team in the country and Miami just couldn’t overcome them, for a 3rd consecutive loss.

The following week’s game against Temple was delayed to the end of the season because of Hurricane Irene so the Canes had 2 weeks off before heading to Boston, having lost 3 in a row, but given that 2 of those losses were to two of the better teams in the country, they managed to stay ranked.

There were still questions swirling about Butch Davis’ overall competence.

For Boston College, an otherwise promising start to the season was ruined by a shock loss to an awful Temple team (who ended up finishing the year 2-9).

Miami was favored to turn things around, starting in this game.

The Game

This was a game that turned on a dime. For the first 40 minutes, Boston College dominated and the Canes continuously shot themselves in the foot.

After a Canes punt, the Eagles immediately drove inside the Canes 25, leaning on a ground game that would dominate all day. When the drive stalled at the Canes 22, the Canes jumped offside on the FG attempt, giving BC a 1st down. They’d take advantage when Tim Hasselbeck threw a TD pass from 17 yards out.

Miami crossed midfield on the next drive, but it stalled and the punt was downed inside the Eagles 19. But BC immediately started marching again. Cedric Washington, who finished the game with 183 of the Eagles’ 237 rushing yards, was instrumental in the drive. The Canes finally forced a 44-yd FG when BC drove inside the Canes’ 30, but once again, it was a penalty that kept the drive alive. Miami roughed the kicker and BC took advantage when William Green dove into the end zone 3 plays later to put BC up 14-0 with 2:11 left in the 1st quarter.

Miami’s offense failed to respond, punting again. The quarter ended with the Canes’ defense finally stepping up, forcing a 3rd-and-19. 2 plays into the 2nd quarter, BC punted for the first time. The Canes punted, again, and the field position favored BC, as they started in Canes’ territory. It wasn’t long before the Eagles were in the end zone again. On 2nd-and-goal from the 7, the Eagles just ran right up the middle with Carlton Rowe going into the end zone almost untouched. 21-0 BC with 12:05 left in the 2nd quarter.

The Canes had flatly not shown up for this game, but there was a lot of time left. Both teams exchanged punts, but then the Canes finally mounted a drive behind Bubba Franks and freshman Clinton Portis. Unfortunately, at 3rd-and-2 from the BC 35, Kenny Kelly was sacked and the Canes had to punt, once again. The Canes shanked the punt, and lost all the field position from that drive. Miami’s defense had grown into the game, and did force another punt as they’d started to find their sea legs.

The next drive short-circuited when, of all things, Santana Moss dropped consecutive passes. Nothing was going Miami’s way. The Eagles did get a decent drive going, but Miami stuffed BC and on 4th-and-13 from the Canes 35, they chose to punt and pin the Canes deep, which effectively ended the half.

Miami had a complete meltdown for the entire half, trailing 21-0. Cedric Washington had 15 carries for 137 yards in the 1st half. It was an awful performance that did nothing to dispel the worries about Davis’ coaching. In addition to the team not showing up, BC’s Tom O’Brien was running circles around the Canes’ coaching staff. Miami had twice made penalties on FG attempts, gifting BC TDs. Legendary South Florida broadcaster Frank Forte justifiably lamented that he was running out of ways to describe how horrid the Canes’ performance was late in the 1st half.

The Canes D had hung in at the end of the half, and to start the 2nd half, they immediately came out and forced a 3-and-out. The Canes did drive across midfield, and once again, Miami failed to hit a quality punt. Freddie Capshaw punted it out of bounds at the BC 31, gaining only 17 yards.

On the next play, Canes’ legend Ed Reed, a sophomore at the time, made one of his signature huge plays, intercepting the ball across midfield, and returning it to the BC 35…except one of the great players in football history got stripped from behind and BC recovered, essentially where the play had started from, turning the play into a very exciting do-over. And BC took advantage, moving the ball down the field. Cedric Washington did much of the heavy lifting, and become the 3rd different Eagle to score a rushing TD to put BC up 28-0 with 6:18 left in the 3rd quarter.

Forte correctly chastised the complete lack of performance: “I’m almost at a loss for words….and I don’t know that there’s a good way to explain it.”

Then it all turned, out of nowhere.

James Jackson started rolling, moving the chains after 2 runs. Kelly then hit Santana Moss before Jackson picked up another 1st down.  The Canes ended up with 4th-and-1 at the BC 25, and on a bootleg, Kelly scrambled for 14 yards down to the BC 12. 2 plays later, Kelly hit Will McPartland on a screen pass for a TD that cut the lead to 21 with just 2:11 left in the 3rd quarter.

Miami’s defense came up with a big stop, and the Canes were set to receive the ball to start the 4th quarter, with BC lining up to punt.

Shockingly, the comeback did not continue here. BC immediately forced another punt. And then they put a drive together, working the clock, moving into Miami territory. The Canes defense finally held, but with only 12 minutes left and BC on the Canes 17-yard line, a FG to put BC up 31-7 would basically end the game.

And then BC missed the FG, wide left, and with 11:29 left the Canes were still down 28-7.

I distinctly remember my brother saying to no one in particular, “we’re going to come back and win now.”

He was right. The Canes exploded.

Going no-huddle, Kelly hit Bubba Franks on consecutive plays to the Canes’ 47. Next, Andre King got involved, making a big catch. Miami, out of sync all day, was in a rhythm. After a scramble, Kelly hit James Jackson on a screen pass, and Jackson took it 32 yards for the TD that cut the lead to 14 with 10:07 left.

On the next kickoff, James Lewis obliterated the returner inside the 20-yard line. On the next play, BC fumbled and William Joseph rumbled to the BC 6 setting up the Canes. One play later, James Jackson went around the right end for a TD that made it 28-21, with still 9:45 left.

In the course of less than 2 minutes, the game went from potentially BC up 24, to BC up 7.

BC went back to the ground game, trying to run the clock out. But Miami got the stop after one 1st down and took over at their own 24. There was now all of a sudden, plenty of time to score the one TD necessary.

And James Jackson started the drive with a big run for 20 yards, followed by another Bubba Franks reception, James Jackson exploded on 3rd-and-2, going down to the BC 28.  The Canes ended up with 2nd-and-3 on the BC 10, but Jackson got stuffed for once. On 3rd-and-2, Kelly made a play fake, avoided a free rusher, got outside, and threw a strike to Bubba Franks for the TD that remarkably tied the game at 28 with still 3:51 left.

BC suddenly had to score. And they took a shot deep on 3rd down, which Al Blades made a great play breaking up, preventing the Eagles from getting into FG range and forcing a punt

Miami started what would be the final drive at their own 43. The Canes still had 3 minutes and 2 TOs left. James Jackson was called on and gained 7 yards on 1st down to go over 100 yards…in the 2nd half. On the next play, Kenny Kelly was sacked and came up limping as the Canes were forced to use a timeout.

It’s hard to imagine given the trajectory of both careers, but the sight of backup QB Ken Dorsey stretching at this point to potentially come into the game was scary. Kelly attempted to gut the game out. And he delivered. Limping badly, he somehow avoided a free rusher and threw a strike to Santana Moss down to the BC 40-yard line. James Jackson once again got going, and ran to the BC 28.

In FG range, with Kenny Kelly barely able to walk, the Canes let the clock run down. Jackson inched the Canes forward 4 yards, as the clock was an ally. On the next play, disaster. The Canes made holding and pushed themselves out of FG range with under a minute left. Miami went for a draw to dry and pull some yards back and return to field goal range, but BC was ready and the play only gained a yard. Miami ran the whole clock down, and with 14 seconds left, Kelly threw incomplete on 3rd-and-17.

The Canes had the option of attempting the long FG, going for it, or even punting.

Butch Davis called timeout and decided to go for it. Without any timeouts, Kelly hobbled on a rollout and threw a strike to Reggie Wayne who dragged both feet inbound on the sideline for a 23-yard gain before falling out of bounds. Andy Crosland immediately came out and hit a perfect FG right between the uprights from 30 yards out with 3 seconds left to put Miami up.

BC tried to lateral on the kickoff, but got nowhere and the Canes won 31-28.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4FKUlWDjyg

Full Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2fEKkOFY0

Why is it Memorable?

The hell was this?

Butch Davis was derogatorily referred to as “Botch” by Miami fans for much of the 90s, and it was performances like what the Canes put on for a majority of this game that made everyone justifiably think he’d never elevate the program.

There is so much to unpack here.

First, a lot of the players that would 2 years later be dominating everyone and winning championships legitimately struggling to find their sea legs is a story line. It’s still great to see them in their infancy.

But this game is also about the “stolen championship” Canes. The tragedy of the 2000 BCS snafu was not just that the Canes were screwed out of the championship. For us fans, while it still hurts, as does 2002, we at least won the 2001 title. For players like Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, James Jackson, Dan Morgan, Al Blades, Damione Lewis, Andre King, Leonard Myers (RIP)…their title was stolen. This performance was character building. It led to eventually this mostly same collection of players being the best team in the country the following year. While we consider the 2000 class as champions, and justifiably, they didn’t get that opportunity. By forgetting games like this, we lose sight of how we got to see a team and players struggle and grow.

And what about Kenny Kelly? This was the only season he would be the starter, and he would be injured later in the year, eventually losing the job to Dorsey (although Kelly did start the Gator Bowl). He made play after play in this game, even after being hobbled. It was gutty.

Of course, in a sense, any 28-point comeback is memorable. But the context here is so key.

If the Canes lose this game, they go to 2-4 on a 4-game losing streak. There was no way they were not losing to Virginia Tech later in the year, so that’s at least 5 losses. Does Butch Davis even survive 5 losses with 2 being to East Carolina and Boston College, especially if this game had ended 28-0?

Everyone justifiably points to the 98 UCLA game as a turning point, and it was. After losing to Syracuse by 53 points, they turned around and won that game, knocking UCLA out of the championship game and reinvigorating the program.

But if the UCLA game was huge 3rd down conversion to kickstart a memorable drive, this game was where the Canes fumbled at midfield and miraculously recovered.

After going 9-3 in 1998 with the big UCLA win, it would be really hard to justify Butch Davis going 7-5 the following year. Really hard.

But that justification was unnecessary, thanks to this huge comeback where the Canes scored 31 points in the last 17 minutes of the game to win by 3.

The Aftermath

First, let’s dispense with BC. They were a good team that finished well from here, finishing 3rd in the Big East behind Miami and VT. They were solid and continued to be for several years.

For Miami, the season went well from here. The Canes would get obliterated in Blacksburg in a game where Kenny Kelly was injured, and replaced by Ken Dorsey. But Dorsey got valuable experience from there, starting 3 consecutive wins to end the season, and featuring heavily in the Canes Gator Bowl win over 17th ranked Georgia Tech. Despite the 4 losses, the Canes finished the year ranked 15th, having won 7 of 8, and were viewed as a national championship contender for the following year.

We all know where it went from there, wins piled on top of wins, what should have been a 3-peat robbed down to the solitary title, and a team that is widely considered the best ever.

But, this comeback changed everything. This game actually was the first game in a streak of games where Miami would go 50-2* starting on this date of October 23, 1999 and ending in Blacksburg, VA on November 1, 2003. Over that 4-year period, the Canes would lose twice, legitimately, and this was the start of the streak.

A game of great importance, a true turning point, the start of an absurd 4-year run….yet oddly forgotten. The perfect game to hold the top spot in our Recollected Dozen.

*Around these parts, BS pass interference calls after the game is already over are not acknowledged.

Have memories of this game? Tweet us at @vrp2003 and @5ReasonsSports