Dwyane Wade to Have Jersey Retired by Miami Heat

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Dwayne Wade is coming home.

A Miami Heat legend will get his due in February. According to a report from the Orlando Sun Sentinel, Dwayne Wade will have his jersey retired on February 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be exactly two years and two weeks after Cleveland traded Wade back to Miami.

When you look at his resume, it’s truly impressive in regards to what Wade did throughout the course of his career. A three-time NBA champion, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, and a 13-time NBA All-Star are just some of the things he has accomplished. Wade had success from the get-go,  making the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2004.

In addition to those accomplishments, he was named the MVP of the All-Star Game in 2010 and was the NBA scoring champion in 2009. That year, he scored 30.2 points per contest. It was the best season of his career, and a performance that is not going to be forgotten.

Although the years with Lebron James were some of the best in Miami Heat history, the 2006 NBA Finals was where Wade was able to make his most significant mark in the postseason.

2006 a major year in Miami Heat history

Wade played in 23 games in the 2006 postseason, starting all of them. He made 219-of-441 field goal attempts, scoring 653 points.  That was Dwayne Wade at his best, and it was fascinating to see him  play at that high a level. The way that Wade and Shaquille O’Neal held down the fort during that run was impressive. That was just one of the many highlights for Wade in what was a storied career.

Do you want tickets? You’re going to have to pay up. According to prices from StubHub, the lowest possible seat cost at the moment is $158.10. If you want to pay that, you’ll be sitting in Balcony Corner, seat 403.

For a night like this, it’s worth it. Wade embodied the Miami Heat from the time he arrived in the organization.  It will certainly be great to see him back home at American Airlines Arena.

Miami Dolphins

Dolphins ink eight to future contracts

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There’s been little to no days off for Chris Grier and the Dolphins front office since Brian Flores was named the franchise’s new head coach last year.

To break the 7-9 cycle the Dolphins tore down the roster.

As a result, Miami used 84 different players throughout the season as they searched for players who could become contributors for years to come.

Grier and Miami’s scouting department discovered players who can positively impact the team for many years. Nik Needham, Preston Williams, and Sam Eguavoen are some of the diamonds found in the rough.

The grind continues just days into the offseason as linebacker Jake Carlock, linebacker Terrill Hanks, wide receiver Andy Jones, tight end Chris Myarick, tackle Chidi Okeke, defensive tackle Durval Queiroz Neto, wide receiver T.J. Rahming, and wide receiver Terry Wright all signed future contracts with the Miami Dolphins.

Who are they?

Carlock spent the last two months of the regular season on Miami’s practice squad after signing with the Giants in May as an undrafted free agent.

Hanks, a Miami native, along with Myarick, both spent the entire season on Miami’s practice squad. Hanks was a four-year starter at New Mexico state and Myarick was a two-year starter at Temple.

Jones jumped around and has played eight games in the NFL with three starts as a member of the Lions.

Okeke was a two-year starter at Tennessee and earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2018.

Queiroz Neto joined the Dolphins in 2019 as part of the International Player Pathway program. He was a judo champion before switching to football.

Rahming was a four-year starter at Duke and earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2018.

Wright scored five receiving and a rushing touchdown as a two-year starter at Purdue.

The Dolphins continue their due diligence in an attempt to rebuild the roster from the ground-up. Miami will have a busy offseason with over $100 million in cap space and a war-chest of draft picks.

 

Erik Spoelstra defines a max player: Butler (and not Whiteside?)

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It was a simple question about missed shots.

But it was natural for some to interpret part of the answer as an subtle shot.

OK, here’s how it started:

I’ve noticed a trend.

Jimmy Butler shoots poorly, as he did Thursday against the Toronto Raptors, making just 2-of-10 from the floor.

The Miami Heat win anyway, as they did, 82-74, to rise to 25-9 on the season.

And, according to the betting data here, they’re listed as significant favorites to win tonight’s game against Orlando so things continue to look good for them, even when Butler isn’t connecting consistently from anywhere but the foul line.

In fact, the Heat are now a ludicrous 11-2 when Butler makes five or fewer field goals in a game. So it’s not an especially small sample size. Butler has done everything well in his debut season with the Heat (defense, rebounding, passing, playmaking and especially leading). Especially except shoot well from beyond 10 feet. His percentages from every spot on the floor, past that distance, are his worst since his rookie season, when he was a benchwarmer for Chicago. He’s already had 12 games this season, including Thursday, when he shot under 37 percent. That happened only 14 times all of the 2018-19 season with Philadelphia and Minnesota combined.

So I merely presented the odd 11-2 number to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra after the win, acknowledging that he likely wouldn’t want Butler to keep shooting below his career marks simply to see if the Heat can win anyway.

Here’s the exchange, in full:

As you see, ESPN Sportscenter picked it up.

Why?

Well, in part because it’s a thoughtful assessment about what is really important to winning, and why Butler has been so critical for the Heat.

Spoelstra said he wasn’t concerned about the shooting. Then he pivoted.

“That’s what young players should learn coming into the league, of what a max player actually is,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not about stats. It’s not about that final number on the boxscore. It’s not about whatever 2k numbers you can get. It’s not. It’s about how your team functions and are you winning because of a player? And there is no debate about this. He’s having an incredible impact on our winning, on our bottom line, and why we chased him so hard as a max player. That should be the definition from here on out. But it’s not. It’s not clouded. It becomes about stats…”

OK, so on its face, that’s simply high praise of Butler.

So why did everyone, in the responses to the videos, start tagging @YoungWhiteside, for now-Blazers center Hassan Whiteside?

A few reasons for the connection.

Many know the checkered history between Spoelstra and Whiteside, though both have mostly praised the other since the Heat shipped Whiteside to Portland for Meyers Leonard and Mo Harkless, who was eventually dealt to the Clippers to clear enough space for Butler. Spoelstra’s frustration with Whiteside was evident the past couple of seasons, and it was mutual. Now it’s clear that Whiteside needed to go for Bam Adebayo and the team to thrive.

This was detailed on Heat media day, in my column.

But it’s the “2K thing” mostly.

That was Whiteside’s thing.

Remember Whiteside exploding on the scene, and actually winning Heat fan hearts by joking (well, not really) that he just wanted to “get my 2K rating up,” for the video game that so many players and fans play?

It stopped being cute when Whiteside began pouting about his role and touches, and it seemed as if he was more concerned with stat compiling than winning, often stranding teammates in search of blocks.

Now that Whiteside’s gone, suddenly the ball moves more on offense, with elite passing big man Bam Adebayo taking his place. Suddenly the pick-and-roll coverage is better, with Adebayo storming the perimeter to disrupt drivers before they even get near the rim. And suddenly the Blazers are struggling to make the playoffs, after making the Western Conference Finals without Whiteside last season.

And suddenly — and this can’t be overstated — Spoelstra has appeared happy again.

(And he keeps talking about “max players” and what they should be; Whiteside, of course, was given a max by Miami.)

Still, maybe Spoelstra didn’t mean anything toward Whiteside, and this was all about Butler. Certainly the Heat and Spoelstra will say so now, with Whiteside and his team making their only appearance at American Airlines Arena this season, this upcoming Sunday. We’re not necessary expecting a tribute video, but the Heat tend to go the classy route, so who knows?

Whatever was meant, or not, by Spoelstra here, this certainly makes an interesting subplot even more intriguing. Contrary to what Whiteside may have believed, the Heat now have shooters everywhere — including one from the podium, who didn’t miss his intended or unintended target Thursday.

 

Ethan J. Skolnick, the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network, will relaunch his Season Ticket column next week with a column about Butler’s impact in other ways.

Florida Panthers: Evgenii Dadonov shines in win over Ottawa

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Dadonov is on fire for the Florida Panthers.

Florida Panthers right winger Evgenii Dadonov is a special hockey player. That was evident on Thursday as the Panthers beat Ottawa by a 6-3 score. As a result, they recorded a much-needed bounce back win after losing to Columbus.

Dadonov led the charge in the scoring department. He scored two goals and tallied an assist. He was a +1 in 15:12 of ice time. He was on the power play for 1:48. His second goal was particularly impressive. After winning the faceoff, Mike Hoffman delivered an excellent pass from the side of the net to Dadonov. Dadonov then slammed the puck home for the score to tie the game at two. He was all over the ice on Thursday.

With 14 goals and 15 assists, he now has 29 points on the year. Last year, he had 70 points which amounted to 28 goals and 42 assists.

Dadonov is surging for the Florida Panthers

Dadonov has played well as of late. Prior to being held scoreless against Columbus on Monday night, he put up two assists for two points against Montréal. Against Detroit on December 28, he recorded a goal. Going back even further, he was able to tally a  goal against Carolina on December 21. He has provided some much-needed scoring for the Panthers, and Thursday was exemplary of that.

The Panthers need him to continue playing at a high level, particularly with the second half of the season beginning shortly.  Between Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and, Dadonov, the Panthers have themselves a formidable three-headed monster. With the way Dadonov has been playing, that trio is looking stronger than ever.

The Florida Panthers will be in action again on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop will be at 1:00 PM. It will be intriguing to see if Dadonov can keep up this momentum throughout the course of the game.

Zach Thomas header

Miami Dolphins: Zach Thomas named Hall of Fame finalist

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The Miami Dolphins legend is one step closer to the pinnacle of football.

A Miami Dolphins legend is one step closer to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Linebacker Zach Thomas was announced as a finalist for the 2020 class on Thursday.  Thomas was named a semifinalist in November.

Zach Thomas had a tremendous career with the Miami Dolphins. He recorded 1,633 tackles with the Dolphins in a 12-year career. He started in 182 out of the 184 games he played in. His best year came in 2006. Recording 165 tackles, he also registered three sacks. Playing in all 16 games that year, he was truly a workhorse.

Thomas made the Associated Press All-Pro First Team six times. He made the Second Team once in 2001 as an inside linebacker.

The Texas Tech standout joins a class that includes Steve Hutchinson, Alan Faneca, Torry Holt, Troy Polamalu, Richard Seymour, and Reggie Wayne.

It’s time for the Miami Dolphins great to be in Canton

I have to say this, it’s about time. He truly was a tremendous linebacker for the Miami Dolphins. He was truly consistent year in and year out. Thomas never took place off, and was a tremendous part of the Miami defense. Thomas recorded six seasons of at least 150 tackles in a row. Not only that, he started in every single game five times in his career. With how ferociously he played the game, that is also remarkable.

Not only that, he played both the inside and middle linebacker positions. He was truly somebody defenses had to watch out for, and he was someone they had to gameplan against. Thomas was one of my favorite linebackers to watch growing up, and it’s great to see him get this nod. Hopefully, he will be able to get his call to the Hall. He is going up against a stacked class. I will just say this: Getting the opportunity to watch a potential acceptance speech in Canton would be pretty sweet.

 

Running Back, not QB, may be Bigger Need for Dolphins

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December 29th marked the end of the 2019 season for the Miami Dolphins.

Welcome to the offseason.

Each day it seems a new rumor or theory rises to the surface. How will the Dolphins rebuild the roster?

Fans, and owner Stephen Ross, agree that the Dolphins are in need of a franchise quarterback.

While it is undeniable that a franchise quarterback is needed in order to create a franchise worthy of competing for a Super Bowl, is finding a quarterback the top priority?

It seemed that the Dolphins were starting three or four new players each and every week. Some continuity within the roster proved Miami wasn’t as awful as some thought.

The Dolphins defeated two division winners in December (Philadelphia and New England) and saying that Ryan Fitzpatrick was the best quarterback in the AFC East may not be too farfetched.

 

Fitzpatrick completed 62 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and 3,529 yards. He had more passing touchdowns than Sam Darnold and tied Josh Allen, but threw for roughly 500 more yards.

Tom Brady threw for four more touchdowns and roughly 500 more yards, but started two more games than Fitzpatrick. It is important to keep in mind that the point here isn’t to say that Fitzpatrick is better than one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

However, bringing Fitzpatrick back would likely be a better option for the Dolphins than forcing a top-pick on a player Chris Grier and Miami’s front office is not sold on.

There is one stat from Fitzpatrick that must change headed into next season.

The Dolphins need to address the running back room

Fitzpatrick’s 243 yards on the ground was the most by any player by the Miami Dolphins in 2019.

The Dolphins started the season with Kalen Ballage, Kenyan Drake and Mark Walton as the team’s top backs. The room quickly crumbled.

Drake was traded after reports came out that he didn’t want to re-sign with the team.

Walton had a few strong games, but will likely never be on a football field again after some legal issues.

Ballage finished the season with three touchdowns with a steady 1.8 yards per attempt on 74 attempts on the year before suffering a season-ending injury.

Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin and Samaje Perine were alright in limited time, but the Dolphins have the salary cap space and draft capital to give the position a major facelift.

Eight of the top 11 rushing teams earned a spot in the NFL playoffs. Despite the modern day “pass happy” NFL, there is still plenty of reasons to establish the run.

Fans want to a quarterback and who could blame them?  What would help a young signal caller more than an established running game? For that, it should be reasonable to want the Dolphins to pick one or maybe even two running backs in the first five rounds of the NFL draft.

If the Dolphins don’t want to “waste” the picks in the backfield, there are already some interesting rumors around the free agent class of backs.

After Gordon there are a still a few other names to keep an eye on.

The Dolphins have plenty of work to do this offseason. It is clear that the team needs to find the quarterback of the future, but running it back with Fitzpatrick wouldn’t be the worst outcome for the franchise.

The Dolphins cannot afford to average a league-worse 72 yards per game on the ground in 2020.

Sergei Bobrovsky looking for fresh start against Senators

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Sergei Bobrovsky needs to be better for the Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers will play their first game of the new year on Thursday night against Ottawa. Hopefully, it will be a bounce-back game for Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. He had a rough return to Columbus on Tuesday night.

Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 28 shots in 58:15 of ice time. This marked the third game in a row that he has given up at least four goals. He gave up five to Montréal on December 29 and six the night before against Detroit. He has been struggling as of late. Thursday could be the perfect game for him to turn things around.

The last time he faced Ottawa was on December 16. He was superb in that game. Giving up one goal on 30 shots, he saw 68 minutes of ice time.  For the season, he is first in goals allowed with 96. Carey Price is second in that category with 95.

Sergei Bobrovsky struggling for Florida Panthers

There is no doubt he is struggling. His statistics reflect that. He allows 3.29 goals per game. That is second only to Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings.  His save percentage is not exactly terrible, but it’s not where it needs to be either. He carries an .897 save percentage into Thursday’s game. That ranks 10th-worst in the league.

There is no doubt he is struggling right now, and Thursday’s game against Ottawa could be the perfect bounce-back game. The Senators  are eighth-worst in the league at scoring. They have 111 goals on the season, tied with the New York Islanders. In addition, they have the worst power play conversion percentage in the league. They score a goal on 11.2% of their power plays.

Thursday could be the perfect bounce back game for Bobrovsky. The Florida Panthers definitely need him to play better. A win against Ottawa would be a nice place to start.

Recap of The Marlins Offseason Before The 2020 Season

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The Marlins have had a rather successful offseason despite not reeling in any of the prized free agents. From the start, attracting big free agents such as Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strausburg, and Anthony Rendon was never in the Marlins plans for this offseason. Bringing in veterans on short term deals while upgrading the line-up has been the plan. Low risk, high reward.

Staring The Offseason 

To start off their offseason, the Marlins designated two players for assignment, J.T Riddle, and Tayron Guerrero. J.T Riddle elected free agency while Tayron Guerrero was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox. The Marlins grew weary of Guerrero’s inability to throw strikes consistently. throwing 100mph does no good if it isn’t in the zone. Designating Riddle for assignment was to make room on the 40 man roster.

Adding Bats

After subtracting two players from their team, it was time the Marlins added to their team. The team made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles to acquire Jonathan Villar for Minor League left-handed pitcher Easton Lucas.

Villar hit for a .274 average, 24 home runs, 73 runs batted in, and he stole 40 bases for the Orioles last season. Villar has the speed and power combination that is perfect for Marlins Park especially now that the fences have been brought in. His power side is hitting from the left side and hitting a home run to left field is easier to do than to right field.

Villar can play a multitude of positions including second base, shortstop, third base, and some outfield if he needed to.

Shortly after acquiring Jonathan Villar from the Orioles, the Marlins claimed first baseman, Jesus Aguilar, from the Tampa Bay Rays off waivers. The Marlins needed to fill a power hole in their line up. They ranked last in all of Major League Baseball in hitting home runs and desperately need some power bats in their line up.

Aguilar did not have a spectacular year last season but he does have a reputation to be an elite power hitter like he was in Milwaukee back in the 2017 season. He hit for a .236 average, 12 home runs, and 50 RBIs last season for the Rays.

With the hiring of new hitting coach/offensive coordinator  James Rowson, it’s possible that we see an upstep in production from underproducing hitters like Aguilar.

Hitting the Free Agent Market

After making trades and claiming players off waivers, the Marlins finally dug into the free-agent market. They started off free agency by bringing in strike-throwing reliever Yimi Garcia on a two-year deal. Garcia was previously with the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 62.1 innings pitched, he posted a 3.61 ERA with a .178 opponent batting average against him.

After signing Garcia, the Marlins went and signed more bats. Bringing in outfielder Matt Kemp on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. Kemp hardly played last season but in 2018 he hit for a .290 average while hitting 21 home runs and driving in 85 RBIs and leading the Dodgers to the World Series.

The first biggest free-agent signing made by this new ownership is the signing of outfielder Corey Dickerson. The Marlins signed Dickerson to a two-year $17.5 million dollar deal. In 2019, Dickerson hit for a .304 average, 12 home runs, and 59 RBIs in 260 at-bats.

The Marlins recently signed veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli to a one year contract. Cervelli will provide a veteran catcher presence and will help develop our young pitchers into potential aces. 

Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 Draft wasn’t very exciting this year. The Marlins’ biggest move however from the draft was selecting RHP Sterling Sharp from the Washington Nationals. Sharp is an excellent pickup who will go directly into the Marlins bullpen to start the 2020 season if he is healthy. Sharp produced a 3.53 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched while allowing only ONE homerun. He is a groundball specialist and will prove to be very useful for the Marlins bullpen needs.

 

Miami Dolphins NFL 100 Presence Profound

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The Miami Dolphins organization has left their footprint on the NFL 100 All-Time Team.

Over the course of the NFL’s 100 years in existence, the Miami Dolphins have fielded legendary teams and players.

Those legends take us back to a time when Miami stood at the NFL pinnacle.

The Miami Dolphins were born in 1966 and for a while seemed comical and lovable in their ineptitude.

Until one man changed the course of an entire franchise for the next three decades.

Shula Builds Winner in his Image

As present day observers of the Miami Dolphins will attest, the formula for success starts at the top.

The NFL’s all-time winningest coach (347), Shula’s rise to prominence was steady yet many challenges befell him along the way.

Don Shula joined the Dolphins in 1970 after a successful, if unfulfilled six year tenure with the Baltimore Colts.

He finished with a stellar 71-23-4 record in the regular season, but his legacy there was defined by missed opportunities.

The Colts went just 2-3 in the postseason under Shula, including upset losses in the 1964 NFL Championship and the famous 1969 Super Bowl against Joe Namath and the New York Jets.

It looked like the failures of years past would continue to haunt Shula, he lost in 1970 to Oakland in the Divisional round.

The following year Shula would guide the 1971 team to their first Super Bowl where they would fall to Dallas.

Despite that defeat, Shula and the Miami Dolphins were on the brink of history.

One team annually reminds the world that they were the first, and to this day, only undefeated Super Bowl champions.

The 1972 Dolphins were the culmination of Shula’s steady ascension to greatness.

A team so complete and unwavering in their identity, that destiny did not have a chance.

Seventeen teams tried to defeat them, with each finding a different path to failure.

Shula put all the components together for sustained success.

Combining a powerful running game with timely execution through the air, Miami bulldozed their way to perfection.

Those teams were built from the inside-out, with Hall of Fame talent on the offensive line and across the defense.

Miami would win their second (and most recent) Super Bowl the following year against Minnesota and were a consistent winner the entire decade.

The Dolphins would win at least 10 games in all but one season throughout the 1970’s, yet the slow shift to the passing attack league-wide was hastening.

Shula would embrace the new offensive climate as time went on, and his next chapter would be forever linked with Miami’s second player on this list.

Dan Marino

The standard by which every Dolphins quarterback is measured.

 

Marino not only set the bar for a franchise, he elevated the statistical requirements needed to be considered an elite modern NFL quarterback.

When Marino retired he owned most, if not all, significant records at the position.

Completions (4967)

Attempts (8358)

Passing yards (61,361)

Touchdowns (420)

More importantly, he won.

A lot.

Marino still ranks fifth all time in wins with 147, and led the Dolphins to the postseason 10 times in his career.

After an MVP campaign in 1984 which ended with a loss to San Francisco in the Super Bowl, nothing seemed impossible for the Dolphins.

Along with Coach Shula, Marino gave the organization a second era of consistent excellence and stability which has yet to be captured again.

He never made it to the Super Bowl after 1984, but his legacy is without doubt when you set foot in Hard Rock Stadium.

His number 13 is one of only three to be retired for the Miami Dolphins, along with Bob Griese (12) and Larry Czonka (39).

For two decades the Miami Dolphins have tried to find his heir apparent as a true franchise quarterback.

Until that happens, if it ever does, Marino’s accomplishments remain the pinnacle for this organization.

Marino was inducted into the Dolphins Honor Roll in 2000 and enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dwight Stephenson

The Miami Dolphins have had legendary offensive lineman such as Jim Langer and Larry Little, both NFL Hall of Famers.

Langer was the first great center to wear a Dolphins uniform, a true ironman he played 128 consecutive games. He worked his way up from a role player to a perennial All-Pro with incredible determination and work ethic.

Little redefined the guard position with his athleticism on pulls and grace in pass protection. Or he could simply power over an opponent on a sweep, then glide fast enough to escort Czonka, Kiick, or Morris to the house. Little was also a superb mentor to younger players and would later become a coach in the college ranks.

Stephenson epitomized both of them when he took hold of the starting center job in 1981, his second season. Defined by an unwavering drive, Stephenson never took a play off. He was an All-American at Alabama but was primarily a special teamer early on until an injury to starting center Mark Dennard in 1981 opened the door.

 

Despite a career cut short by injuries, Stephenson was regarded as the best center of his time. Marino’s battery mate, his consistency was a catalyst in the Dolphins offensive line allowing the fewest sacks in the NFL for six straight seasons. Stephenson is one of only four centers to make the NFL 100 list. He was added to the Dolphins Honor Roll in 1994 and selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Paul Warfield

Part of the 1972 undefeated team, Warfield was one of the first true NFL deep threats at wide receiver.

Warfield retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in receiving touchdowns (85) and led the league in receiving scores on two occasions.

In an age where the air attack was still finding prominence, Warfield found the end zone at least 10 times in four different seasons.

 

Warfield would spend five seasons in Miami after playing his first six for the Cleveland Browns. He would make seven consecutive Pro Bowls (when it meant something), including all five of his years in Miami.

For his career Warfield caught 427 passes for 8,565 yards along with 85 touchdowns.

Warfield rejoined the Browns for his final three seasons and retired after the 1977 season. He would be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Dolphins Honor Roll in 1990.

Junior Seau

Seau played three seasons in Miami from 2003-2005 where he appeared in 30 games, registering five sacks. Most of Seau’s career was spent in San Diego where he was an eight time All-Pro and led the Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance. He would be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame posthumously in 2015.

 

 

Perine lands on Dolphins draft radar after leading Gators to Orange Bowl win

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The Miami Dolphins might not have to look far and wide for their future running back.

Lamical Perine rushes for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries to lead the Florida Gators to a 36-28 win over the Virginia Cavaliers in the Orange Bowl. He also gained 43 receiving yards and another touchdown.

Perine became the first Florida running back since Jacksonville Jaguars legend Fred Taylor in 1998 to earn bowl MVP honors.

The senior made a statement in his final career collegiate game in front of Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, who was at the game. One of the Dolphins’ last transactions of the regular season was to bring in Perine’s cousin Samaje, who spent the first three years of his NFL career with the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals.

Perine entered the bowl game with 538 rushing yards and 219 receiving yards with four touchdowns from both the air and the ground. He rushed for a career high 826 yards a year ago but his performance at Hard Rock Stadium proved that stats don’t tell the entire story.

“He’s one of the best backs in the country and came back his senior year,” Florida head coach Dan Mullen said, “and if you just purely look at stats and rushing yards, you might just kind of get a misread on it, but the reality is he’s one of the best backs in the country and he showed it out here tonight, running, catching.”

Perine immediately set the tone of the game with his first carry being a 61-yard touchdown run. The Gators were designated as the away team but the crowd said otherwise.

Perine’s second touchdown came on a 16-yard catch in which he had to shake off a defender on his way to the end zone.

His third touchdown was on a 10-yard run in the second quarter and he would’ve had a fourth one in the fourth quarter had the side of his foot wasn’t out of bounds on the one yard line. That allowed quarterback Kyle Trask to experience the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run.

Given the current state of running backs in the NFL Draft hierarchy, the Dolphins might not have to use one of their higher draft picks to select Perine. It would be ironic if the fifth round pick they acquired from the Arizona Cardinals in the  Kenyan Drake trade ends up being used on Perine.