This thread is more than just Flynn. We can make it about that, but without true hard facts, I can just go by what his father and he said. He picked Seattle over Miami because of a better internal structure/feeling. If that was the first time I heard that, I would shurg a shoulder and think he was a cry baby or something. But considering we have heard it from Crowder, Ryan Clark, and Peyton friggin Manning....it's no coincidence that the big free agents, instead of signing here, are just using us for what we are. A desperate team willing to spend a lot of money. PERFECT for someone trying to drive their price up. Eric Winston visits.....played college ball in Miami....could shore up our o-line and play opposite of Jake Long.....visits us first.....signs elsewhere. What was the last big....and I mean BIG free agent signing? Dansby. And he came here, and said point blank, he loved the Parcells mystique (he was still here). And to be honest, a lot of people think we over paid for Dansby....I won't agree, he has been ok for us....not steller, but not Donnie Spragan bad either. Ireland has, for good or bad, a terrible reputation with the players. These guys talk....they tweet eachother....Brian Hartline is still playing pool at Brandon Marshalls house....Think Crowder doesnt have friends he talks too? Manning wouldnt even bat an eye to us until Dan Marino skyped him and friggin begged him to at least let US come to HIM....just to save what little face we had left in the league. Arizona....Denver....San Fran....Tennessee......they are all still in the running for Manning. These arent some amazingly historic, consistent winning franchises like the Steelers, Patriots or Packers....yet....The Miami Dolphins....south beach, no state taxes, rich history (used to be)....doesnt matter anymore as Manning said thanks but no thanks faster than a Dan Marino 3 step drop slant pattern pass hits clayton in the chest. The days where free agency starts and we are a big player in a lot of guys are gone, the players hear the whispers, the players talk, they know Ireland has a perseption about him. Even if not true, we all played the "telephone game" in kindergarten....once something like this gets out there, it gets spread like wildfire, and EVERYONE hears it.....players/agents/wives/kids... We are a 3rd world franchise in the scope of everything, we are asking a good mind in Joe Philbin to turn this around, but he will be swimming against the current until Irish is gone imo.
I have *****ed and moaned about Ireland the past 3 seasons, I'm seriously ready to take a step back as a fan of this team until that piece of garbage is finally ousted. My hopes? 2012 we suck, fire Ireland...draft Barkley and start over. Again.
I think a lot of this is more media feeding on itself then anything. Why would ryan clark wait till now to say something? Flynn had a bad vibe about the place? Was it because of the arrangement of the furniture? I don't know, a lot of this seemed to me to be fueled by speculation and "secret sources" and now it seems to be becoming worse and more valid. That doesn't make sense to me.
Eh....I understand the feeling, believe me I do, but I couldnt possibly step back and not root for this team. How does one even do that? Do you call someone and ask them to put your fanhood on hiatus?
Again, you are choosing not to read what is right in front of your eye balls. I didn't say you compared irish to the 72's. I said you compared it to exactly what you compared it to. And if these enormous, detailed, boulder sized bread crumbs are not fact enough for you...you will never know. Especially not during Irish's, what i'm sure will be, cryptic termination.
First of all, when did you hear that from manning? I have not. Secondly, for all you know Winston was offered more money. Bush was a big get. You have no idea why manning didn't want to come here. All of the teams he met with had better records than us. He's already a god in Tennessee from his college days. Arizona is no longer in the running. They all have things Miami doesn't have, a better season last year or sentiment. If our FO sucks so bad, why is Philbin here? He was the second most coveted coach after Fisher.
I cant believe Ireland still has defenders. He is going into his 5th year as GM with exactly 1 winning season. Anyhow, if a so so FA like Alex Smith is hemming and hawwing about coming here despite our WILLINGNESS TO MAKE HIM 6TH HIGHEST PAID QB IN NFL, doesnt that tell you all you need to know about perception of our front office? Perception is reality. Reality is our owner and GM have made us a laughingstock.
Quotes came right from the horses mouth. Ryan Clark said Dolphins offered more money and he didnt go there cause he didnt want to play for Ireland. Flynns father said that Flynn had a better feeling about the SeaHawks internal workings (his former OC is our friggin HC!!! and he felt that way) Crowders words are never censored about how he feels on Ireland. And seriously, why else would Manning not bat an eye with us? It's not the weather. Or the money.
Bring him in to see if we could sign him on the cheap - even cheaper than what SEA offered. Then, see if he pans out, and draft someone if not. They liked him, just not that much I guess.
Irish has constructed a team, that by the grace of god, if everything goes their way, might win 7 games. And this is cool with people. I dont understand. Who are we clearly better than in the AFC? Colts? Jags? Browns? Thats about it. And thats awful. And people still buy the garbage damage control that we just arent going hard after these FAs. No. We are just not a desireable option. Face facts
Ryan clark who waited till now to say it no? And the channing crowder who got let go? I mean seriously? Hey sick how do you feel about your former employers who fired you? My point is it could be valid, it also just seems like it gets perpetuated in unusual manners. That tells me it may not be valid.
I never said any of it is true, **** Ireland could be the nicest person ever, however, the perception of Ireland throughout the league is not good. Regardless of if its true or not. And Clark wasnt just randomly shooting the ****, he was asked and he responded.
Oh and for the record, about me liking my former employer? Yes, I still have a decent relationship with Daisy Dukes all nude bar....I danced there for years....they treated me nice. I still get BOGO wings after 4 on Tuesdays.
the answer to all of everybodys problems? boycott the team. don't go to games, don't buy dolphins stuff and don't even watch the games on TV. if they put crap product on the field don't fund it. a team goes 1-15 and people still go to games? why?that only encourages them to not win. it's been 15 years of being the worst franchise in the NFL. screw it. not getting hyped up for another rebuild with no promise of ever getting better.
I wouldn't say it's been 15 years, and I wouldn't say we've been the worst franchise in the NFL, but it has been bad since Wanny bled this team and the bumbling fools running the show haven't made it any better.
Then they should not have bothered bringing him in. But, they are going after Alex Smith? That's ridiculous. First, Smith clearly would rather be with the 49ers - and will be there - if Manning is not there (so they are totally banking on Manning going there). Second, they are paying much more for Smith over Flynn if Manning does go to the 49ers. Third, Smith is a hugely mediocre QB who was turned into a decent player by a coaching phenom; the best defense in the league; and uber talent at RB, TE and WR! The idea that Smith will be a great QB is absurd - otherwise the 49ers would lock him up. There is absolutely no indication that Smith would be better in this system than Flynn would be. He languished before Harbaugh completely turned that team around. Matt Moore has as good a chance as Smith. Of course, I will grant, they did a great job giving up two 2nd round picks for a 2 year headache, and then trading him for two 3rd round picks. That was brilliant! Yes, just ingenious! It is unbearable to be a Dolphin fan at this point. Oh, and they have RT needs (have for more than a decade!). So, how about that RT that is surprisingly on the market? (Winston) - Oh, let's chit chat a bit, tease, tell the fans we are interested - and watch him sign with another guy.
Just imagine for a moment if maybe we would have had a chance at Bill Cowher if Jeff Ireland wasn't here. Now imagine Peyton Manning looking at the Dolphins with Bill Cowher at the helm. Who knows if Cowher was actually interested in coaching this season. But it's just an example to look at the trickle down affect of retaining Jeff Ireland. It seems established coaches don't want to work with Ireland. It seems like Peyton doesn't want to play for a rookie coach. And it seems like NFL free agents aren't coming away from meetings with Jeff Ireland with a warm fuzzy feeling. It stems from Jeff Ireland. Bill Polian for GM in 2013.
I never said you said it was true. I just think it seems a bit odd the way this story was perpetuated. It would be the same as me saying I heard you were really a woman, from an anonymous source, then others quoting me, then I report my story was validated by using every time you buy new shoes or cry because the way greys anatomy ends, then next thing you know your ex wife and other women you never proposed to are like "yea I always got a womenly vibe from Sick" or "Yeah no one ever thought Sick was a man". See how that works? Yeah but you weren't fired. You left to follow your dream of being a las vegas show girl and they made that movie about you. Remember? What's it called? How stella got her groove back?
Regardless, it's out there. The Dolphins image has been tarnished. They now have a reputation. We can sit here and rationalize it any way we want (OMGZ ITZ TEH MEDIA) but the fact remains the Dolphins, particularly the Owner and GM, are seen in a negative light. I think we can read between the lines without assuming too much here. Matt Flynn told Peter King "3 or 4 times" he really liked the vibe in Seattle. IMO, that's a very polite way saying there was something about his visit to Miami he wasn't fond of. We can speculate on what that is, but in the end it doesn't really matter because the result is the same. At what point does this become a problem? Clark and Crowder = "Ok, mediocre safety and loudmouth LB who kinda sucked. No big deal" Harbaugh = "He just wanted to stay in California" Fisher = "Have you seen his record? He's not a very good coach." Brandon Marshall = "Total headcase. Glad he's gone. Who cares if he put up nice numbers. He drops a lot of passes, etc." Peyton = "He's old. His neck is taped together. One good hit and he's done. Don't want him." Matt Flynn = "He's not worth starter money. He's unproven. Matt Moore is just as good." Again, regardless of what you think about Ireland, Ross, whoever, there's a disturbing trend here. I'm all for being optimistic. That's great. I saw a rainbow yesterday and it was awesome. In fact, I took a picture of it because it was so awesome. Here it is: So I'm not all doom and gloom. I've given Ireland a chance. I've seen him sign ONE GUY in Dansby who could be considered anything close to an impact free agent. I'm not gonna convince you or anyone else Ireland sucks if you don't already believe it. You want this team to succeed, you want players to want to come here. You want to see a Super Bowl in your lifetime - I get all that. I want it too. But Jesus Christ man. The writing is on the wall here. If there's a plan, I'd like to hear it. Because to the untrained eye, it looks as though this FO might not have much of a clue.
It would appear that the longer this front office meets with coaching prospects or FA players, the less likely it is that those individuals end up signing with the Dolphins. Perhaps this is because the more these player and coaches get to observe Ross and Ireland, the less interest they have in being part of this organization.
I could see that. Question is is it/was it justified? That's all I'm arguing. I kind of agree with whomever said it earlier that we may have to cut ties with ireland just because this story is growing out of control. I haven't said I do or don't think he sucks. I don't think he's as bad as others that's all.
oh don't worry, it's gonna happen. It's sad that some fans on this board don't realize the economic power they have. Steve Loss took a hit last season with slumping ticket sales & the embarrassment of buying his own tickets on several occasions. This season will be worse than he could ever imagine. Thank goodness the pro ireland/mr.loss posters are not the buying majority b/c the fan base would be forced to holdout longer.
The only one that can do anything about the state of the Dolphins is Ross.I don't know how much more he needs to see before he does something but I imagine next year we might have a new GM.
yet............ If it's really as bad as some are acting, I might be able to walk on to the miami dolphins in another season.
If he really wanted to do something to improve this organization, Ross should call Ireland into his office today and fire him on the spot. Waiting until the end of next season to fire Ireland makes no sense at all. All this does is give Ireland the opportunity to screw up next months draft, just as he has screwed up this free agency period so far.
