Dansby Talks about being overweight.along with other players..

Dj, just from having worked for a former player (a Hall of Famer here in Cincinnati) and hearing the stories he and his playing buddies have said; it's just the way the league is. Certain guys go out and get wasted the night before a game. Some guys did more drugs than you'd ever care to know. Some of them couldn't understand the playbook unless it was drawn in crayon, that type of stuff.

And, to boot, they don't have a regimented offseason plan, of course they're going to be overweight/out of shape regardless of how much money they're being paid. It's just the way it is in the NFL (and I'm sure other sports too). But, in a way, I think it's better that it happened to certain players on the Miami Dolphins this offseason. I think it just shows how far the Dolphins really are from being a legitimate contender, and coupled with how badly they've been coached, it's really hit home. I mean, we saw Davone Bess videos of him working out in a gym; that's not the same type of stuff they'd be getting in an NFL program during the offseason. Couple that with Miami probably having as much or more distractions than any other city for any other team...just a bad mixture all around.

For the record, the player I worked for was married prior to getting drafted by the Bengals, and started a family very soon into his playing career. He didn't drink, didn't party, and to this day, still doesn't. He was focused on raising his family. In today's game, there's a very small amount of players who come into the league with situations like that.

However, in the long-run, this season's record will likely get rid of Tony Sparano, and might get rid of Jeff Ireland (though, I'm not sure just how good or bad that will be. Or if we'll ever really know for sure), and will refocus the organization on doing something they've not done in a long time: get a franchise quarterback.

 

20lbs overweight is not a big slob. you need perspective. and I've known plenty of grown men who don't know everything proper about staying in "shape". That has nothing to do with it.

 

You make it sound like he just magically dropped 20lbs in the week prior to the Chiefs game and all of the sudden became really. That wouldn't be the case. The entire team underachieved the first seven games of the year regardless of certain players being in our out of shape. I think more or less, Dansby's play the last two weeks is more a product of the Chiefs and Redskins being really bad, and schematic changes within the Dolphins defense; not whether or not Karlos Dansby's in shape or not.

I remember an intervew with Clay Matthews, a physical freak, in which he said he actually put on about 5-10lbs of bulk (i.e. fat) during the season to help withstand some of the punishment he takes. There's a difference between being in shape and being in "football shape". The majority of your LBs and players who are naturally bigger playing the positions they play, aren't going to be guys cut from slabs of granite with 6-pack abs. That's just not the way football works.

 

I'm not saying its an excuse, I am saying its an answer. And expecting pure perfection is not being reasonable.

 

You absolutely need perspective. Karlos Dansby is one extremely small part of what caused 0-7 and you want to crucify the man. You act like you were with him all summer. You don't even know what kind of weight he put on. Putting on extra muscle can absolutely make you slower when it comes to running and moving around. But here you are proclaiming Karlos Dansby a fat slob who doesn't take care of body when really all you have to go on is a generic statement that he made.

 

In shape or out of shape, the fact is that the Dolphins still lack talent on the team and they remain one of the worst teams in the NFL. They have beaten only the Chiefs and the Redskins and neither of these teams are very good. Even after these wins, I don't see the Dolphins winning more than four games this season. The fact that Dansby and others on the Dolphins were not in shape early in the season clearly shows that this team is made up by a bunch of children who can't do what it takes to remain in shape during the off season without someone constantly telling them what to eat and how to properly exercise.

That is what separates the good teams from the bad teams in the NFL. The Packers held no off season workouts, yet their players were in shape from the beginning of the season. Using the excuse that the players on the team were out of shape and that is why the Dolphins started 0-7, is an excuse for losers. I blame the players who were out of shape and Ireland for drafting and signing players who are not mature enough to do what it takes to get ready for the NFL season.

I am not a fan of Sparano but I don't blame him for the laziness of the players this past off season. He can only work with the players Ireland gives him and Ireland has done a lousy job of providing Sparano with quality NFL talent.

 

That's Paul Soliai, at least for this year. But he's the highest paid defensive player in the history of the Miami Dolphins.

As for Dansby, I'm not sure why you're pinning it all on him. There's been guys on both sides of the ball with injuries. There's been churning of the roster in certain places, most notably the secondary. Dansby himself was playing a new role. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith switched sides of the field in certain circumstances, which I don't think has yet be adequately explained. The offensive line was miserable - including Jake Long - right up until the Kansas City game. Tony Sparano went for two against Denver when he should've kicked an extra point. There's a laundry list of reasons as to why the team started 0-7; but I think being out of shape to start the season is pretty far down the list. Maybe the first two games it was a bit more noticeable, but it hasn't been as big of factor as the other things from that point on. This team is just not as good as many people anticipated they'd be. I know you said you yourself were guilty of mis-evaluating them as well. There's just more to it than being out of shape.

 

The second week of the season Pittsburgh shut out Seattle 24-0
I wish our defense could look that "awful"