"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is."  -Derek Zoolander

I wrote a post back at the beginning of March about Brandon London appearing on "Rip the Runway", a modeling/reality show.  I was kidding about London dabbling in a modeling career like J.T. was doing years ago, before the whole "DWS" thing.

Brandon London - The next J.T.?

"Yep, Mr. London himself, strolling down the runway on "Rip the Runway".  And it got me thinking, I remember another Dolphin that started out doing some modeling... calendars wasn't it?"

When I wrote that, Brandon London was still the best shot on our roster to develop as a "run after the catch", "red zone threat", real primary type of WR for the Fins.  Wilford was pretty much deemed a bust; Ginn was showing an amazing ability to fade in and out of view; and Camarillo (injured at the time) and Bess were established as solid posession/slot guys.  London was the guy we were all pinning our hopes on, but I think most of us were also slightly curious as to why he was coming along so slowly. 

Now here we are 3 months later, NFL draft complete, mini camps are over, and training camp is around the corner.

And Where's Brandon?

As I mentioned, it was not a good sign when he wasn't able to get on the field more at the end of last season, when we clearly needed help at reciever.  I am not knocking Bess or Ginn, but right from the beginning Wilford was a non-factor and we needed a big guy to fill that red zone threat role.  When Hagan was released, that left Brandon as the only guy on the roster who could step in and fill that role.  And later after Camarillo got injured, you would expect that we might get to see more of Mr. London during the games, but he was still primarily relegated to a Special Teams role.

So you would expect that, after a year on the team, he would come out and shine in the OTAs, right?   Well, out of the WR bunch, there were five names that stood out for various reasons:

Ginn because of the look of improved route running over last year

Wilford because of his apparent conversion to T.E.

Armstrong because of his speed and abiility to get open deep.

Camarillo, just because he was actually back on the field and looks pretty good after his injury.

AND..... (insert drum roll here)

The 6'5", 223 lb ROOKIE - Patrick Turner, who reportedly looked great and caught everything thrown his way.

These guys were all mentioned in a positive way for their mini camp performances by Coach Sparano.  And London?  He was also mentioned:

 "One of the challenges for any of the receivers, Brandon included, is that it is a position right now where some hard decisions are going to have to be made," Sparano said. "I think that reps and opportunities are really the biggest challenge, meaning the opportunities that you have, you have to make plays, you need to really make these plays. Not every ball goes to you every time you are out there. That’s just the way it works. Especially at that position. The number of opportunities that he gets when his number is called…He needs to make those plays."

Wow!  After all of the high hopes we fans had for Brandon last year, it suddenly becomes a real possibility that he might not even make the team this year.

It's a good thing he has been working on his backup career!  Modeling!

Apparently, Brandon London is the Next Big Thing!  According to this article from the Sun Sentinel, London has had more than the little success J.T had with calendar photo shoots:

The past two winters London has wowed industry insiders with his performance at BET's Rip the Runway.

There have been talks with a Hollywood production company about two different movie projects, including an acting role in a LeBron James vehicle and another involving actor/writer/director Tyler Perry.

When Miami Fashion Week hits town July 16-22, London has been invited to take a turn on a different type of stage.

"Brandon right now is one of our top male models," says Yami Johnson, president and CEO of New York-based Morena Entertainment. "I think he has a face that could sell anything. He's going to be a huge star. I really believe that."

Now, to be fair, Brandon claims, "I don't see myself modeling."  But other people, like Johnson, apparently do.

According to Johnson, she sees great potential for London in the modeling world:

"He's really made a lot of progress," she says. "I think in a year or two he's going to be a known face. People are definitely going to identify with who he is."

But... why?

"He has the look. He definitely has it."