There isn't much to talk about right now, but the good news is that the traing camp dates for all 32 teams has been released. You can check out the whole list here, but the important date for us Dolphin fans is July 29, which is the first day of practice.
Also, here are some other things you may have missed over the weekend:
EVANS ARRESTED
I'm sure you've heard by now, but incase you missed it, Dolphins DT Fred Evans was arrested in Miami Beach and charged with, among other things, battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct. Apparently, Evans was in an argument with a cab driver and when he refused to get out of the taxi, police attempted to restrain him with handcuffs, but a physical struggle ensued, with Evans biting an officer before he was tasered and arrested.
Cam Cameron released a statement about the Evans situation:
According to Harvey Fialkov's blog, Evans has always been "gentleman" when dealing with the media and he was surprised to hear about this. However, he does feel that "Rev. Cameron," as Fialkov called him, will make an example out of the young Evans, especially with rookie DT Paul Soliai having looked good at mini-camp and Kevin Vickerson coming off of an impressive NFL Europa campaign where he tallied 31 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Vickerson was also named to the first team All-NFL Europa.
I tend to agree with Harvey on this one. I think that Evans is not likely to make the team. Hell, he might have just out his NFL career in jeopardy. He's facing some serious charges including battery to a police officer. Even if he can somehow get out of jailtime, he's likely going to face some kind of league-imposed punishment should he continue his NFL career.
MORE ON TAYLOR'S GREEN COMMENT
The Palm Beach Post's Greg Stoda wrote an article on Saturday about how he feels people should loosen up on the comment Jason Taylor made about Trent Green in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. If you missed it, here's the quote:
Stoda goes on to write how Taylor's comment may be an ugly image, but that it's basically true. He also says that if you've seen the hit that knocked out Green, then you'd also be thinking the same thing: scrambled eggs.
My view? That's simple. I think Taylor deserves some criticism for saying that quote to a print media member as influential as SI because of how hard it is to get across things like "tone of voice" and "context" in print media. And SI is the biggest and best example of print media out there. I think Taylor should have been smart enough to realize that this kind of quote would create a mini firestorm. Next time, I hope he thinks twice.
However, what he actually said wasn't that bad and, like Taylor said, was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. All in all, chalk it up as a little mistake by Taylor, but also count it as a leader attempting to light a fire under one's ass as well. Make no mistake about it, it isn't just the fans who are going to be very, very hard on Trent Green this year. It's also the veteran players who have been with the Dolphins for a long time. They want to win. And I''m sure Taylor was just saying whatm any of the players were thinking. And if Green does flop in Miami, then their criticism will be proven to be justified.
FINS #1 WORST OFFSEASON?
Ryan Stetson, of Covers.com, wrote an article that ranks the 3 best offseasons and 3 worst offseasons. The Dolphins were rated as having the #1 worst offseason of 2007. Why? He cites the losses of Wes Welker, Joey Harrington, Olindo Mare, and Sammy Morris. Are you f*cking kidding me?
Listen, if you're going to kill the Dolphins for their offseason moves, do it by getting on them for cutting Randy McMichael and for not addressing the offensive line in free agency or for the selection of Ted Ginn at #9 overall. At least you can make good arguments for those. But don't do it for getting a 2nd round pick for Welker, or for cutting Mare (we did get Jay Feeley...look at the stats...it's an upgrade), or for losing Sammy Morris, a guy who couldn't fill in effectively in 2004 following the retirement of Ricky Williams. All of those moves improved the team. But hey, what do I know?