What a difference a week makes.
Last week, I was at the wind swept and frigid Bills practice facility in Orchard Park, NY. Seven days later, the powers that be at Sportsnet decided I needed to fly down to South Florida to do a few stories on the Dolphins.
Upon leaving my home to go the airport my lovely wife gave me a grave warning. Don’t come home with a suntan, or else. Yikes. You try not getting a suntan when you’re “working hard” in South Florida when it’s warm and the palm trees are swaying in the breeze.
The Dolphins practice facility is like something out of a Florida postcard. I mean who ever heard of an NFL practice facility surrounded by palm trees? The grass field at the facility looks like the fairways at Augusta. The Dolphins like to take care of their players. Heck, even the media in Miami is provided hot pizza and cold beverages.
Vonnie Holliday gets my vote as the most honest player in Florida. The Dolphins defensive end didn’t even hesitate when I asked him if it was an advantage for the Dolphins that they were playing under a roof at Rogers Centre and not outside freezing at The Ralph. The words “Hell Yes” come to mind. Holliday played in Green Bay so knows what it’s like to have a team from the south to come up north and play in the cold weather.
Afterwards. I had the privilege of sitting down with quarterback Chad Pennington for 10 minutes. First off, getting an exclusive one on one interview with a starting quarterback in the NFL this late into the season is highly unusual. Most quarterbacks are too busy to make that kind of time out of their hectic daily schedule. Pennington automatically goes right to the top of my list as one of the classiest athletes I have ever had the privilege to interview. It took about five seconds to see why Pennington is considered to have one of the highest IQs of any player in the NFL. After the Jets got rid of him to make room for Brett Favre, Pennington brought a sense of professionalism and stability to the Dolphins offence. One thing Pennington admitted to me was the first time he was split out as a receiver in the Dolphins “Wildcat” formation; the Patriots defenders were more confused to what was happening than he was.
The Dolphins know that this game Sunday is a big deal in Toronto and there will a lot of Miami fans in the crowd. But that’s a mere sidebar for this team. The Dolphins are 7-5 and they are looking at this game with the Bills as just another step in their remarkable journey from going 1-15 last year, to possibly heading to the playoffs in 2008. After playing the Bills, the Dolphins take on the 49ers and the Chiefs. As fate would have it, Pennington and the Dolphins will wrap up the regular season in the Meadowlands as they take on Brett Favre and the Jets. I asked Chad if was looking ahead to that game at all. He said he will only start to think about the Jets game if the Dolphins win their next three games.
The Dolphins might be coming to Toronto to help the Bills sell some tickets and help sell the NFL in Canada. But one thing is very clear, this is a business trip for the Dolphins, plain and simple.
That means walking into Rogers Centre, beating the Bills, and then hopping on a plane to go back to the sun and warmth of South Florida.
Thursday, I am looking forward to sitting down with former Argo running back Ricky Williams.