Day two of my road trip in South Florida was yet another reminder of why I love my job so much.
In the morning, I met my cameraman and we headed down to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale to shoot some scenic stand ups. Waves of guilt washed over me as waves of warm ocean water washed over the beach in behind me. Then, we set off for the Inter Costal waterway in South Florida to shoot another scenic stand up with massive yachts cruising in the background.
If my wife sees me "working" on the beach and by the dock in South Florida, I am a dead man. After "working hard" in the Florida sun, it was back to the lush Dolphins practice facility in Davie.
On Wednesday, I was able to speak with Chad Pennington. Thursday, I was even luckier and I was able to get an exclusive one-on-one interview with former Toronto Argo, Ricky Williams.
Ricky remembered me from his days in Toronto and we had an awesome conversation. He’s loving life and is having a ball playing for the Dolphins this season. Although Ricky only spent a year in Toronto, living in Canada really made a lasting impression on him. As he told me, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his life. Not just playing for Pinball Clemons and the Argos, but just living in Canada in general.
After talking to Ricky, Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano was kind enough to sit down with me. Realizing the guy is working 14 hours a day at this time of the season, I got right to the point. When I asked him about coaching Ricky, Sparano admitted he had a lot of negative preconceived notions about the guy. However, once he started working with Ricky on a daily basis, Sparano realized he was one of the most low maintenance and hardest working players on the team. The Ricky Williams you see now is a completely different man from the one that broke into the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.
Blessed with a great sense of humour, coach Sparano was thrilled to be playing the Bills this Sunday under the roof at Rogers Centre. Let’s be honest, the fact the Dolphins are playing such a crucial game this late in this season against a bitter division rival in climate-controlled conditions is a true gift from the football gods.
Sparano mentioned something else. He told me that there’s no way the Dolphins are 7-5 right now without Chad Pennington. You can’t possibly put into words just how respected Pennington is inside the Dolphins locker room.
The Dolphins might be the "road" team for Sunday’s game against the Bills in Toronto, but you would have to think at this moment in time, they are the better team.
(Clubber’s note – Friday on Connected – check out the feature we put together on the Dolphins “Wildcat” formation and then on. Saturday, you can see my sitdown interview with Ricky Williams)