Why Miami Dolphins fans shouldn't care about Brett Favre to New York Jets trade

To Miami Dolphins Fans: There is no doubt that the 2008 NFL off-season has been dominated by two stories: Jason Taylor’s exodus from the Miami Dolphins and Brett Favre’s decision to unretire (like he was actually retired in the first place) and return to the NFL.

As Dolphins fans, we thought we were in the clear with Taylor being traded to the Washington Redskins a few weeks ago. But then Favre’s situation worsened. It became more than a national story. The Favre Watch was on and, no matter how hard we tried, we could not get away from it. All that we could hope for was some type of resolution—anything to get Favre out of the ESPN.com top story, away from the PTI headlines, muting the mouths of our talk radio pundits and sports commentators that all had their own opinion on the situation. Something that would allow us to re-focus on real sports stories—our own team’s training camp and pre-season games, the exciting MLB season and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Then they (the Packers, media, God himself) go ahead and f*&k us again. Favre gets traded to our rival New York Jets late Wednesday night. Let’s stop right here so I can clear something up. No, this is not some rant about how Favre being on our hated foe is going to keep us from winning games or the division. In fact, the only negative of this entire situation is that we will not stop hearing about Favre no matter how hard we try. We play the Jets twice a year and follow our division closely—now there is no escaping Favre and the drama he drags along with him.

Aside from that, the fact of the matter is this: as far as Favre and the Jets are concerned, I could care less. I’m indifferent. It doesn’t matter. I could even argue it helps us. Let me break it down and show you The Silver Lining of this whole situation.

* I am going to start by matter-of-factly stating that the Jets are no longer my most hated NFL franchise. The New England Patriots, with the help of Bill Bellichick and the city of Boston, have taken that title with ease. The improvement of the Jets can only help to overthrow the villainous Patriots franchise, perhaps even knock them out of the playoffs all together with a little luck and some hard work. Maybe Favre can be instrumental in sending the Pats back into the dark ages.

* Favre’s first game in the green-and-white will be against our Dolphins at home in Dolphins Stadium on a hopefully hot and sunny Sunday afternoon. Aside from the fact that we can deal a strong blow to Favre’s celebratory return to the NFL by going out and beating the Jets, the game is going to be a LOT of fun! The stadium will be packed, the Dolphins will sell a LOT of tickets—it will be CBS’s 1:00 p.m. nationally televised game. If they allowed a Week 1 Flex game, it would be on Sunday Night Football.

* Favre’s tenure with the Jets will not be long. We’re looking at most likely a two-year run, three years max. (Interesting, considering he “retired” this year and may now play for another two.) The Dolphins are nowhere near close to seriously competing for a division title, conference title or Super Bowl championship in the next two years. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. We’ll be lucky to win 4-5 in ’08, 6-8 in ’09 and 9-11 in ’10…and that’s if everything goes right! Favre’s presence in New York does not affect the future of the Dolphins. Will we lose a few more games to the Jets over the next two years? Sure. Do the Jets have more time to find a suitable QB to replace Favre? Maybe. Aside from that, it doesn’t matter.

So, in the end, the Favre situation has come to impact us more than we would have originally hoped. Luckily, it will all be superficial. He is not a threat to the future of the Miami Dolphins, and the present isn’t promising enough for us to get worked up over anyway.

The goal of this edition of The Silver Lining is to qualm any concerns about Favre joining the AFC East before they arise—to put out a flickering, hopefully non-existent fire. To say, honestly, as far as Brett Favre is concerned, I no longer care and haven’t for quite some time—and neither should you.

Taylor's acting desire a finely orchestrated deception

For my conspiracy theorists and pessimists out there, I bring you the following: A commentary on my own suggestion that Jason Taylor’s recent and sudden desire to escape to Hollywood was nothing more than a finely orchestrated deception by his agents and management.

Seemingly content as a Miami Dolphin for a decade, things began to unravel for the All-Pro early during the 2007 season. Noticing the Dolphins falling to an inconceivable level with a boob (Cam Cameron) as a head coach and no prospects of success in the near future, Taylor began to turn. His power in the organization was legitimate—from having owner H. Wayne Huizenga’s ear to being the vocal locker room leader. When Taylor spoke, people listened.

It was during the ’08 season that Taylor dropped the ball—he gave up. He realized the worthless, day-to-day struggle he faced as a member of the Dolphins. His attitude and disposition permeated throughout the locker room. Once Cameron lost Taylor, he lost every remaining player, the season and his head coaching career with the Dolphins. No wonder Bill Parcells was put-off by Taylor; he realized Taylor’s contributions on the field would be less significant than the detriment he would do to the team in the locker room. In a Parcells system, the coaches (and specifically chosen players) have the voice, not just sour veterans.

With the season over and an offer on the table from ABC to compete in “Dancing With the Stars,” Taylor finally had his out. And as any agent worth his 10% would, Gary Wichard started putting together a plan. Perhaps not the perfect plan, but nevertheless a good one.

Taylor performed on DWTS for two reasons: to be more noticeable in Hollywood and to begin the deception—the deception that his goal all along was to be an actor. Once again, any agent worth his 10% should have a plan ready for his client’s post-playing career. Taylor is not unique in wanting to go Hollywood and keep himself in the spotlight. He is, however, unique in using that desire to deceive his team into trading him.

Go on DWTS, refuse to commit to the Dolphins and then publicly state you are only going to play for one more season (and you want it to be with a contender) because of your desire to act. Refuse to attend any mini camps or OTAs, making up excuses that, while sounding legitimate, are obviously bogus. Then, continuously placate to the media and your fans that you are not doing this because you WANT to leave but because with such limited time left you have to leave. Why would any team accept a player doing those things? They would not, and Gary Wichard knew that from the start.

And now that the deception is completed and a trade has been made, everyone will begin to see it unravel. It started with Washington’s executive vice president Vinny Cerrato being "100 percent positive he'll play longer than one year." Of course he will; he was always going to.

Let’s face it--Taylor’s prospects in Hollywood are slim-to-none. Meeting with Denzel Washington, studio executives and reading offers in La-La-Land? They may have happened but none were approached with much seriousness. Taylor probably made his rounds to learn more about the industry for when he actually retires in 2011 or 2012. Yes, you heard it here first—2011 or 2012.

Taylor will play out the remainder of his contract (two years) with the Redskins, and he will be happy to do so because he NEVER truly considered retiring. When the Redskins have not provided Taylor with his shot at contention for a Super Bowl ring, he will do what so many two-faced athletes (read: Junior Seau) have done and sign a one- or two-year deal with a team (read: New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys) for that last shot at glory. Then, he will ride off into that Hollywood sunset that will look eerily like an ESPN (owned by ABC who produces DWTS), NBC or FOX studio.

In the end, he may win his ring, get his Hall of Fame bust and win back some fans, but one thing will never change: This was a farce, a sham, a finely orchestrated deception.

Update: Taylor Speaks, Does Not "Demand" Trade

Miami Dolphins DE Jason Taylor was expected to formally, and publicly, demand a trade from the sole team he has known in his career at a press conference at 11:30 a.m. EST on Sunday. Instead, he announced his full intentions to play football in 2008 and will do so with the Miami Dolphins if a trade cannot be completed. While Taylor did make these statements, he would not confirm that he would be at mandatory team training camp in July to the media or the team.

Taylor also said he will skip the team's reamining OTAs and mini-camps and only show up for training camp if not traded. This will cost him about $8,638 in daily fines.

“Do I want to be traded? I want to win in ‘08, and that’s what I want to do. I told the Dolphins from Day One that was my intentions. My intentions right now are to play one more year. I tried to give the Dolphins an opportunity that if they wanted to do something and move me that I was OK with that. If they could get value for me, then do that. That was a conversation we had behind closed doors a long time ago.”

Please discuss in the comment section below and visit a forum thread on PhinsCENTRAL.com for more!

Taylor "Steps" Away From Dolphins

During a post-practice press conference Wednesday afternoon, Miami Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano shocked the media and sports landscape with his announcement regarding the future of Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor and his decision to hold out from the team.

"This is my reaction with the Jason Taylor situation, and I'm going to answer this question one time. I'm not going to answer another question about the Jason Taylor situation after I answer this," Sparano began.

"Here's what I know: What I know is that Jason Taylor -- and I'm glad we've gotten the information; that's important -- I know that Jason is not going to be at any OTAs (organized-team activities). I know that Jason is not going to be at any minicamps, and I know that right now, that Jason is not going to be at training camp. So that's what we know. Jason's a player under contract with the Miami Dolphins. He knows that. Both parties are well aware of the information. That's all I'm going to say about it. I want to talk to my players now."

There are not many situations in which I find myself at a loss for words. This is one of them. The fact of the matter is that I have never been more dead-on in my assessment of a situation such as this one in as long as I can remember! Additionally, many columnists have already put this story in such great perspective that I would rather feature their words to sum-up my opinions.

In this case, we are talking about Omar Kelly, the Sun-Sentinel's Miami Dolphins beat writer and blogger.

The voluntary stuff most of us can understand. After all, it is VOLUNTARY. But passing on an obligation, missing mandatory team stuff...that's betraying your commitment to the relationship, and it crosses the line. (. . .)

Dolphins fans need to hear the words for it to officially be over. Jason Taylor, you need to breakup with the Dolphins for everyone involved to move on, allowing you and the team to finally part ways. (. . .) If Jason Taylor wants out he needs to say it so we know where he stands.

Stop being so darn image conscious. Stop dancing around your intentions like you do a dance floor. We understand you've been unhappy in this relationship for the past four or five years. We understand the reasons you might want out. It's never fun losing. How many new coaches and regimes have you had? You want to end your possible Hall of Fame career on a title contender, and we realize we've let our looks slip a little.

It's fine that you want to move on. Not everyone still believes in true love. But don't try to blame shift your desires for another on our alleged wandering eye. Don't try to make new management out to be a bad guy to save your image, painting a picture that Bill Parcells wants to get rid of you, and has given you - the franchise player - the cold shoulder.

While that very well might be the case, if you truly plan to sit out training camp for WHATEVER reason you need to fess up. Put ego aside, as difficult as it might be right now, and be a man! Jason Taylor needs to stand-up and say it's over. Say, "I love you, we've had a good run, but I don't want to be with you anymore Miami. (. . .)

But you Jason Taylor, all this sneaking around, all this he said she said. All these rumors about your secret desires, and back-door dealings and demands, or requests, it's made this situation ugly.

All the Trifecta did on Wednesday was air out your dirty laundry, put your business out on the street without any spin doctoring. They blame shifted, and it was strategically done. Now the ball is in your court.

If you're ready to move on, we can deal with it....we really can, and we'll still check out your movies and support your charity efforts.... but you need to be upfront and tell Dolphins fans that's the case.

Sure it'll hurt, but that's the only way there can be a clean breakup, and that's what Dolfans need to start the healing process. It's about time this franchise finally starts healing, and if that means doing it without you, so be it.

Read Omar Kelly's full column and his blog at Sun-Sentinel.com