Who really cares what the players have to say about the action on the field?
The NFL playground for wealthy businessmen can be a jungle gym of ecstatic sound bites when the teams that aren’t supposed to win finally figure out how.
In fact, when the Miami Dolphins are victorious, that’s become an occasion unto itself. Time to talk to the front office.
“I’ve never felt better,” said Dolphins owner Steven Ross to the Miami Herald after the Dolphins’ 38-13 stomping of New England on the road at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Ross acquired half ownership of Miami during the offseason from Wayne Huizenga. “Nothing has felt better. You’ve got to get the first win. Hopefully, it’s the first of many. They played so great.”
At least, most of the Dolphins did. Ronnie Brown was stellar, with five total touchdowns, including four off direct snaps from center and one throwing the ball. If you were facing Brown in a fantasy league, don’t worry about the Monday night game tonight. You already lost.
Meanwhile, how about the contrasting fortunes? The victory was Miami’s second in 22 games and the first for head coach Tony Sparano. The defeat was the first for the Patriots in the regular season in 21 games, a streak that began after New England lost to the Dolphins on Dec. 10, 2006.
By the way, was it really necessary for the Boston Globe to point out that the loss also ended the Patriots’ bid for a second straight undefeated regular season?
As for the suits, we’ll finish by hearing from upstate New York, where the Buffalo Bills are alone in first place in the AFC East after scoring 17 points in the final eight minutes to eke out a 24-23 victory over Oakland.
Buffalo receiver Lee Evans didn’t know what to say after the win.
“It’s really hard to put into words how this team battled,” said Evans. “It was bad.”
Thankfully, the more enlightening comments came from Bills owner Ralph Wilson.
“We keep them close, don’t we?” Wilson said. “You know what, I’m speechless.”
Can’t get enough of those super-rich superfans.
