Whose pants are on fire?

By Joe Mayes  |   Friday, June 13, 2008  |  Comments( 12 )

Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins' 2008 offseason will go down as an eventful one, to say the least. First came the firing of virtually everyone who had anything to do with prior years' teams, followed by team owner Wayne Huizenga hiring Bill Parcells to bring some law and order to the franchise. Next came Parcells hand-picking the new staff, from general manager to head coach and all the assistants. Longtime Dolphin fan favorite Zach Thomas was bid an unceremonious adieu and the team drafted what it hopes to be the left tackle for the next decade in Jake Long. There was the hard work of John Beck, the cautious optimism of Josh McCown, and the hope that Michigan quarterback Chad Henne would recreate the magic of another former Wolverine who’s had a modicum of success in the AFC East.

Those are all facts from this offseason, true events about which every Dolphin fan has an opinion. But there is no debate that all of those things happened, pretty much in exactly the way they were reported in both the local and national press.

But the Jason Taylor situation is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish.

First came rumblings that Taylor had demanded a trade when his brother-in-law, Thomas, was released. There was speculation that Miami’s new front office was not at all happy with Taylor’s decision to dance with the stars, only to be refuted by subsequent reports that GM Jeff Ireland and head coach Tony Sparano were down with the dancin’ Dolphin and were even wishing him luck. Then came reports that Parcells was insisting Taylor would play for the Dolphins or retire, tantamount to daring the reigning NFL Man of the Year to call it a career.

There were reports of draft-day trade offers, film-room snubs, training camp hold-outs, news conferences, rebuttals, refutations, retractions, redactions, reactions, and just plain temper tantrums. Most recently came Parcells’ account of events that he didn’t see Taylor when the player visited the team’s compound because he didn’t have his hearing aids in.

Huh?

Every week brought two or three new headlines, each story connected to its source like smoke connected to an extinguished candle. No one could seem to confirm previous reports and attempts to do so seemed only to generate new, conflicting stories. Now, even one of the reporters covering the team is making headlines for almost -- but not quite -- calling Taylor a liar.

But here’s the thing: Not all of the stories surrounding Taylor’s offseason can be true. Too many of them conflict, or at least have conflicting elements, that make each parties’ account of events mutually exclusive. So the challenge in unraveling this mystery wrapped is culling the facts from a field of fertilizer.

Here are the few facts that, at least so far, appear to be undeniable about Taylor’s status in Miami:

1. Taylor wants to play football for one more year and wants to win.
2. Taylor also wants to draw his $7.5 million salary for the year, too.
3. Though Parcells and the front office have seemingly softened their “play here or retire” rhetoric, no NFL team has offered anything for Taylor that makes sense to the Dolphins.

Once you get past those facts, however, it quickly becomes difficult to find any fire to go with the smoke. Has Taylor really played his last game as a Dolphin, and is he doing all this to get out of Miami without looking like the bad guy? Is Parcells bent on out-stubborning Taylor in order to make an example of him? Has Sparano drawn his line in the sand by announcing that Taylor won’t be welcome in training camp if he skips the mandatory OTAs? Is Ireland deliberately holding Taylor hostage in Miami by making unreasonable demands on the trade market? Does Parcells really need his hearing aids to see?

Whose story do you believe? Is anyone in this sordid tale actually telling the truth?

The frustrating thing for Dolphin fans is not knowing whom to believe, but being pretty sure that no one is telling the complete truth. Many Dolphin fans around the country have come to the conclusion that at least some of the parties involved are saying things that aren’t completely (or even partially) true.

So who’s the liar? Or liars? Is there a scenario in which all of the reports and comments from everyone involved are true? Is there any point in attempting to follow this story when there’s virtually no chance that the truth is ever going to come out?

On Sept. 7, Miami fans will have a pretty good idea whether Taylor has played his last football in the aqua and orange. But regardless of whether No. 99 is on the field in Dolphin Stadium when the team lines up against the Jets, followers of the franchise will probably never really know what really happened between the club and its signature player during the tumultuous 2008 offseason.

They will instead be left wondering not if they were lied to, but by whom and how much.
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About Joe Mayes

Joe Mayes is an award-winning writer with credits ranging from national sports columns to local newspapers and commercial and technical writing. Joe is the host of "The Morning Wrap," a morning drive-time sports talk radio show on WTKE-FM in Northwest Florida.
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CommentsComments: 12  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
lilman1023		12:44 PM
06/13/2008
I think we were mostly lied to by the slimy south florida media! I think there are some truths on both sides of the argument, but...
No.2
CollinMcGee		04:40 PM
06/13/2008
It'd probably be better for both Taylor and the Phins for them to trade him. There's definitely going to be contenders out there...
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No.3
LET'SGOBUFFALO		10:16 PM
06/13/2008
How do the Fish justify paying a rookie olinemen more than any other olinemen in the league?? Waste of money! Dolphins 0fer...
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