A tribute to Olindo Mare

By Hugo Guzman  |   Wednesday, March 28, 2007  |  Comments( 10 )

Miami Dolphins
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It looks like Olindo Mare is finally on his way out of Miami. The writing appeared to be on the wall back in early March, when the Dolphins signed free agent kicker Jay Feely. But after several weeks of waiting followed by Mare's much-publicized Monday griping session, General Manager Randy Mueller has confirmed that Mare will be gone as soon as they can work out some sort of trade for the 10-year veteran. Even if a deal never materializes for the career-long Dolphin, his fate is nevertheless sealed.

With that eventuality in mind, it's a good idea to pay tribute to Miami's all-time leading scorer by going over some of the highlights (and lowlights) of his fairly distinguished career. Feel free to comment on any other key moments or statistics that you feel have been left out. There will likely be plenty, because Mare seemed to be involved in a great many of the Dolphins' pivotal moments over the past decade.

The Early Years:

Many fans cringed when word came down that the Dolphins were going to rely on an untested, no-name kicker to replace fellow rookie Joe Nedney, who was fresh off a disastrous 1996 campaign that saw him miss 11 out of his 29 field goal attempts. But Mare, who is a local product out of Cooper City High School in Broward County, responded well to the situation and converted 28 of 36 attempts. He also immediately showed his kickoff prowess, generating 20 touchbacks and two recovered onside kicks.

Over the next four seasons, Mare quickly rose to become an elite-caliber place-kicker, and for a brief period of time, he battled Mike Vanderjagt for the honor of being the most accurate kicker of all-time. Over the first five years of his career, Mare approached a 90 percent in terms of career accuracy. His penchant for touchbacks and successful onside kicks made him arguably the best kicker in football.

In 1999, Mare broke both the Dolphins' and NFL single-season record for field goals with 39. He followed that performance up with a stellar 2000 campaign in which he missed only three of his 31 attempts, which included a 49-yarder in the waning moments of the team's Week 16 matchup against the New England Patriots to secure the AFC East title. In 2001, Mare missed only two of 21 attempts and achieved his highest single-season accuracy mark, a tidy 90.5 percent.

Up to this point in his career, Mare had six game-winning field goals and was one of the most accurate kickers of all time. He was also, and still is, considered to be one of the greatest kickoff specialists in league history. Yet, despite his overwhelming consistency and ability to make game-winning kicks, Mare failed to reach the Pro Bowl at any point during this stretch. The best he could do was AFC alternate in 2001; although, to his credit, he was given an All-Pro nod in 2000 by USA Today.

Trivia: Mare's first NFL club was technically the New York Giants. He spent the 1996 season there, working with the practice squad, but he never made the 53-man roster.

Mare began his downward slide in 2002, but that season also set the stage for perhaps the most memorable kick of his career. With just six seconds left in a prime-time AFC battle at Mile High Stadium, Mare connected on an improbable 53-yard field goal to give the Dolphins a 24-22 win over the Denver Broncos. That kick trumped Jason Elam's apparent game-winning 55-yarder with 45 seconds to play and was the centerpiece of a monumental win that gave Miami control of the AFC. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Jay Fiedler broke his finger in that game and Chris Chambers was literally knocked out of several contest by Kenoy Kennedy, leading to a monumental midseason collapse that was orchestrated by backup quarterback Ray Lucas. But that, as they say, is another story...

From 2002-2004, Mare's field goal rate dipped well below 80 percent. The former Syracuse standout had a brief upswing in 2005, reaching a respectable 83.5 conversion percentage, but he bottomed out in 2006.

How bad was it? Mare missed the most kicks of any starting place-kicker (10) finishing with a lowly 72.2 conversion rate. Most guys would get cut in the middle of the season if they were producing at that clip.

Trivia: Although Mare's conversion percentage has suffered in recent years, he remains one of the league's best kickoff specialists, averaging 63.8 yards per kickoff over his 10-year career, also having eight of his 23 onside attempts recovered by the Dolphins.

So now Mare is on his way out, replaced by the capable Feely, who should succeed in the relatively balmy kicking conditions in South Florida after spending his last two seasons dealing with the swirling winds at the Meadowlands.

Although many Dolphins fans have called for Mare's ouster on several occasions in recent years because of his hefty price tag and declining accuracy, it's certain they appreciate his contributions over the years. In fact, it's arguable that he has been, by far, the most consistent threat Miami has possessed in the post-Dan Marino era (as sad as that may be).

Good luck, Olindo. You'll likely land on your feet in some other NFL city, but to many, you'll always be a Dolphin.

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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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