Goodfellas: Taylor and Thomas

By Adam Best  |   Friday, June 29, 2007  |  Comments( 14 )

Miami Dolphins
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While watching the NBA draft Thursday night and hearing media types toss around Kevin Garnett trade rumors like bad clichés, I thought about Garnett's loyalty to the Minnesota Timberwolves. I thought about how rare that kind of loyalty is anywhere in the world today, let alone in professional sports. Then I thought of the Miami Dolphins.

More specifically, two Dolphins -- defensive end Jason Taylor and inside linebacker Zach Thomas.

In an age where professional athletes are typically about as loyal as pro wrestling villains, both Taylor and Thomas have been extremely loyal - much like Garnett. During Miami's recent half-decade playoff drought, it would have been quite easy for either career-long Dolphin to request a one-way ticket out of South Florida. After 21 combined seasons of service and 12 Pro Bowls between them, either player could have demanded to go elsewhere without much blame from fans. Nonetheless, neither Taylor nor Thomas have requested a trade.

Taylor and Thomas are two of a kind, and that's just not their style.

Both players are very loyal to the franchise that drafted them, but the likenesses don't stop there.

Both players have been two of the better defenders in the NFL over the past decade.

Both players share the same birthday -- September 1.

They're family -- Taylor is married to Thomas' sister Katina.

Most of all, both are role models off of the field, something even more uncommon than loyalty in today's NFL. You want tough guys in the NFL. You can be tough on the field, though, without being a "milk drinker" off it. Not that either Taylor or Thomas are perfect citizens, but they stay out of the headlines for the most part.

Nobody ever hears about NFL good guys like Taylor and Thomas nowadays. Instead, fans hear about the Pacman Joneses and Tank Johnson's of the league -- the "thugs." Sure, the type of news that Pacman and Tank make is typically sexier than the news that either Taylor or Thomas can provide, especially this time of year. I understand the media is responsible for reporting the news -- good or bad, big or small. I also understand the media is even required to make news during slow periods such as these. When do the good guys get their due, though?

Even when Taylor won NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season, the buzz was really around Shawne Merriman, his illegal substance suspension and whether the San Diego Chargers' young linebacker should have won the award.

Thomas receives even less pub at this point in his career.

In fact, the only time I've heard anything about either player all summer was a comment from Taylor that was taken out of context and turned into an insulting statement toward Miami's recently acquired QB, Trent Green. That and the news that both players sat out during some of the team's OTAs.

I guess all you have to do is vomit in a cab and fight a couple of police officers to get noticed in the NFL these days. That strategy worked wonders for little-known Dolphins defensive tackle Fred Evans, didn't it?

Fans want and deserve to hear all the news, both bad and good. That being said, here's some positive news Dolphins fans can appreciate: Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas, two of the best players and role models in the league, are still in Miami, and neither is going anywhere.

RealFootball365.com: Where there's no such thing as an offseason for Seattle Seahawks football.
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CommentsComments: 14  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
jackson		11:05 AM
06/29/2007
As soon as Cam hands out some sort of punishment to Porter we can all not laugh at the Miami "good guys" thing. But as usual,...
No.2
Big Ron		11:40 AM
06/29/2007
Blah Blah Blah. If either players' skills were diminishing to a point where their on-field performance did not justify the...
No.3
Anthony		01:39 PM
06/29/2007
It's such a shame that after so many years of loyalty to the Dolphins and South Florida both of these guys will retire without...
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