The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I thought this was an interesting read. Out of the players we have now who is gonna take Icon status? Not just a good or even great player........I mean someone capable of going to the HOF like Marino, Taylor and Thomas? Personally I don't think he's hear yet. But out of the players we have of course Long has a good posibility, Not Ginn......no way. Good but not that good. Brown was on his way and we will see what kind of recovery he makes. I just don't see anyone else......That good.


http://www.realfootball365.com/index.php/articles/dolphins/11339


Zach Thomas is already gone and it appears that Jason Taylor has played his last game as a member of the Miami Dolphins. If that’s truly the case, it means Miami is now devoid of a true icon whom the fan base can rally around and identify as the face of the franchise.

So the question at hand is simple: Who’s going to take the place of Thomas and, assuming he's traded or released, Taylor?

Some might say that it is front-office head Bill Parcells, but there are two big issues with that assertion. First off, Parcells does not suit up on Sundays. Secondly, as has been the case with his last three stops, the Hall of Famer will probably be gone long before he can entrench himself as the face of the franchise.

Maybe the Dolphins can swap a veteran for a veteran, allowing linebacker Joey Porter to ascend into the franchise’s marquee. Then again, Porter will likely always be associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers and his history of off-field shenanigans makes him an unlikely candidate for the role of franchise centerpiece.

What about one of the young up-and-comers who have already given a year or two of loyal service? Guys like Ted Ginn Jr. and Ronnie Brown come to mind. Ginn, a wide receiver, still has a lot to prove before being anointed the face of the Dolphins. Brown, on the other hand, clearly has the ability to play at a franchise-carrying level as a running back, but he must prove that he can stay intact for a full year.

Perhaps offensive tackle Jake Long, the first overall pick in April's draft, can parlay his pedigree into a decade-long stint as the face of the Dolphins. However, even if he lives up to expectations and becomes a dominating left tackle, it likely still won’t be enough to command the type of visibility that is required of a team centerpiece.

The obvious candidates for team icon would be the two youngsters who will line up under center for Miami this year, John Beck and Chad Henne. Bill Parcells and his cohorts deserve applause for drafting Henne, a former Michigan star, in Round 2, thereby providing the team with two legitimate quarterback prospects.

Still, both youngsters have a very long way to go before living up to those lofty standards.

Maybe Miami’s icon of the future will ultimately be one of the many relatively anonymous youngsters whom Parcells and his brain trust have brought into camp this offseason. Or, better yet, instead of thinking in terms of just one icon, perhaps there will be multiple faces capable of turning this franchise’s fortunes around once and for all.

I'd be willing to bet that the fact that they don't have such an icon contributed to the fact that they have no prime time games on their schedule this season. 

That............and I'm sure the 1-15 season didn't help much either.  ;)

Agreed, but when we went 4-12 in 2004, we had every game the next season scheduled for Sunday afternoon..... meanwhile the 49ers had a worse season in 2004, but had one prime time game for 2005. 

Icons do make a big difference. 

I believe we have a gem in Ronnie Brown and he can take over that role.

With a lot of teams it is the QB.

Colts - Manning
Giants - Manning
Patriots - Brady
Steelers - Big Ben
Greenbay - Farve

Not always the Chargers have LT & Cromarte and the Bears have Hester.

So maybe Chad?   

I guess it is TV and they want to get people to watch. The Dolphins QB's certainly are not going to do that at this point. Thats another reason why The last admin needed a kick in the ass........Quinn would have put butts in the seats , if even just for the first few years.

It's gonna be either Ronnie Brown, Chad Henne or Jake Long. 

I don't see anyone on defense that can be that right now, but if Merling is mind blowing in training camp, that may change. 

I don't think it's going to be Long, even if he's great.  I don't really think that O-linemen get icon status, except in very, very rare occassions.

Ronnie Brown will have trouble too.  ...coming from injury, and RBs are only as good as the team they're on.  Plus, their window is short.

Honestly, I think our next icon is probably not on the roster yet.

I don't see anyone on this roster that can fit that role.

I think it is whatever running back is the starter NEXT season.

I doubt its Brown. Running Backs have too short of a "life span" in the NFL and he his injury probably cost him his chance at jumping into the next tier.

The closest thing we have to a home grown veteran player on defense is Yeremiah Bell. Had he not been injured last year, he maybe could've made the jump to that next level of stardom. Maybe he can still do it.

I'm not convinced we'll have a HOF-capable player on our roster once Taylor is out. To make it to Canton, you have to dominate at your position for an extended period of time. Ronnie Brown could be a top-3 running back for the next 5 years and not even get close. He's going to be competing with guys like LaDanian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook and Edgerrin James... plus whatever new running backs crop op (Adrian Peterson is the obvious candidate based on last years' performance). The same at the other "skill" positions.

At this point, I have to say that Jake Long is the only one with POTENTIAL to make it to Canton and even that's a serious long shot considering he hasn't played a single down in the NFL.

If we drop the "HOF-capable" requirement and just say "star player" things get a lot easier. Brown certainly could evolve into that. Heck, he would be that if he continues where he left off last year (pre-injury) and the team improves overall. There are no stars on a 1-15 team. Period.

Beck and/or Henne could evolve into stars as well, although I think most of us would certainly settle for "capable starter" right now.

Ginn? I doubt it. I think he could well evolve into a #1 receiver, but to be a star requires more. It doesn't look like Parcells Sparano is going to use him much as a return guy, so any stardom will have to come as a receiver. Maybe with a star quarterback...

On defense, there are a couple of guys, but to really achieve "star" status, you need to play a position casual fans care about. That means you have to be the one making interceptions or hitting the quarterback, if you're on defense. That limits the field, but there are still a few options.

Regardless of how good he gets, Jake Long will never achieve star status. He's never going to be the player fans come to see. Even if he becomes the best at his position, casual fans just don't care enough about a tackle... even a left tackle.

  If I'm not mistaken, wasn't that the game they had scheduled against the Cardinals in Mexico City?

  Anyways, I think Ronnie Brown could be the face of the team in the short term, eventually either Beck or Henne will take on that role.

For good or bad it'll be our QB, whoever that may be.  Look at Chicago.  When you hear Bears talk 99% of the time it's about Rex Grossman and how bad he is.  Even when benched for Griese or someone else, people still talk Grossman.  It'll be the same in Miami. 

Let's all hope that talk is about Miami's 'vastly improved air attack' under player 'x.'

I'm hoping that Jake Long becomes the next icon for Miami...but if I was a betting man, I'd drop money on Ronnie filling that role.

I can't believe I am saying this because of my feelings about drafting him over Quinn, but I think that Ted Ginn has the best shot.  I really think he can be something to the affect of what Steve Smith is in Carolina.

Why do I say this, you might ask.  I look at the effort he put forth last year as a receiver.  He hustled, made catches and looked to be improving quickly and overall he did better than I expected for a rookie wide receiver.  I think Ginn will benifit from an improved run game this year.  I hinted at it in other posts, but I smell play-action oppurtunity this year.  I know we have QB questions, but I think that by the end of next year we will have a solid starter and Ginn will make him look better than he is.

I know it is going out on a limb, but is there anyone else on this team that it wouldn't be going out on a limb?

Hester is the "icon" of that team, not the QB. 

That would be Urlacher.........#54. Definite Icon.

Nobody currently on the roster can fill the "face of the Dolphins" role right now.

I hope our next icon is Jake Long.  Hey!  No laughing!  Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden are icons, right?

If Ginn can develop into half of the WR that Steve Smith is, then no one will ever dog that draft pick again. Personally, I think you're a little nuts on this one... While I see some of the speed in Ginn that Smith possesses, I don't see the fight off the line, or the burst for separation from the DB that Smith lives off of.

Go ahead and flame me for this one...but I see Ted Ginn a lot more like Ashley Lelie than Steve Smith.  :o

Better hands than Lelie though.

  Better attitude as well.

I definately disagree with the Lelie comment, but have no problem if you disagree with the Smith comment.

Toward the end of the season when he got more playing time at wide receiver, I felt like Ginn was very quick in and out of the break.  He showed good hands and I could see his immediate intention to get yards after the catch.  If you kept your eyes on Ginn and not everything else that was going on in the play, you would have probably been fairly impressed considering he was a rookie.  He didn't have an oppurtunity to show much explosiveness in the return game last year, but I really saw it as a receiver and I just think he didn't get more oppurtunities to capitalize on it because of the situation last year.

Orlando is on the same team with Marc Bulger and Stephen Jackson.  I don't think the "average" football fan knows who he is.

Ah, but the ones that know football do...

Just sayin' Orlando Pace is not the face of the Rams.

I only disagree with you on this point. He showed a lot of explosiveness, except they kept getting called back.