Porter compares 2008 and 2007; likes 2008 better

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/06/porter-compares.html

Porter compares 2008 and 2007; likes 2008 better

Were you disappointed by Joey Porter last year? Seems so if one can believe the poll I conducted a couple of posts ago.

In the poll I asked which player you believed to be the best on the team right now. Of the 850 respondents so far, only 3.5 percent (about 30 people) picked Porter. Porter scored the lowest of any player who has actually played a game for the Dolphins so that is obviously not good news for him.

But Porter understands.

"It was a bad year," he says. "It was a bad year for everybody. But that year is over with. I don't really like living in the past, especially when you're talking about something so bad. It's a new year now. I'm just trying to move on."

Please do. In moving on, the Dolphins hope Porter returns to the past -- you know, his Pittsburgh days when he was a game-changer, a player the offense had to account for. He wasn't that with the Dolphins last year but he hints that will change.

"We have a whole new coaching staff," Porter says, "a whole new D coordinator, a whole new philosophy. All I can tell you is check it out when we start the season."

Porter is enthusiastic about this season because, apparently, he respects the current coaching staff. He didn't have that same respect for Cam Cameron, particularly at the end of last season when he challenged Cameron both verbally and by things he did.

(Remember he asked Cameron for permission to stay over after the Pittsburgh game and return on his own rather than with the team. Cameron said no. Porter did it anyway.)

"The whole mentality around here has changed," Porter says. "We brought some coaches in here that are not going to settle for less. The whole mindset around here has already changed from what I came into here last year. The guys' effort they're putting in now, the way they walk around here is totally different.

"I didn't know what to expect last year. I was a new guy so I didn't know how they ran the team, but seeing how we ran it last year to this year is night and day. Different better. Way better.

"These coach are not accepting just anything. Coaches now demand a whole lot out of you. They don't accept anything but your best. And even in OTAs, they're not accepting 50 percent or 75 percent of your effort. They want 100 percent."

Porter needs to be at 100 percent if the Dolphins are going to matter on defense this year. He says he's healthy, which he wasn't part of last year. And he is optimistic, believe it or not, that what he was brought in to do last year, can happen this year.

What is that, you ask?

"I need to go out there and help this team become a No. 1 defense," Porter says. "Whatever I can do personally would be good, but at the same time, I just want to get back to playing high-energy football. I want this defense to be great."

Is that possible?

"It is," Porter says, "real possible."

What do you think?

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I think he needs to shut up and start earning his $20 million guaranteed money. 

Staying over in Pittsburgh was an act of complete defiance, then ripping his coach..... I'm surprised he's still in a Dolphins uniform.   

[DZA]

I think he needs to shut up and start earning his $20 million guaranteed money. 

Staying over in Pittsburgh was an act of complete defiance, then ripping his coach..... I'm surprised he's still in a Dolphins uniform.   

You would have done the same thing if you had to listen to bitch -ass Camoron! I know I would 

[YoFuggedaboutit]

You would have done the same thing if you had to listen to bitch -ass Camoron! I know I would 

If I was the coach, I wouldn't have given him a reason to do that to me..... and if he defied me, I would've sat his ass on the bench for a while without pay..... that is, right after I removed my boot from it.

[DolFan619]

I think he needs to shut up and start earning his $20 million guaranteed money. 

Staying over in Pittsburgh was an act of complete defiance, then ripping his coach..... I'm surprised he's still in a Dolphins uniform.   

  Part of me is surprised, and another part of me isn't.  With Porter's salary it would be pretty significant hit if the team cut him.  However, I'm sure his acts of defiance have not gone unoticed by the new regime.  If Porter plays well this season, maybe he'll build up some trade value for the 2009 offseason.  Regardless, I don't expect Porter to last the entire length of his contract.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

  Part of me is surprised, and another part of me isn't.  With Porter's salary it would be pretty significant hit if the team cut him.  However, I'm sure his acts of defiance have not gone unoticed by the new regime.  If Porter plays well this season, maybe he'll build up some trade value for the 2009 offseason.  Regardless, I don't expect Porter to last the entire length of his contract.

I'm sure they made it clear that his acting out will not be tolerated this time around.  And if he shuts up and plays like he did in Pittsburgh, I wouldn't mind keeping him. 

[DZA]

I would mind if he retire a Phin.  He  Fit the 55 jersey better than Seau.

[DolFan619]

I'm sure they made it clear that his acting out will not be tolerated this time around.  And if he shuts up and plays like he did in Pittsburgh, I wouldn't mind keeping him. 

  Even if he does play like he did in Pittsburgh, the Dolphins are on a youth movement.  If the right price comes along, Porter will be gone.