MIAMI _ Forget for a moment that this Super Bowl offered lump-in-your-throat drama in the fourth quarter.
Forget that this stage _ right here on the Miami-Dade and Broward County line _ was bedazzling because Hard Rock Stadium looked like a jewel when Sunday dawned and it shone deep into the night.
Forget that all that's supposed to be right about the NFL was there for us to take in, complete with great defense, heroic quarterback play and, yeah, an amazing atmosphere from start to finish.
None of that is the reason this Super Bowl, which culminated the NFL's 100th season, should make you crazy optimistic about the league's next century _ and more importantly its 101st season.
This is:
The Miami Dolphins can do this. Your team, Dolphins fans, can not just aspire to this but be this in the next few years.
Stop laughing. And stop crying.
This can really happen if the people leading the Dolphins organization can stop treading water and start crossing the great gulf to greatness.
And now you're asking why am I possibly thinking this can happen?
And I'm answering, because it happened for San Francisco. And the Chiefs.
Because this 31-20 Kansas City victory featured Damien Williams _ a Miami Dolphins backup from 2014-2017 _ as its brightest star. Williams rushed 17 times for 104 yards, and scored two touchdowns, including the game sealing score on a 38-yard run.
And if former Miami general manager Dennis Hickey could find Williams as an undrafted free agent six years ago, then perhaps current GM Chris Grier, who worked under Hickey, could find a future Super Bowl's star soon.
And, look, I know you think this is a bridge too far to cross. I get it.
You're a Dolphins fan. You're conditioned to think the worst is about to happen.
I know the Dolphins were a 5-11 team this season. I know they were not just bad, but sometimes embarrassingly bad at times, particularly early in the season. So why would I think the Dolphins can be close to one of these teams soon?
I don't think it's a stretch to think the Dolphins can be the San Francisco 49ers soon. Because the 49ers were 4-12.
Last year.
"Going from 4-12 to 13-3 or whatever it was and going to the Super Bowl is insane," San Francisco tight end George Kittle said. "But losing the Super Bowl (stinks). It really does."
The reason the Niners were even here is the multiple outstanding draft picks and other moves they made the past two years started to pay dividends. And then the 49ers were not just a team hoping to be good, but a team on the brink of great.
That San Francisco defense, by the way, is great. Nick Bosa and DeForest Buckner and that defensive front is dominating.
That's exactly what they were doing for three quarters this game. Dominating.
They were rushing Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the point his quarterback rating after three quarters was 49.8.
"The third quarter didn't go the way I wanted it to," Mahomes said. "That's a great defense, one of the best I've faced in my short career."
But, of course, Mahomes is similarly great. He proved that in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
He brought his team back from a 20-10 deficit by throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. The guy who looked rattled and was struggling through three quarters suddenly turned started playing like the Super Bowl MVP.
Suddenly the two-deep coverage San Francisco employed throughout the game wilted amid a long set of underneath completions and Mahomes runs.
Then Mahomes completed a 44-yarder to Tyreek Hill. Then he found Sammy Watkins for 38 yards.
Mahomes started Mahoming.
And Mahomes became the Super Bowl MVP.
"My mindset is always to compete until the end of the game, and try to make plays, that's my mindset," Mahomes said. "My guys believed in me, we started making plays and that helped us win this game."
And what does this have to do with the Dolphins?
Well, this April's draft will be a good time for the Dolphins to find their Patrick Mahomes, their star quarterback.
That is what club owner Stephen Ross wants. That is what we should all expect.
This draft is the year the Dolphins go quarterback shopping at Sak's instead of Big Lots.
And once the Dolphins find that quarterback, assuming they find that quarterback, anything is possible.
So imagine it. Hope for it.
The rebuilt Dolphins with a roster as loaded as the 49ers. With an elite quarterback who can compete with Mahomes in the AFC.
What better reasons to think this Super Bowl could be memorable for Dolphins fans?
