The talk of the Miami Dolphins tanking the 2019 season has been staying alive all throughout the offseason, a true testament that people will believe what they want to believe no matter what evidence is put in front of them.
When the tanking talk started, general manager Chris Grier came out and said that the Dolphins were not tanking.
And yet everyone persists in talking about tanking 2019.
Then head coach Brian Flores was asked about the idea and, in true Bill Belichick fashion, he gave a perfectly neutral answer that still managed to suggest that Miami was not about to lay down and forfeit the upcoming season. Rebuilding is a process every team goes through every year, to some extent.
And yet everyone persists in talking about tanking 2019.
Now, the players themselves have thrown their comments into the mix, and as a surprise to no one, they’re not a fan.
“I’ve never went on the football field and told myself we’re trying to lose this game.” Linebacker Raekwon McMillan said during the Dolphins Cancer Challenge. “I don’t know where all that talk is coming from. As a team, we’re going out there and trying to win some ball games … us as an organization, it’s not what we stand by.”
Wide receiver Kenny Stills, who along with McMillan participated in the DCC’s 14 mile bike ride, went as far as to agree that the very concept of tanking was disrespectful to the game of football.
“100 percent.” Stills said. “I understand why people do and talk about it, and it’s a good conversation for the offseason and all that, but we don’t prepare all offseason, we don’t prepare in a profession to lose games, and we’re not gonna do that … obviously it’s frustrating to hear, but unless it comes from us, it’s not gonna mean anything. It’s easy for people to talk about anything.”
This is, of course, the natural response to such a question. No football player worth respecting would say anything otherwise, but there comes a time where maybe it’d be a good idea to take words to heart; members of the organization from top to bottom have vehemently denied the concept of tanking.
Perhaps it’s time to take them at their word.
