The Miami Dolphins fan base has much to complain about, some legitimate and some not so much, depending on who you ask. Over the years, one of the more common complaints has been that the team is not respected by the media, especially by the national press. With that in mind, I asked the following question:
Do you believe that the media constantly disrespects this item, or is at least doing so right now? If so, do you think the team deserves more respect than they are currently receiving, and why? If you believe that the team is disrespected, what are the underlying reasons beyond the fact that they failed to make the playoffs? Do you believe there is possibly a bias against the city of Miami as a whole when it comes to its sports teams?
Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
Spok507 believes a lot of the issues stem from ignorance.
I don’t think it’s so much disrespect and lack of information. It just seems like a lot of these media outlets are guessing as to what the Fins need or have instead of simply doing a little research and finding out. I mean, leading up to the draft, the media and ‘experts’ constantly pick players that the team just doesn’t need. It’s like they’re just assigning someone because they have to instead of actually making an informed choice. It seems to happen every year and just makes me scratch my head in confusion. It seems unless the analyst is a dedicated Dolphin fan, they just don’t put the work in to make an informed report. Do I think we should be ranked at the bottom? No. We have too many weapons on offense that — if they click — should allow us to score enough to win a lot of games. Our defense at this point is suspect, and that could be a factor as to why we’re being held to a lower standard, but in my opinion, this team is more of a question mark than an actual bad team on paper. While we shouldn’t be considered one of the top tier teams right now, we definitely shouldn’t be considered one of the bottom either. Until we see if things change and click, there’s really no way to determine what kind of a team they will be. So ranking the Dolphins somewhere in the middle makes perfect sense.
21Dave asks why?
Why should they respect us? What have we done to change the narrative? 2 years ago they said our name with more respect for the first part of the season, then we became the same old Dolphins backed into a Wildcard and and then went home . We showed them we are the same team we have been for years… avg!! We need to go out and earn the respect and beat some good teams and beat them well.
sdphinsfan believes that some of it, rightfully, comes from playing like crap on primetime and against the better teams of the NFL.
When you show up in prime time and lay and egg…you get disrespected. When you consistently get waxed when you play good to great teams, you get disrespected. To those who think we’re disrespected, that’s something you’re just going to have to deal with. You get what you earn and we’ve earned exactly what we have. Personally, I don’t have alot of respect for the media. I mean, these guys think MM is a genius so forgive me if I don’t put alot of stock in what they say or who they disrespect.
MIAMI235 says if you win, it shuts them up!
Play winning football, especially WIN the ones you are supposed to win. Silences the doubt.
DX@TX says if you want it, then go out and earn it!
Respect is earned and the Dolphins have not earned it! They make bad choices over and over and don’t have the intellect to learn from past mistakes. No accountability on this team; just “we’ll get better”. I’m thinking 7 wins if Tua plays a full season.
Jptapt agrees with DX@TX.
You have to earn respect.
SabanpickedCulpepper believes that the Colts will go out and win one for their recently deceased owner.
Irsay passing means Colts win opening game at home. Guaranteed
Dolphster believes what others have said and points out correctly that the media did, at times over the last few years, believe that they were better than they played.
As many others have stated, respect is earned and the Fins have not done much to earn the respect of the national media. The 70’s Dolphins were respected nationwide because they won, Shula was the definition of discipline and consistency, the team seemingly handled their business in a professional manner (at least from what the fans saw), and the team was always among the least penalized teams in the NFL. I think all of those things combined created a lot of respect for the team. Today’s Dolphins don’t really seem to do any of those things, so in my opinion, they haven’t really done much to earn respect. Oh, additionally, for the last few seasons, the national media seemed to think the Fins were a playoff caliber team and then the team underperformed. Underperforming teams rarely are respected.
Phinsox can’t take this team seriously until they can take down what is considered one of the better teams in the NFL.
I’m a life long fan but I am not taking the Dolphins seriously until they show that they can beat a good team and compete with the best on a consistent basis. I can’t blame the media or other NFL fans for dismissing the Dolphins chances for success. There is a legitimate case to be made that NE and NYJ have surpassed them. NYJ might be questionable but Vrabel is a difference maker for NE. I’m afraid they will beat the Dolphins at least once this year if not twice.
SlayerNation1 believes that Miami has been given the perfect stage to prove something to the rest of the country this coming season.
Lest We forget, MIA was graced with six standalone games to show the world how much they should be respected.
If they don’t take advantage of that, they will continue to be a punch line, by the media at large and this fan base.
Case in point, the crosstown Panthers were a joke for many years. Culture change = meaningful winning = league wide respect. It’s really a delightfully simple formula. Same city.
That’s our random ten for the evening. The consensus has changed since I asked this question a few years back. The prevailing belief now is that the team needs to earn the respect and that it should not just be handed to them until they can prove it. As with all of these posts, I want to thank each of you who took the time to read and answer our question of the day.
