*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Jun 21, 1997: -- News Update --
There hasn't been much real news since the signing of Fiala
and Manning, but there are some tidbits that you might be interested
in.
** McPhail Still The Fastest
Jason Cole of the Sun-Sentinel is reporting this week that
Jerris McPhail is still the fast Dolphin - although it took him 8
tries to do it.
During recent 40 yard timings in South Florida, Jerris McPhail
had to repeat his run 8 times to finally beat out wide receiver Kirby
Dar Dar as the team's fastest man. Dar Dar ran a 4.24 in the 40 on
his first try, but after 7 tries, Jerris McPhail finally beat him out
by running a 4.19 on his 8th attempt.
Three other players - Charles Jordan, Clayton Holmes and Fred
Barnett all ran sub-4.3 in their 40 yard runs.
The times were run on a rubberized track and most of the
players wore track shoes during the heats.
** Marino's Contract Frees Enough to Sign all Draftees
Apparently, Dan Marino's latest contract extension has freed
up enough money for the Dolphins to sign all their draft picks without
make any other adjustments to the team's salary structure. His
contract extension through 1999 frees up about $1.3 million under this
year's cap to sign draft picks.
Offensive tackle James Brown also took a $100,000 pay cut. The
Dolphins, however, are still in negotiation with Tim Bowens about a
contract extention to keep him in Miami after this season.
** Footman Still Unsigned
Free agent DE Dan Footman, who the Dolphins have made an offer
to, has still not decided which team he will sign with. According to
a brief article in the Herald this morning, Footman is trying to
decide between Indianapolis, Miami, Jacksonville and Chicago.
My Comments:
The 40 timings are a small bit of good news, but don't make
too much out of them. An ability to run fast on a track doesn't
necessarily translate into an ability to play fast on the field. Two
examples of that are Jerry Rice and Randal Hill. Rice does not time
out well on a track, but plays very fast.
Hill, on the other hand, is very fast on the track, but
doesn't play all that well.
The biggest news about the 40 times, however, is that Fred
Barnett ran a sub-4.3 in the 40. Here is a guy who has had two major
reconstructive knee surgeries - the last one being a year ago.
After sitting out almost half the season last year when the
surgeons replaced his anterior cruciate ligament with a new one from a
cadaver, Barnett came back to play in 9 games for the team.
At the end of the season, Barnett was 2nd on the team in
number of catches, 2nd on the team in receiving yards and 3rd on the
team in receiving touchdowns. And he accomplished all of this with a
reconstructed knee without having spent even an entire training camp
with Dan Marino.
This year, Barnett is in a position to have a record year for
himself. He will have had a half-season of catching passes from
Marino under his belt, he will have participated in training camp and
he will be the fastest starting wide receiver.
In other words, watch out for Fred Barnett this year. If you
can keep up with him...
Related Info:
[Return to Dolphins News]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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