NFL: I was just watching a Locked On Dolphins episode about Miami Dolphins what-ifs? What if the 'Phins had been able to get Tom Brady and Sean Payton instead of losing draft capital for tampering? What if the team had kept their draft picks instead of trading for Tyreek Hill?
One they didn't mention was Drew Brees. What if they had picked up Drew Brees rather than Daunte Culpepper (one of the worst moves they ever made)? I realize Kyle Crabbs didn't go that far back because he was only talking about his tenure at Locked On Dolphins. Still ... I wonder.
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NFL: I'm watching a YouTube video of a 1988 Packers-Bucs game, and an announcer said he remembered Bart Starr faking a handoff to Jim Hornung and throwing to Max McGee. Seconds later, someone amended that to Paul Hornung.
I guess he was thinking of Jim Taylor and wound up mixing their names together.
(Tampa Bay won 13-10 on a Donald Igwebuike field goal.)
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NFL: I just heard that former Miami Dolphin Manny Fernandez had died, and I'm saddened.
Fernandez was a huge part of the Dolphins' No-Name Defense, even though he was "only" a 6-2, 250-pound defensive tackle. He had 10 tackles when Miami beat Washington in the Super Bowl to finish 17-0.
He also made one of the greatest defensive plays I've ever seen. Buffalo's Dennis Shaw turned to hand the ball to O.J. Simpson, but the quick Fernandez took the handoff! He was tackled immediately, but Simpson was at the bottom of the pile.
The interesting thing is that the 'Phins originally signed Fernandez because they thought a Latino on the team might spike interest. Sadly, he didn't speak Spanish.
NASCAR: Perhaps NASCAR should change its top series to the Tyler Reddick Cup Series. Earlier this year, Reddick became the first driver to win the first three Cup races of the season.
BASEBALL: Hall-of-famer George Brett wore #25 the first couple of years of his career, but he switched to No. 5 the rest of the way to honor Brooks Robinson, thought to be maybe the best third baseman ever. Brett was pretty good, too, despite the pine tar incident.
BOXING: I was a big fan of Rocky Marciano when I was a kid, but I didn't know until today that his real name was Rocco Francis Marchegiano. He died Aug. 31, 1969 when he was 45. I was 16.
I thought of Marciano because of boxing's weight classes. I wasn't sure if he was quite a heavyweight. One web site listed him at 186 pounds. At 186, he would probably be a cruiserweight (between 175 and 200). Heavyweight is 201 and up.
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