The Buck Stops Here: Interview with former Miami Dolphin, seven-time Pro Bowl and two-time FIrst Team All-Pro, Richmond Webb.

A member of the prestigious Miami Dolphins Honor Roll, Bob Baumhower, played all nine of his NFL seasons with the team from Southern Florida.  A former star with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Baumhower was a five-time Pro Bowl Selection, and he would be chosen for an All-Pro roster (one First Team and four Second Team) in all of those years.  Baumhower was a key figure on the Dolphins defense in the early '80s that was considered among the best in the league.  

It is hard to consider someone underrated when you were a member of the only undefeated team in NFL history and were in your prime when you earned your two Super Bowl Rings, but this is what we have in Bill Stanfill.

In the early 1970s, the Miami Dolphins were one of the best teams ever, and they were loaded with talent, but one of their stars, Dick Anderson, seems to have been forgotten.  Let's try to rectify that.

Jake Scott played the first six seasons of his NFL career playing for the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1975, and as you can imagine, since he was a Dolphin in that era, he was accustomed to winning.

Richmond Webb proved his merit immediately as the 9^th overall Draft Pick in 1990 as the Left Tackle was a Pro Bowl, All-Rookie Selection, and UPI even went as far as naming him the Rookie of the Year.  That year was no flash in the pan as Webb would go on to be named to six more Pro Bowls (all consecutive) and added two First Team and two Second Team All-Pro Selections.  The Dolphins Still had Dan Marino, and Webb protected him as well, if not better than anyone that the Quarterback ever had.  Let's say Richmond Webb earned more than one pair of Isotoners!  Webb played for the Dolphins until he joined the Cincinnati Bengals for his final two years (2001-02).  Notably, this is the man who the legendary Bruce Smith called the "best blocker he ever faced" and if that is not high praise we don't know what is!

2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #53.  Peak Period: 2019-23

New team.  Same Hill.  Tyreek Hill's former squad (kansas City) might have won a Super Bowl without him, but Hill remained an elite Wide Receiver, and last year's 1,710 Yards was a career-best.  Now in striking distance of 10,000 Yards, he has gone to the Pro Bowl in all seven of his seasons, and is a four-time All-Pro (though one was a Returner). Hill is over the MPA for AV/G, and has matched First Team All-Pros.  While his off-field issues can cause concern, that is washed away by one of the most dynamic performers of our day.  If he can keep the controversy at the door, he will get into the Hall of Fame.

2023 Pre-Season #77, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #77, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #71, Last Year’s Rank #62.  Peak Period: 2014-16/18-19.

OBJ’s three Pro Bowls were in his first three seasons, and while his last Pro Bowl was in 2016, Beckham Jr. did have 1,000-yard-plus campaigns in 2018 and 2019.  Since then, injuries have piled up, and he was not the same guy who made the most incredible regular season catch in history.  2021 was the agony and ecstasy for Beckham Jr, who seemed rejuvenated in a mid-season pickup by the Rams, where he helped them win the Super Bowl, though, in that game, he scored a Touchdown and tore his ACL.  

After sitting out the 2022 season to rehab, Beckham Jr. played a year in Baltimore with a respectable 565 Yards, and now he joins the potent Miami offense.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #26 2021 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #36. Peak Period: 2014-18

A 15-year veteran, Campbell’s six Pro Bowls happened in a seven-year period (2014-20), which includes all three of his seasons as a Jacksonville Jaguar and his first in Baltimore.  Campbell, who recently won the Walter Payton Man of the Year, also was honored with an All-Decade Selection.  Campbell is 38 but still plays solid football as he begins his first year with the Miami Dolphins.  High-character guys, especially those with a significant milestone (Campbell joined the 100-Sack club last year), generally find their way into Canton.

Here we are in the National Football League playoffs but for us that it means it is time to discuss the potential class of the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The Finalists have been announced, and along with regular contributor, Spheniscus, we will go back and forth with each candidate and openly debate as to which player would be a worthy Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.

Committee Chairman: Spheniscus, we go to a team I am sure you are familiar with Jason Taylor, the former Dancing with the Stars contestant and Miami Dolphin.  Taylor is a member of the 100 Sack Club and Defensive Player of the Year.  I think Taylor is getting in, but I think they are going to put him on the backburner for one year.  Thoughts on Taylor’s Hall of Fame candidacy and why so many NFL players go on DWTS? 

As one of the men who used to eagerly wait for the final undefeated team to lose every NFL season, Bob Kuechenberg was a staple on the famed Miami Dolphins O-Line.

As part of the Dolphins' two consecutive Super Bowl champions, Kuechenberg actually enjoyed better individual seasons after.  Although he looked like a reject from the Longest Yard Prison Team (the original movie); Kuechenberg would enter into six Pro Bowl seasons.  What he lacked in ability, he made up for in guile, technique and mistake-free football.

Kuechenberg was a finalist for eight years in a row, but in 2010, he failed to even make the Semi-Finals on the Hall of Fame ballot. Many from that legendary 72 Dolphins team are in the Hall (including a fellow lineman), and this may now work against him as it may be felt that that group has been sufficiently recognized.  Throw in the fact that he was not the most liked man by sports media, his omission seems a little more clear.

It might be hard being named Keith Jackson when there was already a very famous sports commentator with the same name who became the voice of the sport.  The Tight End with the same name still managed to carve out his own identity.

As the first overall pick in 1984, many expected Irving Fryar to be great right away.  He wasn’t, but his career showcased a slow climb to being one of the elite receivers in football, and a lot of times hearing his number called by broadcasters on Sunday afternoons.

Dan Marino may have been one of the greatest Quarterbacks in National Football League History, but it sure helped that he had Mark Clayton lined up with to throw Touchdowns to.

A member of the NFL 2000’s All-Decade Team, Joey Porter had a very productive run in the National Football League, especially with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he won a Super Bowl Ring.  The four-time Pro Bowl Linebacker fell two Sacks shy of the 100 mark and would be regarded as one of the dirtiest defensive players of his time, but definitely someone you wanted on your side.