Dave Hyde: Mike McDaniel met Bill Belichick's challenge and showed America it's OK to have fun
Published in Football
The play of the game, statement of the early season and moment that surely sent hardened NFL coaches into collective shock was right there on national television Sunday night.
National television caused it even.
Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel finished one of those drive-by halftime interviews and began a slow coach’s jog to the locker room. He then looked back over his shoulder to see — horrors! — that petulant NBC camera moving with him.
That’s when McDaniel showed who he is — and I’m not just talking about his Yale wide receiver speed. He broke into a full sprint across the field to escape the camera with a mock-straight-faced look of Forrest Gump running down the driveway.
In that un-football-coach moment, America saw what’s going on with the Dolphins as much as any creative play design in the Dolphins’ 24-17 win.
Whee!
This is fun, isn’t it?
It’s a veritable joy ride of creativity and winning and, well, — is this word even allowed in football? — smiles on the sideline, not to mention in the postgame interview room.
First question: How would McDaniel describe the game?
“Long,” he said.
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