I thought I would deviate from the draft talk to give everyone a break. Every now and then something pops into my head that gets me thinking about everyone who reads the Dolphin Shout. This is one of those moments. With all the players that have graced the field for the Miami Dolphins.
Who has been your favorite player? Has or is it someone that is obscure as mine is? Is it someone that was an absolute stud on the field, or a player that overcame get odds to make the big show? Is it a player that did something for the Community, or a charity that is near and dear to your heart? Maybe it is someone that you know personally. What ever the reason, I would like to hear about it.
I will give you my favorite player. I lived down in Broward County when the Dolphins came to life. In all the years I lived down there I never once met a player, but one sticks out in my mind. He wasn't what I would call a star on the team. Oh, he had his share of starting assignments and he was an important part of the team.
My Man was Howard Twilly. If a few of you are thinking to yourself WHO??? Don't feel left out, because that is what I thought when the Dolphins drafted him out of Tulsa. I knew about him, he owned all the receiving records at Tulsa, but I thought why select him in the draft? I mean he was S-L-O-W even in that era, when there were no combines to measure the variables as there is today.
All Howard Twilly did was make plays for the Dolphins. Every year Coach Shula was trying to upgrade his position, selecting a WR opposite of Paul Warfield to replace Twilly. Shula finally found a replacement for him in Marlin Briscoe in a trade with the Bills. The following year Briscoe was successful in dislodging Twilly from the starting line up. It really didn't matter though. Twilly continued to do what always did. Make that first down catch or TD catch when it was really needed. He had no speed to stretch the field, but what he did he did better than anyone they had on the team was he made plays and he had the knack of making them at the most important time in the game.
Howard Twilly was undersized and slow, but he was a gamer, and I like players that produce when they are not the best athlete on the field.
