This could only mean one of two things, either Stephen Ross is asking Bill Parcells to help out with the draft process without GM Jeff Ireland, HC Tony Sparano, or CEO Mike Dee's knowledge (highly unlikely and proven to be false later in this article), or the last three men I mentioned are lying to us (much more likely and proven true later in the article).
First, proof of what they said: Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post noted in his Friday Notebook that Ireland, Sparano, and Dee all clearly said last month that Parcells is no longer with the Dolphins in any way, shape, or form.
Normally, I would believe the three of them over one man's word, but when that man likely has no idea (or concern) about what is happening in Miami other than their interest in his son, something is wrong.
Let me explain:
The man who caught the Dolphins in a flat-out lie probably had no idea he was doing so. That man is Greg Dalton, father of NFL QB prospect Andy Dalton.
Andy Dalton was participating in the Senior Bowl, and part of the Senior Bowl is interviewing sessions with individual teams. From what I can tell, Greg Dalton was not present during the interviews, but Andy obviously talked to him about the interviews afterwards. When Greg was asked by The Katy Times about the team interviews, here is what he said with the parts important to us underlined:
"Really, this week is the first chance that NFL teams have to talk to you as a player. He met with the Miami Dolphins coach and general manager and Bill Parcells, Pete Carroll and the Seattle staff, and Jason Garrett of the Cowboys. Parcells has developed a criteria for drafting quarterbacks. The height was fine, and he has to put on a few pounds."What is so incriminating about this quote isn't necessarily the first time he mentions Parcells name. He could have just wrongly assumed that Parcells was with the team because he heard that they had hired him a couple of years ago. The real incrimination was what he said about Parcells' criteria for a quarterback. That part of the quote makes it obvious that Parcells was present in the interview, and that he told Andy what he would need to do if he wanted to be with the Dolphins.
A closer look at the dates ends up further incriminating the Miami Dolphins organization.
Ben Volin's Friday Notebook was posted Friday, February 11th. He says that the three men denied Parcells involvement last month. I am not sure of the exact date they made their denial, but all we need to know is that they did so in January.
Next, we look at the date The Katy Times posted their article with the father's quote. It was posted on January 30th, which is a day after the Senior Bowl game on the 29th. The interviews occured during the previous week, so the earliest he would have been interviewed is the 23rd.
This just reinforces that Jeff Ireland, Tony Sparano, and Mike Dee all lied to us. Either they claimed "zero involvement" before the Senior Bowl and then brought Parcells along for the interviews, or they did the interviews with Parcells there, and then lied afterwards about him helping the team.
They denied that he was no longer helping "in any way," but all it took was an unknowing father to accidentally shoot a hole right through their claims.
I am surprised at how foolish the three were. How did they think they could lie to the passionate fans of the Miami Dolphins without anyone finding out? What makes things even worse is that they relied so heavily on his criteria for picking a quarterback. Somebody like Greg Dalton was bound to mention one of Parcells criteria that the prospect didn't meet, and then the news would get out that Parcells actually was involved.
I don't understand why they couldn't have just told us that Parcells was helping them out with the draft. Telling us fans the truth is a lot better than lying to us because lying removes trust. Some fans may have been mad if they found out that Parcells was still consulting with the team, but that would have been a lot more manageable problem than lying to the fans and them still finding out.
So, what does this mean to us? In a nutshell, our coaches lied to us and Parcells is still a part of the team. My guess is that he is just a draft consultant now, but I would like it if the team came out and told us his exact involvement. There's no use lying anymore.
This also means that every time we hear something from Jeff Ireland, Tony Sparano, or Mike Dee, we have to take a second and question whether they are telling the truth.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. I am interested to hear your reactions to the tuna being back and the team lying to us.
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