Couldn’t help but cover the Black Friday story Al Michaels came from the clouds with in the NBC booth about how Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel met his wife at a nightclub while celebrating with his Sacramento Mountain Lions associates after a win in 2010.
What initially came across as a “Mr. Steal Your Girl” scenario wherein McDaniel demanded that his player stop dancing with the future Katie McDaniel or else he’d cut him from the team was, in reality, not that. Allow the man himself to explain:
“The perceived threat I made to a player was over-the-top a joke, considering both he and I knew as a running back coach I had no ability to say if he was there or not. It was more in jest.
And then second of all, my wife was telling me that people are talking about me stealing people’s girls? The dude had met her for 45 seconds. So like…I mean I kinda did, but no…I mean, it was a very unique scenario. It was a special place in our memories.
I feel like I was painted out to be kind of a d-bag. And it wasn’t like that at all. It was all niceties, we were celebrating as a team. I think that Stephen Barkley, the player that was dancing with her, was well aware when I made that joke in jest that it was more important to me than it was to him.
And I’m pretty sure I was right. Right? I mean, I have a family now. Like, good decision…”
Sorry if I botched the spelling of your name in this transcription, Mr. Barkley. All that Google yielded upon a quick search was “Saquon.” You’re SOL.
So yeah, McDaniel was happy to clarify. I don’t think anyone would have painted him out to be a d-bag in the first place, though. That’s not who Mike McDaniel is as a coach. Or as a person from all accounts of anyone who’s ever encountered him.
Josh McDaniels? Big d-bag. The NFL head coach McDaniel with no “s” in the surname? Decidedly not one. Just watch last week’s premiere of HBO’s Hard Knocks if you don’t believe me. Or glimpse McDaniel any single time he makes it to the podium. It’s appointment viewing on my phone via YouTube. Gotta put it on 1.5x speed with no ads, of course.
When was the last time you heard a room full of reporters erupt in laughter like this? This came right after McDaniel rounded out the now-famous nightclub story.
Seriously if you’re out on Hard Knocks, McDaniel will almost single-handedly pull you back in. I’ve been down on the program for a while. That first episode was electric and there’s another coming tonight.
But it’s not all hype and noise with this Dolphins team. If they win as 9.5-point favorites against the Commanders on Sunday, they’ll take a commanding three-game lead in the AFC East over Buffalo and remain very much alive for the No. 1 playoff seed.
As I continue to grieve over Joe Burrow’s season-ending injury and lament how (likely) wrong I was about Jake Browning being a baller in Burrow’s stead, it’ll at least be fun to keep rooting for Mike McDaniel and my parents’ childhood team the rest of the way.
