I hope you are sitting down when you read this boiling, face melting, white hot take of a headline. I can understand folk’s hearts skipping a few beats just trying to process how someone who claims to be a big time Dolphins’ fan, with a straight face for even a second could believe that a guy with only 1,313 yards for the Dolphins could possibly be regarded as the most important Dolphin of all time.

With names such as Thomas, Taylor, Csonka, Griese, Stephenson, Warfield, Buoniconti and of course Marino that a guy named Greg Camarillo can’t possibly be considered as the most important. That’s the key word; important, not greatest.

I pondered such a thought while I sat on shore of the Atlantic Ocean starring out at the vastness of the sea. I was in a deep thought as I considered all things that go into the word important. I’ve been running back past unheralded and often forgotten Dolphins’ players in my head such as Orande Gadsden and more recently Tony Bua. I find it fun to think about those type of guys.

Anyways, I basically concluded that for me the word important means that a player did something that had the most effect on me. All those greats of the game, hall of famers and potential hall of famers that I mentioned all had tremendous careers, with countless historical achievements and stats that blow most players out of the while. Some of them have rings that show that at one time they were regarded as being on one of the best teams ever. Some of them even were on the only undefeated team in history. All fantastic, all great and all important. But Greg Camarillo did something in one game, on one play that I feel to me is the most important thing anyone Dolphin has ever done. And that of course was this

That TD in overtime against the Ravens in week 15 avoided Miami being the first team (and one of only three teams ever) to go winless since the NFL expanded to 16 game season. You have those moments in your life where you’ll always remember where you were, and I’ll never forget where I was for this. I was a student at PSU and I was at Hooters focusing on nothing else that was going on inside that particular Hooters, only the game and that was it I swear.

Being the only the Dolphins’ fan there I erupted in jubilation just like the rest of the Dolphins’ team did after Camarillo took the Cleo Lemon pass the distance. Just look at the faces of Jason Taylor, Wayne Huizenga and others. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that Miami just won the Super Bowl. But nope, they just won their first game of the season.

Perhaps, you could say that celebrating like that is sort of pathetic because all it did was avoid being one of the only teams to ever go winless. But just think of that thought. What would your life be like if Miami was one of only teams to lose every game in the season?

I know mine be a bit worse. My friends would never let me hear the end of it and I’d never have a comeback that would ever let me come back for rooting for a team that stunk it up so bad. I can say, “yeah, but they’re the only team that ever went undefeated.” But then they say, “but they didn’t win a game for a whole season.” See, can’t come back from that. Even though it’s been 11 years, if Miami lost that game, I’d get reminded about it pretty often.

The amount of stress and potential arguments/brawls I’d have been in 11 years because of Miami losing every game that year is hard to compute but I’m sure it’s a high number. I imagine Lions’ and Brown’s fans must get in fights all the time when someone brings up their defeated seasons. Constantly on edge like a person who’s a fugitive on the run. They probably can’t wear anything associated with their team because you never know when someone is just going to yell out “hey, remember that time your team didn’t win any games?” Then a rumble starts, and you’re covered in blood and you don’t remember what at all what happened. Thanks to Greg Camarillo me nor anyone else ever have to worry about that scenario or dread.

So as veterans report to training camp in a few days, and everyone gets their thoughts out there on how Miami is going to do and make predictions about every aspect of this team, please take a moment and give thanks to Greg Camarillo for letting you be a bit saner, in control and probably less of an alcoholic. Without him, who knows where we’d all be. Thanks Greg

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