Time To Play a Different Game

On the NFL channel 88 Sirius/XM, I heard a great description of the Philadelphia Eagles’ General Manager, Howie Roseman, who has been with the Team since 2000 and has served as GM since 2010.

Does that sound familiar?

Grier also started in 2000 with the Miami Dolphins and, in 2016, became a General Manager.

They were referencing the moves that Roseman has made during the Eagles’ past few years, and of course, the Jaelan Phillips trade was a part of their discussion.

The hosts said that with Roseman’s skills as the GM of the Eagles, it appears that “he plays chess, while the other general managers play checkers”.

WOW!

A profound statement.

And I thought of our beloved team, the one and only Miami Dolphins, whose beloved mascots are dolphins off the coast of South Florida.

We have all seen the memes on social media showing the mammals asking for a change in mascots.

And as a fan, I understand the pain.

So “playing chess, not checkers” is a highly insightful quote that fits our team and organization so well.

I do not need to start with our former GM, Chris Grier, who, despite his best efforts, created an almost impossible situation for the team.

But if you were going to gamble, maybe an all-in wasn’t the right formula at the time.

Or was it, and the team and coach screwed up?

Starting with the wrong choice by Grier for Tua Tagovailoa in the 2020 draft?

Grier is out, thank you, Stephen Ross.

Grier played checkers as a GM and was evidently not as good at chess.

And here we are with Coach Mike McDaniel.

As a Yale graduate, McDaniel knows chess, yet he often plays checkers, especially during critical moments in games.

Why?

As we have eight more games to go, let’s see how the cards play out.