Blimey! Time for London tea break
More teams should share international series burden
LONDON — London is a wonderful city full of wonderful people and such a rich history you can study the man behind the Churchill cigar and learn the creative ways royalty has been whacked through time.
But isn’t enough enough?
At what point does someone with international authority look at the number of trips the Dolphins have made to London and ask, “Are they trying to learn the language over there or what?”
It’s reached the point most Dolphins players can cross a street in London without getting killed.
(Yes, those are cheap shots about the British accent and their driving on the wrong side of the road, and I promise to make no more cheap shots in this column unless something else comes to mind).
Sunday represents the fourth game the Dolphins will have played in London dating back to 2007. It’s the third time they’ve given up a home game.
The Dolphins have had twice as many London games as any team not named Jacksonville. And Jacksonville doesn’t really count since the Jaguars made a separate deal to play in London once a year in what’s considered a win-win for London football fans and players living in Jacksonville.
This is really how inflated the Dolphins’
four games here are: Carolina, Cleveland, Green Bay, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Arizona and Tennessee haven’t played once in London during the 11-year run of the international series. Seriously, the British food isn’t that bad.
Baltimore played here last Sunday for the first time. It had such a wonderful trip outside of a 44-7 loss to (who else?) Jacksonville that Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, “Don’t plan on going over there any time soon to play again. So somebody else can have that job.”
Dolphins coach Adam Gase was asked Friday about his thoughts on playing here.
“If we win, it’ll be one way,” he said. “If we lose, it’ll be another way.”
The NFL asked then-Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga to do the league a favor and kick off this international series against the Giants in 2007. The Dolphins had become the most popular team in the United Kingdom because of (a) one NFL game televised a week in the UK in the 1980s and early 1990s, and (b) Dan Marino being their quarterback in those years, instantly making the Dolphins fun to watch.
That ’07 trip bought the Dolphins years of goodwill, and they didn’t return until 2014, when they beat the Raiders here. They came back in 2015, losing to the Jets in what ended up Joe Philbin’s last game as coach.
This year, the Dolphins have traveled to Los Angeles, New York and now London. Back-to-back-toback. That’s more than 16,000 flying miles in three weeks. Even my typing is jet-lagged.
“Tough, but it’s something we’ve tried to prepare for,” receiver Jarvis Landry said. “When we step on the field Sunday, New Orleans isn’t going to care that how much we’ve been traveling.”
The NFL rules to get teams to London have changed. Now they’re demanding franchises that want to host the Super Bowl to play in these games. So are the Dolphins doing a civic duty by helping to get the Super Bowl in 2020 or a civic sin by taking away a 2017 home game?
One Dolphins player appreciates this trip, though. Then again, Jay Ajayi was born here. Much of his family lives here. He has become the poster child for this international series.
“This is the opportunity a lifetime for certain people,” he said. “I definitely appreciate what’s going on, what the situation is ... I’m definitely going to enjoy the experience, enjoy what’s going on here. It’s rare in a sense for me to [have this game back where he started], but I’m going to enjoy it.”
As he should. As all of us not having to play a game Sunday do.
As for the rest of the Dolphins, they know the drill in London by now. Keep a stiff upper lip like any good Brit and go out and do your best for queen and country.