Another blot on Dolphin's reputation
Maualuga’s release after arrest shows Gase will persist in fixing flawed team.
DAVIE — Rey Maualuga wasn’t available for the Dolphins meetings and walk-through Saturday morning.
He was in jail.
In an ordinary season, this might seem shocking, jarring and emotionally draining.
But that Miami’s starting middle linebacker was in a Miami jail, charged with battery after allegedly grabbing a man by the throat at a nightclub early Saturday morning, is far from the most stunning off-field disappointment Adam Gase, Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier have had to deal with this season.
Last month, of course, offensive line coach Chris Foerster resigned after a video was released showing him snorting a white powdered substance, while speaking to a Las Vegasbased woman who claims she partied with him in California.
In a statement then, the Dolphins said, in part: “We were made aware of the video late last night and have no tolerance for this behavior.”
The Dolphins did have some tolerance for linebacker Lawrence Timmons, whom the team could not locate prior to its season opener in Los Angeles. Timmons was suspended for one game, allowed to return and installed as a starter.
It is logical to conclude that there would be more tolerance for Timmons than Maualuga, because Timmons has more speed and talent at this stage of his career. But it is also important to note that Gase and the Dolphins assess each situation on a case-by-case basis.
Though no details surrounding Timmons have been revealed publicly, there is no indication that reports of stress and a family situation were inaccurately cited as factors
in the linebacker’s troubles. Whatever Timmons explained to Gase and the organization, there was at least enough empathy to give him another chance.
For Maualuga, there will be no second chance.
Maualuga selfishly, and stupidly, threw away an excellent opportunity in Miami, and in all likelihood saw the end to his NFL career. Maualuga let himself down, let his teammates down and was basically cut before that walk-through ended.
Gase and the Dolphins need to make sure they have the right people in place. Clearly they felt they were better off without Maualuga, a hard-hitting nine-year veteran, than they were with him. The talent did not outweigh the trouble.
But it is also safe to assume that Maualuga has not had flawless off-field marks with Miami since his arrival. That Maualuga was gone so quickly would seem to be indicative of some other slip-ups away from the field, details that again may never be acknowledged publicly.
What will come into question is whether offfield transgressions are an indication that Gase’s culture, an essential part of his program-changing platform, is in any way shaken or flawed.
The Dolphins researched and signed Maualuga and Timmons (and for that matter, hired Foerster onto staff ). Should they have known there were significant risks? Could they have predicted anything like this could go wrong?
For that matter, should the Dolphins have steered clear of Leon Orr, who is easy to forget but will be remembered as a former Florida Gator sent off Miami’s practice field last year, cut immediately after the Dolphins learned of his arrest on a marijuana charge?
“We’re in the middle of the season,” Gase said last November. “We have priorities, and this is the No. 1 priority. If guys have other priorities, then they can go about their business somewhere else.”
Surely it was easier to cut Orr, a marginal talent, than to let Foerster go. Would every organization have completely cut ties with a respected, key position coach at that point of the season? Maybe most. Perhaps not all. Perhaps a few would have gone the route of a suspension and rehabilitation.
And so, at this stage, we will ascertain that if a failing culture was really an issue, Maualuga would still be on the team.
He is not.
Gase wants to win, but also wants to win with players he trusts, players who show up on time, players who study off the field, and don’t get arrested at nightclubs at 8:22 a.m. the day before a home game against the Buccaneers.
Gase sent away Jay
Ajayi, a Pro Bowl running back, because Gase didn’t believe Ajayi was a longterm fit in the organization; because Gase didn’t believe that Ajayi fit into the unselfish, committed and disciplined culture he is trying to establish.
There has been an embarrassing series of offfield incidents, for sure, ones that put the Dolphins in a negative light at a time in which their play also has not provided positive light. Many NFL teams have arrests. Many NFL teams have off-field dramas.
But surely this is more than Gase could ever have predicted.
Surely he’ll stress to his players the importance of making good choices, for themselves, their families and their teammates.
National embarrassments are not conducive to a championship environment.