Ronnie Brown Packing Up To Leave After 2009?

When Ronnie Brown came into the league back in 2005, the TV airwaves were consumed with ads featuring the ubiquitous question, "What can BROWN do for you?" While this phrase was originally meant to display how a cargo company with a monotone color scheme could outperform its flashier rivals, the phrase also become a motto of sorts for Ronnie Brown during the 2005 draft and beyond.

Like UPS, Ronnie Brown also had to compete to elevate himself above the flashier names of the 2005 draft class. One of those names was none other than his Auburn teammate and close friend who came equipped with a hell of a catchy nickname - Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

While the Cadillac was consistently spinning his wheels onto the highlight reels, Ronnie's consistent, workman-like, and often-times pounding style of play provided the fuel to a dynamic and dominant rushing attack which helped drive the Auburn Tigers all the way to an undefeated season in 2004.

Ronnie also had to eclipse the heir to Ricky Williams' Texas throne - Cedric Benson. Although, Dolphin fans wanted no part of any Ricky Williams protege' given the situation at the time.

Brown began to separate himself from the pack at the 2005 NFL combine where he posted a 4.45 40' time. His speed along with his size helped push him toward the top of the (at the time) strong RB crop.

Nick Saban (The backstabbing, Lil' Debbie-eating, conniving, lecherous, deceitful, pint-sized control freak from the Boonies that every fan in Miami thought was God incarnated in the flesh at the time) used his extensive knowledge of the SEC to select Ronnie Brown with the 2nd overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft.

This would be Saban's first decision as head coach of the Dolphins, and it would remain his best following his short-lived, disappointing reign as Miami Dolphins' dictator.

So what DID Brown do for the Dolphins? Well, just about everything.

He has conquered the cries of "bust" from the loyal (and sometimes delusional) fans - and not just once, but several times, as the cries of "bust" rear their ugly heads during almost every season.

He has crawled his way out of the early-season doghouse that each coach had placed him in for some mind-numbing reason each pre-season.

He has returned punts for Cam Cameron's pre-season fail forward fast all-stars.

He has broken tackle after tackle after tackle after tackle after tackle after tackle after tackle.

He has made safeties wish they were never born to receive the level of national embarrassment that comes with being absolutely demolished and tossed to the ground like Raggedy Andy.

He has racked up astronomical stats and still managed to go winless over a span of several games (Thanks Cam!).

He has at times been the team's best blocker, best runner, and best receiver.

He has torn his ACL, and proceeded to kick rehab's ass into submission, returning to the field at full strength and with no lingering issues in just a few months.

Oh, and he also became the poster boy for the league's hottest new craze in the ferocious WildCat Formation. He was the first player to actually make Bill Belichick (The New England Variety) look like a chump, and send thousands of Boston fans fleeing in shame out of Gillette Stadium for the first time in a decade.

Four years, 3,433 yards, 23 touchdowns, 137 receptions, 1,151 yards receiving, a pro bowl berth, and a whole lot of ass-kicking later, Ronnie Brown might be preparing for his last year as a Miami Dolphin.

Yes, another UPS, the United Parcells Service might be getting ready to send Ronnie Brown packing at the end of the season.

Ronnie Brown's contract expires at the conclusion of the 2009 season, and the team might be willing to part with the all-pro.

It mostly comes down to money. I am sure Sparano and Co. would love to keep a football player of Brown's caliber on the squad, but not at the cost he might come at.

Bill Parcells has always been one to take a blue-light special approach to runningbacks. He believes that as long as you have the hogs up front to do the dirty work, you can find a servicable enough running back just about anywhere.

If you look at his history, he never takes running backs in the first round of the draft, nor does he often pursue big name, big money backs in free agency.

He looks for the young and hungry in the later rounds ala Marion Barber. Or the old and forgotten with something to prove in Ottis Anderson.

The lone exception to this rule that I can conjure up at the moment was when he traded for notorious Dolphin-killer Curtis Martin. Parcells sent a 1st and a 3rd round pick to his former employer in exchange for the services of the future hall of famer.

While Jeff Ireland is the real Dolphins' General Manager, one can assume that he shares a similar philosophy with his boss on this matter.

Ronnie Brown is likely to remain a big ticket name during the 2009 season. With his multi-faceted talents and mastery of the now popular WildCat Offense, Brown should command big money out in Free Agency in 2010. Given that the Dolphins are unlikely to want to tie up such a huge sum of money on a running back nearing the end of his twenties, He will probably try to see what kind of value awaits him out on the market.

And if Brown disappoints in 2009 and fails to reach the level of play that fans and the Dolphins expect of him, he will also likely be gone. As was previously stated, the organization believes they can get solid play at that position at a bargain price, either through the draft or by rummaging through the heaps of discarded backs around the league. Case in point: Patrick Cobbs.

So who will replace the dynamic Ronnie Brown if he leaves in 2010?

Well, there is already a replacement for one of his jobs on the roster - Pat White, WildCat Specialist. Perhaps the drafting of White was a sign that the Dolphins have no plans to keep Ronnie Brown, the current king of the WildCat, past this season. They will get White prepared to usurp the role by having him become Ronnie Brown's 2009 WildCat understudy.

As for who the Dolphins might pick up to take over for Ronnie Brown's other, more important role in the offense? A tandem of Ricky Williams and Patrick Cobbs could be servicable, but I doubt they would be content with an ancient (yet enlightened, and for once, trustworthy) Ricky Williams and a supplementary guy like Cobbs (regardless of the spark he provides to the team in spots) as their only rushing options on what they hope will be their first legit shot at the Super Bowl in 2010.

If you want to find the future of the Dolphins' backfield, start looking at the unheralded, yet tough and consistent, workhorse running backs in the college ranks.

Ronnie Brown, should he leave after the 2009 season, will have entrenched himself as the best running back that the Miami Dolphins have fielded since the 70's (Ricky's 2002 masterpiece excluded).

Fortunately, we still have a full season of Ronnie Brown south beach smack downs to enjoy before he might be off to his next stop on the NFL delivery route.

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How Long Before the Parcells Regime Puts a Gag on Dolphin Tweeters?

Twitter. By now, you have likely heard of it. By the name of it, you would think it was a hot new toy for toddlers, or a new female pop group, however, names can be deceiving. In actuality, Twitter is a communication platform so powerful that it has the potential to topple kingdoms.

Twitter has been gaining steam for months as a popular way for marketers to reach and interact with their customers, and for news outlets to get an instant pulse on the events of the day, the hour, the second, and the millisecond. Twitter is the world's largest focus group, chat room, news desk, and water cooler wrapped into one incredibly simplistic web platform.

Recently, the power of Twitter has even been harnessed for the first time to support an underground movement to defeat fascism and defend Democracy. Iranians have been using Twitter as a means to show the world the injustices they are facing in their land, even after the oppressive government has tried to shutdown all communication pathways to the outside world.

When Twitter isn't functioning as the Web 2.0 version of the Underground Railroad, it is often being used by fans to contact and interact with the subject of their fanatical idolatry. It seems that anyone that is anyone is twittering, tweeting, or twitting these days.

Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk for the cool kids!) has set up a micro virtual kingdom on Twitter, being one of the first celebrities to truly use the platform to its potential. When he isn't busy posting pictures of his MILF wife's ass for his adoring fans to see, he is retweeting messages concerning social causes, updating fans on his latest projects, and communicating with his fan base.

In recent weeks, we have seen an influx of sports stars enter the world of Twitter. Taking a cue from those who cover them, several well known sports stars have begun using Twitter as a means to reach their fans and further quench their indomitable egos. From Shaq (@The_Real_Shaq) to the NFL's chirpiest WRs Terrell Owens(@TerrellOwens81) and Chad Ochocinco (@OGOchoCinco), Twitter has become a virtual field for trash talking and excessive celebrations.

And best of all, there are no refs to take their fun away.

However, this wild west mentality might soon change.

Social networking sites have already landed several athletes from the sports world into steaming tar pits. A player at the University of Texas got busted for some racist remarks he made on his Facebook status last year. A little-known cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles also got in a bit of a bind when a photo of himself chortling next to what he would have us believe was a tobacco bong and a line of sugar was posted on Facebook. Just prior to the NFL draft, there was a stir regarding an apparently racist Facebook group that several USC stars joined, but was since deemed to be an inside joke within the team. While several players managed to free themselves from the scorching social tar they found themselves in, others were buried under the pressure.

Twitter, unlike Facebook, poses an even bigger potential pitfall for players since their tweets are not only limited to their close friends. The entire world can read their tweets. From the embarrassing "Bout 2 take a dump." to the "I'm in the OC. Hit me up y'all!", its all there for every fan, reporter, and coach to see.

Be careful what you tweet, or it will be twittering its way onto the next SportsCenter broadcast. Twitter is one little birdie that can't be subdued.

While freedom of speech is the foundation of our Democracy and the right of every free human on the planet, it also poses a dilemma for coaches and organizations that hope to keep their secrets, issues, and strategies in-house.

The Miami Dolphins, under the stewardship of Bill Parcells, has been known for their less-than-democratic policies on the media. Loose lips sink ships, and the Tuna isn't too fond of the water, despite his namesake.

Parcells, Ireland, and Sparano do their best to control the messages and communications coming out of their complex. In the recent war of words between LB Channing Crowder and Rex Ryan, someone made it known that it was time to drop it because the usually talkative Crowder became mute as a mouse within days.

Now, the twittering menace is seeping into their complex like a bad infestation of termites - threatening to take down the restrictive media structure they have so painstakingly built. Yes, some Miami Dolphins have discovered Twitter and now have a direct line to the masses.

While rookie Sean Smith (@SeanSmith4) has mostly just been updating fans on how he is adjusting to the NFL and Miami, WR Davone Bess (@Lambo_Weezy) has taken a far different approach.

[UPDATE: Lambo_Weezy appears to be an imposter. I asked him to explain some pics on his TwitPic account and he removed them. Although the pics looked somewhat like Davone, it didn't look like the real Davone. However, he looked close enough that he probably fools people at clubs to think he is the real Davone. In any case, the gist of this story still holds. I will update this story again once I find out the true identity of Lambo_Weezy. Read about how TwitterNation busted the PHONY]

Davone pounced on the Twitter scene like he was orchestrating the Wildcat in Foxborough - pulling no punches. Yesterday, Lambo challenged Titans RB Chris Johnson (@ChrisJohnson28) to a foot race. The Dash of the duo formerly known as Smash & Dash took offense to this challenge, stating, and I RT (RT = ReTweeting which basically means Quote) "Feel insulted because somebody want to race me who ran a 4.64 i ran 4.24 do the math kill me."

Since this exchange, Lambo (Davone) has upped the stakes, saying that they should broadcast the race and the loser must shave their dreads off for charity. OGOchoCinco, the reigning king of NFL Twitterland, appeared to reach out to the NFL Network to air the duel.

But Davone took the social networking thing to the next level when he posted a link to a Ustream feed so that fans and twitter followers could hear him live. While Ustream generally allows video to stream as well, Davone for whatever reason did not make use of this feature, as only his voice could be heard during the broadcast.

Many Dolphin fans took to the message boards to debate whether Lambo_Weezy was the real Davone or not, since some of his antics seemed out of character for the reserved nature of his public persona. However, OGOchoCinco (The verified REAL Chad Ochocinco) seemed to confirm that @LamboWeezy was indeed the real Davone Bess.

A man has every right to spend their free time however they see fit as long as it falls within the realm of legality and social mores, but they must also act in a responsible way if they don't want the authority of their employer to whack them upside the head.

It is for this reason that platforms such as Twitter are so dangerous for young athletes and so threatening to tight lipped organizations such as the Dolphins.

As an organization, the Miami Dolphins regulate the amount of interaction their players have with the media and with fans. However, Twitter bypasses this control. Through Twitter, players can communicate directly with local reporters, rival players, and fans in Ohio with the click of a button.

How long will the Parcells Regime continue to live with this social infestation in their house before they begin to clean it up? They will likely try to reign it in soon before more players start jumping on the Twitter-wagon.

However, on a broader note, does an organization have the right or the power to control how their employees leverage these new social technologies?

Or is it their duty as leaders of their organization to keep things like Twitter from toppling their kingdom too?

Until we tweet again, this is @Finstache signing off.

Poo-Tee-Weet?

WR Brandon London Modeling His Way Out of Miami?

In a new article at the Sun-Sentinel, Mike Berardino delves into WR Brandon London's career as a part-time model.

Quick Brandon, strike a pose!

Oop... Wrong pose if you want to make this team buddy... You saw what happened when the imperial Tuna caught wind of Jason Taylor's metrosexual part-time gig. He got the boot and he was a year removed from NFL Defensive Player of the Year! As a borderline 4th WR and Special Teams Player, Brandon should be devoting all his time to honing his craft on the field if he doesn't want to be the latest victim of the ruthless Parcells regime.

All this being said, London will likely stick. I still remember the hustle he showed during the horrific Baltimore meltdown last year in the playoffs when he ran down Ed Reed for almost 50 or 60 yards after one of his multiple INTs to knock the ball out of Reed's hands. Unfortunately, he only knocked the ball out after Ed Reed was a yard past the endzone. However, He displayed heart by never giving up on the play.

I have a feeling Parcells & Sparano noted that inspired play of determination as well. For now though, if he truly wants to remain a part of the Miami Dolphins, London needs to show his skills on the field, not on the catwalk.