Dolphins Head Coach Cam Cameron provides a regular column for MiamiDolphins.com giving Dol-Fans a unique behind-the-scenes look at the team. Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron alternates writing a column with General Manager Randy Mueller for MiamiDolphins.com. In this column, Cameron talks about his first victory as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
In addition, Coach Cameron will occasionally answer questions from Dolphins fans in his column on Miamidolphins.com. Please click "Ask the Coach" to submit your questions.
December 18, 2007
I never stopped believing in this football team. I never, ever stopped believing we would get this victory. Our players have worked too hard not to enjoy some success. That's the one thing that bothered me the most during this entire time, that as hard as these players worked, as much as they battled, they never got a chance to savor the rewards.
Now they have that. I stood in the locker room after our victory over the Ravens and Jason Taylor gave me a game ball. I was honored to get it. But this isn't about me. It never has been about me. This is about a group of players that never stopped caring. So many things could have happened to change what this team is about. But the players refused to give up. It's a credit to them.
I've been looking forward to this day for quite some time. You come close and then you make mistakes and you have to regroup. We've regrouped and we kept on working. Greg Camarillo, who caught the game-winning catch, represents all those guys in the locker room. He just kept working, kept preparing. I'm not sure how fast Greg actually is, but I think he was pulling away from the (Ravens) player at one point. That was kind of neat.
How can you not feel good for Cleo Lemon? You've got to realize when he and I met in San Diego, we pulled him out of the Arena League. I remember saying to him one day, "Your day is going to come. Your day is going to come." He never quit believing in that day and today was that day.
You could feel the sigh coming out of our locker room. It was such a great feeling. But this win was for the fans as well. It's great to give them something for all of their effort this year.
It is also meaningful that the 1972 Miami Dolphins were here. A whole group of them came out to our practice on Thursday. That matters. That's what makes the Dolphins organization so great. Isn't it amazing? They come out and help us win a game. In my view, they're 18-0.
During the losing streak, I tried to stress to the players that there are things we do have control over. We have control over how we prepare. We have control over our attitude. That's a strong message for everybody. Everybody has control.
I shared a story with the players recently. I had a neighbor in California named James Stockdale. He was an Admiral. He was the longest surviving prisoner of war in the history of our country. He survived 13 years in a Vietnamese prison and I had a chance to meet with him.
I'll never forget what he said to me "Nobody can make you a victim of your circumstances but yourself." I told the players that. We're not going to let that happen. We're not going to become a victim of any of the negativity or disappointments anybody else is going through. We can't do that. We've got to go play.
And that's the way we approached last Sunday's game. Just go out and play. I know the ball doesn't always bounce your way. But we finally got some breaks against the Ravens and we kept hanging in there until the end.
Now we have to build from here and make sure this victory becomes the start of something for these players and coaches.
**********
Nobody should make a judgment on John Beck. It's way too early in the process.
I know people enjoy doing it. It's part of the game. The quarterback controversy, everybody seems to like it. That's what makes our sport so great. We have people constantly talking about our game. Everybody at some point in time wants to go in the backyard and be that quarterback. Everybody wants to have an opinion. Yes, it's way too soon to make any judgments on John Beck just because he struggled early on.
Look at quarterbacks around the league. With rare exceptions, rookies just don't make immediate impacts. Go through a list of quarterbacks. You'll see what I'm talking about. My preference would have been not playing John at all this season, but with the situation surrounding our team and our struggles, we just felt we needed to give him a shot.
We all have confidence in John. We also know that he will learn from these experiences. He's going through what every young quarterback goes through. In San Diego, Phillip Rivers didn't play for two years, then won 14 games his first season as a starter. It's something every quarterback goes through.
There's no question in my mind that John has the right stuff. I think once this season is over, he'll look back and take a deep breath. He'll focus on the offseason and training camp and become the quarterback we all want him to be.
People don't realize the differences between college and pro football. The speed of the game is so different. It is like night and day. The pass rush in the NFL is completely different than in college. The separation at the wide receiver position is completely different. It just takes reps and reps and reps for a quarterback to get used to a different game.
See, just being intelligent isn't always the answer. John is extremely bright. He studies countless hours. What I have to remind John is to try and put things into its simplest form. Let's not try to complicate things. That's something he's learning.
This growing process is a different blueprint for every guy. Sometimes you think the light has come on and there's a tipping point and then the guy might have a setback the next week. Playing quarterback in this league is a journey. In most cases, every young quarterback at some point hits a low, low point. That's when you start to see whether the guy is going to pull out of it and be the long-term answer.
Some guys never pull out of it. Some guys work their way up to the top. It's different in each case. But I can assure you, we have seen nothing from John Beck that reduces the enthusiasm we had when we drafted him.
Presented By:
