The Miami Dolphins have let Cameron Wake leave for the Titans and with him ends one of the longest legacies in Dolphins history.
The departure of Miami Dolphins’ defensive end Cameron Wake leaves a void at defensive that ends a legacy that started way back in 1995 when the Miami Dolphins under Don Shula decided to bring Chicago Bears stud defensive end Trace Armstrong to Miami.
Armstrong would play six years for the Dolphins. He would finish out the final year of Shula’s career and then play through the entire five seasons under Jimmy Johnson before bowing out after one year with Dave Wannstedt. He would finish his final three NFL seasons in Oakland.
It was his time with Johnson however that would have the most impact on the franchise and one very young players entire NFL career. Armstrong led by example but he also led with rare leadership and a desire to teach. In 1997 Armstrong took a young defensive end out of Akron and taught him the ropes of the NFL.
Armstrong’s guidance on and off the field helped Jason Taylor become one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. It was a stewardship of sorts that Taylor still talks about. In his HoF induction speech Taylor thanked Armstrong for helping him acclimate to the NFL. For taking him in and teaching him how to be a better player and understand the NFL level. At his after party he singled out Armstrong as one of the instrumental figures in his career.
Armstrong’s mentoring paid off and Taylor became a Hall of Fame defensive end but his mentoring did far more than take Taylor from Akron to Canton. Taylor took everything that he learned from Armstrong and took another young defensive end under his wing.
Passing along everything he learned from Armstrong, Taylor gave that same direction and advice to Cameron Wake. Wake too has singled Taylor out for helping him in his early NFL years ten years ago. The two played only two season together in 2009, Wake’s first season and in 2011 Taylor’s last in the NFL.
It was enough.
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Wake developed into one of the leagues best and perhaps someday he will gain recognition as a Hall of Fame candidate. The two years with Taylor providing the same mentoring that Armstrong once gave Taylor paid off. Wake became the best part of bad defenses.
That however now ends. There is no one left to leave that legacy of Trace Armstrong to. What started in 1997 is gone. The thread that bound Armstrong to Taylor to Wake is now broken. We will never know if Wake failed to pass that torch. Was it poor choices by the Dolphins organization to find suitable players at the position?
Did Wake bestow his knowledge on Olivier Vernon only to see him leave in free agency after Miami refused to re-sign him? Vernon hasn’t been that great of an NFL player since leaving.
Regardless of reason or circumstance 20 years have passed with at least one top NFL defensive end on the Dolphins roster and that traces back, to Trace Armstrong. There is no one really to blame nor should there be the Dolphins had a great run for 21 years and now they will move into a new era. It is however unlikely that we see that continued high-end performance at one position handed down from one player to the next.
It spanned Shula, Johnson, Wannstedt, Saban, Cameron, Sparano, Philbin, Gase, and two three interim head coaches.
Armstrong to Taylor to Wake. What a great 20 years!