Interview: Richmond Webb talks about the passing of Don Shula

In 1990, Don Shula made one of his best draft picks when he selected Richmond Webb in round one. Now Webb is remembering his former coach.

Richmond Webb should be in the Hall of Fame. Had you asked Don Shula, he would have agreed. On Monday, following the passing of Shula, I spoke with the former Miami Dolphins great about the coach who affected so many lives.

The 1990 NFL Draft was stressful for Webb as it is every year for every player. Webb was in his home with family in Dallas and had heard some rumors and seen some mock drafts that he could be headed to Miami but it wasn’t until his phone rang that he realized he was heading further South than Houston.

“Are you ready to be Dolphin”, Shula asked him on the phone. “Yes sir,” he replied. Webb said it was the end of his stress heading into the draft. He knew who Don Shula was of course, but he was also aware that he would be blocking the blindside of Dan Marino. He knew that Mark Clayton and Mark Duper were also there.

Webb said that he saw this Miami Vice look to Shula. Having watched him on television pacing the sidelines with his tinted sunglasses. He said Shula had that Miami look but he realized quickly that Shula was different. All business.

Webb said that he was fortunate that he came into the league with fellow offensive lineman Keith Sims who was drafted a round later at pick 39. He and Sims were able to adjust to the NFL together.

As his first camp began, Webb recognized that Shula was all business. He demanded and expected hard work. He was disciplined and prepared. He said that in the huddle, he was surrounded by Marino, Clayton, and Duper. He said they were not horsing around. He knew they were serious and he didn’t want to mess it up.

More from Phin Phanatic

He matured quickly as an NFL player and built a relationship with Shula and his teammates because he worked hard. He took Shula’s coaching serious, he said that Shula “coached the right way”. It showed, on the field, Webb was hard to get around. He was tasked twice a year to handle Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith and he won far more battles than he lost.

In his rookie season, Don Shula held a team meeting late in the year where he announced the four players who had been voted to the Pro Bowl. Webb said that Shula saved his name for last. It was his first. He said that he could see that Shula was very proud of him and it stands as one of Webb’s fondest memories.

On Monday, the NFL world lost Don Shula which is why I reached out to Richmond Webb. As I spoke with him on the phone I realized that even though I have met Shula several times, the players don’t simply feel they lost a member of their family, they know they did. I can never understand the relationship between Shula and his players which brings the topic of his funeral into a different focus.

I wrote that Shula being laid to rest would be fitting and just that the current health crisis in America will leave it to just family and those closest to him but I can now see that it would be important to players like Webb. He had already spoken to three teammates and he was disappointed that Shula would not receive the funeral that he would most certainly deserve. He conceded that sometime in the future, there would be a memorial service of some kind by the Dolphins but it didn’t seem like that would suffice. Not by the tone of his voice.

He wants to be there and it seems they all do. That was the impact that Don Shula had on those he touched. Someday in the future, the Dolphins will likely hold a service for Shula but I’m not sure that will be enough. I’m not sure it will be what some of the players need in order to say good-bye but it is sadly a new and current reality that we are living with.

If there is one thing, Shula touched lives. From the fans who had casual encounters with him to the players and Dolphins staff who interacted with him on a daily basis, Don Shula was more than a football coach. That is how he should be remembered.

Home/Dolphins News