Remembering Ted Ginn and his time with the Miami Dolphins

Ted Ginn Jr. retired yesterday. I understand that for many that don’t mean anything and for others it brings up a lot of bad emotions. Like it or not, Ted Ginn Jr. was a member of the Miami Dolphins and he forever will be remembered as such.

Yesterday, Ginn decided that after 14 years it was time to hang’em up. I can’t say that I’m surprised that he decided to retire, in fact, I had to do some serious recall to remember that he actually played in the NFL last year, with the Bears. He only played in six games and only had 40 yards in 2020. Regardless, when I heard the news that he was calling it quits, I did pause for a moment and remembered his time in Miami from start to finish (insert he didn’t have many moments jokes here).

I vividly remember the 2007 NFL Draft when Ted Ginn Jr. was selected #9 overall. I was a senior at PSU  and I couldn’t be more pumped to watch a whole of draft coverage on a Saturday. This was when the draft was on for only two days making Saturday just an absolute marathon of coverage. I had my Wings over Happy Valley, my Yuengling Black and Tans, and of course Chris Berman to guide me through the day. What more can a college student at PSU want(more than that?)?

The 2006 Dolphins, led by that Saban guy, if you could believe it was not very good at the quarterback position. Surprisingly, Daunte Culpepper, Cleo Lemon and Joey Harrington combined were not enough to break the Marino curse and the team went 6-10. Saban lied about going to Alabama and then went to Alabama the next day and the Dolphins hired Cam Cameron to be their head coach.

The prevailing wisdom was that there was no way the Dolphins weren’t going to draft Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn if he fell to them at #9. Miami, like always(hopefully not now) needed a quarterback and Quinn was lights out in college. Makes sense to take him if possible.

I remember sitting there in my lavish apartment on Beaver Ave seeing the names fly. Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, LaRon Landry, Adrian Peterson are all naturally off the board. At #8, the Falcons took their second Jamaal Anderson in franchise history. The stage was set for the Dolphins to take their quarterback of the future. And then it happened…

The Dolphins, going against the grain, took the lightning-fast Ted Ginn Jr. instead of the quarterback. Needless to say, I lost my mind and I immediately moved from Yuengling to Fireball, you know the good stuff. How can a team that is always terrible at quarterback not take a quarterback prospect like Brady Quinn? It made no sense but that’s how the Dolphins typically roll.

What made it infinitely worse was Cam Cameron’s quote after they selected Ginn Jr. Still makes me feel all types of rage. Here’s the full article.

"“Ted Ginn is a Miami Dolphin. Ted Ginn is someone you’re going to be proud of,” Cameron said. “Ted Ginn and his family will give us everything they have, I promise you that. I think Ted Ginn is someone you’re going to enjoy watching play for a long, long time as a Miami Dolphin.”"

It wasn’t Ginn’s fault that Cameron was a dolt and said that the Ginn family was going to produce for the franchise. But it didn’t matter. The fanbase was instantly against Ginn Jr.

Ginn Jr. was electric with his speed and could turn the corner better than anyone I ever saw. The thing was, he wasn’t very good at playing wide receiver. He didn’t catch with his hands, didn’t run good routes, and very noticeably shied away from contact. It was a combination of gross traits that was impossible to defend. His first year he had whopping 34 catches for 420 yards and only two TDs. Not what you want.

In his second year, he upped his productivity with 56 catches for 790 yards, four TDs, and even had two rushing scores. Not bad. It was surely a spike in production from his rookie year.

In his 3rd year, which ended up being his last with Miami, Ginn took a dip in production. But he did provide with wonderful moments. Who can forget the time he burned the entire Jets secondary who had Darrelle Revis at the time? I know I can’t and that I never will. You can watch that sizzling play here and thank Josh Houtz for posting it a year ago.

Then later in the year, again against the Jets, Ted Ginn did what he may have done best and that was take back kicks to the house.

I was at this game and man alive it was awesome watching Ginn Jr. just race down the sideline. It was amazing because you have professional football players, who aren’t linemen or linebackers who have an easy angle on him to just knock him out of bounds something they do all the time. And when it was time to do it Ginn Jr. was ready 5 yards past them. Ginn Jr. truly made guys who are fast look not so fast.

And that was it. After 2009, Ginn Jr. was off to San Franciso. He made stops with Carolina, Arizona, New Orleans, and finally Chicago. Upon leaving Miami, Ginn Jr. kind of turned his career around and become a competent wide receiver. I would say he ended up being a high-end #3 receiver. His run with the Panthers is what I think he’ll be most known for. It seemed like every other week, during that great run in 2015 with the Panthers, Ginn Jr. was making plays and not just deep bomb type of plays. He was making real receiver plays over the middle. It was nice and frustrating to see. But, that’s how it happens a lot of the time when someone leaves the Dolphins. Some other coaches figured out how to put him in the best position to succeed.

As a Dolphin, Ted Ginn Jr. was a bust. That really can’t be argued other than there’s no good reason that he should have been a top 10 pick possibly not even a 2nd round pick. He was picked there and it didn’t work out. But let’s not act like Brady Quinn would have turned out any differently than he did if was drafted by Miami. Given the coaching staff who was in place, I’m confident in saying it wouldn’t have mattered who Miami drafted with the #9 overall pick that year.

So if you want to call Ginn Jr. a bust for the Dolphins, go for it. But calling him a bust for his career would be a misguided, irrational, and emotional take. I’m not going to get my Ted Ginn Jr. jersey from my parents’ house and wear it all day. But, I am going to think about the few good moments he had and be content with them. I have a big golf tournament later today and I need all the positive vibes I can muster. Have a satisfying Saturday.

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