Miami Dolphins: Fans Know Better Than To Count Their Chickens

The Miami Dolphins have been gearing up for the 2013 NFL Free Agency, and a deal bringing Mike Wallace to South Florida is being rumored as a “done deal”. The rumor has gained considerable momentum after being supported by several of the major NFL news outlets, and it appears as though no one will get into a serious bidding war for Wallace.

This would be fantastic news for the Dolphin faithful, but they have been down this road before. They are not going to believe the deal is done until the ink is completely dry; and with the Dolphins recent history, no one can blame them.

We can go back to the chase for Drew Brees. It seemed like it should be an easy snag, but Brees declined the Dolphins offer, signing with the lowly New Orleans Saints instead. It was an embarrassing snub, made worse by Brees hoisting the Lombardi trophy and breaking Dan Marino’s single-season yardage record.

Another such moment happened when Dolphins owner Stephen Ross picked up Jeff Fisher in his helicopter as part of his attempt to sway the coveted head coach to take the job in Miami. Fisher chose to go to the St Louis Rams instead, leaving Ross with egg on his face.

Last off-season, there was the Peyton Manning media frenzy, and the very first team the analysts identified as Manning’s new home was, of course, Miami. Manning had a home there, he won a Super Bowl at Sun Life Stadium, and had ties in the community. The first few days of “Manning Watch” had the Dolphins as the sure-fire destination of the biggest free agent of the century.

The Dolphins couldn’t even get Manning to come to the facility.

Then to make matters worse, Matt Flynn was a touted as a complete lock to be the next quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. Joe Philbin was his offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers, and Flynn was thought to be the best free agent available once Manning was off the table.

Flynn’s significant other even posted tweets about Miami being their new home. Then Flynn sat down with the team and next thing everyone knew, he was on his way to the Seattle Seahawks.

Recent history has not been kind to the Dolphins when it comes to getting their guy. It has been a major complaint of the fans, who have, among other things, staged protests and rented planes to fly banners begging Ross to fire general manager Jeff Ireland.

The fans are sick of it, and they will not believe in a Wallace signing until it is completely in the books. The rumors are nice, but they have heard them before. They will need to see Wallace holding up the Aqua and Orange before they will get excited about landing the highest ranked Free Agent of 2013.

Only when the fans are 100 percent certain will they allow themselves to feel some exhilaration — then they will complain about how much the Dolphins paid. It is just the way things work in South Florida.

Jeff Everette is a Miami Dolphins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @jeverettesports, “Like” his page on FaceBook, or add him to your network on Google+.