COCONUT GROVE — Fish tales, a few of them true, were abundant Saturday afternoon at the 25th annual Fins Fishing Weekend at Grove Harbour Marina, such as the one about the 50.1-pound blackfin tuna, an unofficial world record, caught aboard the Miss Britt 34 Express.
And Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson, the former Dolphins coach, was front and center for all the action, occasionally sipping on his Heineken Light on ice.
“How many of us like warm beer?” Johnson, a longtime beer on the rocks drinker, quipped. “I don’t like warm beer.”
The Dolphins start their mandatory three-day minicamp next week, and they made news recently by signing wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to a three-year, $84.7 million contract with $76 million guaranteed.
But Johnson, the Hall of Fame NFL coach who also won a national title at the University of Miami, was still a main event as the guest of honor at the two-day charity event that he started in 1996.
Johnson spent part of Saturday taking pictures and telling stories with ex-players, current players, fans and fishermen.
Johnson, of course, also took some time to talk about last year’s Miami Dolphins, this year’s Miami Dolphins, the University of Miami, and the Fins Fishing Weekend.
Johnson, who won two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys before becoming the Dolphins head coach (1996-99), had good things to say about Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who is entering his third season and has a 20-14 regular season record with two playoff appearances.
“I did an interview a year or so ago with Mike, and I was so impressed with his intelligence, and I was impressed with how he relates to the players,” said Johnson, who serves as a NFL analyst for the FOX network. “The players really play hard for him. The players respect him. I think, as far as a head coach you’ve got to have credibility, which he’s got, your players have got to respect you, and they’ve got to play hard for you. And I think he motivates the players, he gets him to play hard.
“He’s got a vision about what he wants on the football team, and I think along with (general manager) Chris Grier, they’ve been able to bring in the talent.”
Fins Weekend has been a mainstay since 1996, save for a break from 2019-22.
Johnson started the fishing event, which included players and members of the community, to benefit Scott Chait, who was a communications staff member battling cystic fibrosis. Proceeds went to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Unfortunately, Chait passed away before the initial event.
Since then, Fins Weekend has continued and it has benefited a number of charitable causes in its existence.
“Now we raise money for Baptist Health Foundation and it helps trainers and health programs in all of South Florida at some of the high school programs,” Johnson said. “So it’s really for a charity event as much as anything else. But also it brings the players and Dolphins fans, everybody together in something that we all love and that’s fishing.”
Johnson, who will turn 81 next month, said he doesn’t do as much fishing nowadays as he did years ago. Saturday was a windy day, resulting in a choppy day on the water.
A few players, such as defensive tackle Zach Sieler, defensive tackle Brandon Pili and rookie linebacker Cam Brown, went out on the boat and didn’t lose their lunch.
“I think all three of us did pretty good,” Sieler said. “No one to my knowledge was overboard doing anything crazy. It was a great day…it’s an awesome event and a great fundraiser for the kids and the high schools.”
Sieler, who is a native of Michigan and an outdoorsman, said he does some fishing in Marathon with Big Dawg Sportfishing.
But Pili, a native of Alaska, said it took him a couple of hours to gain his sea legs. Pili said he’d mostly done his fishing from the shore in Alaska.
Even the ex-players kept it together.
Shawn Wooden, the former Dolphins safety, was on the boat with Sieler, Pili and Brown. Wooden, who noticed Johnson walking behind him, said he had to keep it together on the boat or Johnson would have benched him.
Johnson was asked what he liked about Wooden as a player.
“He would knock your ass off,” Johnson said, before adding, “And I liked it!”
Wooden, a Dolphins sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame in 1996, was equally as gracious about Johnson.
“That man gave me a chance — sixth-round pick coming in the league with the knee surgery and back surgery and they told me I would never be able to play,” he said. “That man gave me a chance and I was able to make it nine years.”
Johnson had good things to say about what McDaniel, Grier, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have done.
“I think what McDaniel and Chris Grier have done is they’ve excited the Dolphins group again,” Johnson said. “I mean, they’re an exciting football game. You look at Tua and Waddle and Tyreek. They’re an exciting football team and had they not had the injuries that they had defensively last year, I think they would have gone even further. But I enjoy watching him play.”
Johnson also likes Tagovailoa, and so does Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
“Tua has a great touch on the football,” Johnson said. “He can anticipate throws. And one of my best friends, Terry Bradshaw, he studies those quarterbacks and we go out to L.A. almost every weekend, especially during our show.
“And I’ll watch the team, (but) Terry, he watches those quarterbacks. And from Day One, he said, ‘Tua has got it.’ He loves Tua. And I think with the supporting cast that Tua’s got, he’s going to be extremely successful.”
As for the University of Miami, Johnson said he’s encouraged that coach Mario Cristobal is excelling at the lifeblood, or former lifeblood, of the program — recruiting.
“One thing Mario Cristobal is doing is one thing that you have to do in college football, is recruit,” Johnson said. “He’s bringing in good players. And so at times I was disappointed a year ago but they’re bringing in a lot of good players and I think that gives them the chance.
“I know with college football right now it would be a nightmare for me with the NIL and the transfer portal. It’s got to be extremely frustrating. But as long as you’ve got good players, you’re going to have an opportunity to win.”
As for the Dolphins’ outlook in 2024, Johnson seems optimistic.
He thinks the Dolphins have a high ceiling if they stay healthy.
“I was a little bit disappointed with the defense last year, but the injuries had a lot to do with it,” Johnson said. “But they made a run. I thought they were going to go a little bit further in the playoffs. I think they’ll go further this year, and who knows if they stay healthy?
“They’re as good as anybody.”
