Holdouts and Injuries : Dolphins’ Camp Is Nightmare For Shula

If Coach Don Shula had nightmares about this summer’s training camp, he couldn’t have dreamed up a more frightening scenario than what actually occurred with the Miami Dolphins.

Following April’s draft and May’s mini-camp, Shula and his staff looked forward to plugging the gaps made evident by the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl and fine-tuning the Dolphins’ lethal air attack.

But all that planning was predicated on one little detail--the presence of all the Dolphins at training camp.

The list of Dolphin holdouts read like a “Who’s Who” of Miami football when camp officially opened on July 25. Nat Moore, Don Strock, Glenn and Lyle Blackwood, Bob Brudzinski, Joe Rose, Jim Jensen, and Dan Johnson were among the missing.

Also on July 25, all-everything quarterback Dan Marino decided he didn’t like the Dolphins’ efforts at renegotiating his contract and left camp, leaving Miami with two free agent quarterbacks who--between them--had completed no passes in an NFL regular season game.

In addition, fullback Pete Johnson decided not to show up, upset over a Shula demand that he be fit and trim at 255 pounds.

Moore, Strock, Lyle Blackwood and Rose have since returned. Dan Johnson was reported close to reaching an agreement. The remaining veterans without contracts--Brudzinski, Jensen and Glenn Blackwood--have become known as the “Slusher 3,” because they are represented by agent Howard Slusher, known for keeping his clients out of training camps and even entire seasons.

If this were not disruptive enough, All-Pro guard Ed Newman was lost for the season with a knee injury in the first exhibition game; Pro-Bowl linebacker A.J. Duhe will not play this season because of knee surgery; All-Pro nose tackle Bob Baumhower is recovering from knee and ankle surgery and may not be ready for the opening of the season; fullback Andra Franklin is making an extremely slow recovery from knee surgery; ofensive tackle Eric Laakso is recovering from knee surgery; wide receiver Mark Duper has a sore ankle; offensive lineman Jeff Toews is suffering from a calf injury, and linebacker Daryl Hunt is out for at least another three weeks with a knee injury, and rookie Alex Moyer missed practice this week with a thigh bruise.

The disastrous turn of events has left Shula frustrated.

“We’ve had more disruptions, distractions than at any time that I’ve been coaching,” Shula said. “Starting with not having any of your three quarterbacks when camp opened and after how many weeks of camp (three), we’ve only got one of them back.

“Add to that the holdouts and the injuries and we’re just up in the air,” he said.

Quarterback was to be one of the Dolphins strongest points, but the absence of Marino and Jensen left the team scrambling for experienced help. After rookie Kyle Vanderwende left camp, free agent Lou Pagley, who was a third-string quarterback with the hapless Washington Federals in the U.S. Football League two years ago, was signed just to give the Dolphins another quarterback.

The team also signed former Florida star quarterback Wayne Peace on Aug. 14.

Strock, entering his 12th year in Miami, says he hasn’t seen anything like this training camp.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many holdouts at this stage of the season,” Strock said. “It’s hard to get people lined up to play. You’re not having the right people in the right spot. It takes a lot out of your practice.”

If the holdouts last much longer, the team’s regular-season performance could suffer, Strock said.

“It all depends on the conditioning of the guys when they come back in,” he said. “It does take a while to get back into football.”

Perhaps the most frustrating thing for Shula is the uncertainty of when the holdouts will come back, which leaves a trade to fill the gaps out of the question in most cases.

“I’d hate to make a trade and give up something of value only to find out the next day the situation has been resolved,” Shula said.

To every cloud there is a silver lining. Well, sort of.

“The one good thing to all this is that a player who might not have gotten a lot of playing time may take advantage of the opportunity and make a name for himself,” Shula said. “The bad thing is that the players who are not here, especially a guy like Jensen who plays more than one position, miss a lot of valuable learning and have a lot of catching up to do when they do get back.”

There have been some bright lights shining through the gloom at St. Thomas University. Top pick Lorenzo Hampton has been impressive, both running and catching the football. Third-round picks Moyer and George Little also have drawn praise from Shula.