[RamWraith]

March 29, 2007

The following are excerpts from an interview, provided by 560 WQAM, with former Dolphins tight end Randy McMichael, who appeared on the sports radio station Wednesday:

Q: How surprised were you when the Dolphins released you?

A: “It was kind of shocking but I was a little bit more relieved than anything. A couple of weeks prior to that happening, me and my wife were just talking and she said, ‘I have a feeling this is our last year here in Miami.’ When I first heard the trade rumors, I was like, 'Well maybe she’s right.' You know sometimes they say women are always right. So then, after I heard the trade rumors, I really started saying, if we have to leave then this is what we have to do. And we have to get ready to move wherever the Dolphins are going to trade me. I talked to (agent) Drew (Rosenhaus) and we were really hoping that we would be released rather than being traded so we could decide where we wanted to go. Once it happened, I wasn’t shocked at all. Just the conversation I had with him (Cam Cameron) when I first met him, I really didn’t have a lot of confidence in the fact that I would be here.”

Q: Did it cause you to doubt your ability at all?

A: “I never doubted my ability. I never heard anybody say that I wasn’t good enough to play for this team. My phone was ringing hours, not even hours, minutes after I was cut. I was never worried about anything. One thing about me is that I am very confident in my ability. One thing I can say about Coach Cameron is that he did call me right after it happened. I appreciate him calling me and he told me how good of a player I was but it was a financial type of thing. Whatever, it doesn’t matter because I knew I was going to be employed within in a day or so. We just had to mull over the deals with different teams and I think we made a great decision in going out to St. Louis.”

Q: Why the Rams?

A: “Because when it boiled down to it, Coach Linehan really played a big part in me wanting to be reunited with him and going to a system that I already knew.”

Q: How much factored into you having your most productive year when Linehan was the offensive coordinator?

A: “It definitely did. I really feel that was my best year as a complete tight end as far as catching the ball, blocking and doing all the little things that I worked on so much. I still remember meeting him the first time and he said, ‘I want my tight ends to catch the ball, but they have to be able to block also because I want my tight ends to stay on the field all the time. I don’t want to have to bring them just to catch the ball and I don’t want to have to bring them in just so we can run the football. I want you to be a complete player.’ I really took that to heart and I just really focused on my whole game, completely, and tried to be a complete player and I had a whole lot of fun playing for Coach Linehan.”

Q: Do you feel that you weren’t used properly here?

A: “Everywhere you go you always hear that they didn’t use you properly. I had a ball when I was here. I don’t regret anything that happened here when I was playing football. I had a great time and I always tell people I am in debt to Miami because Miami gave me an opportunity to be an NFL football player. I will always be grateful to Mr. Huizenga and his wife. They were very supportive to me and my family and they gave us an opportunity to set my family up for a long time.”

Q: Your thoughts on Nick Saban leaving . . .

A: “I don’t think the players were as upset as everybody else.”

Q: “Do you still think Daunte Culpepper has the goods to make it in this league?”

A: “Yes I do. I really feel he’s still a superstar in this league and he’s going to come back from this injury and make a lot of people eat their words.”

Q: Cast yourself in the role of Dolphins GM. Was it time to blow the whole thing up and start all over again?

A: “I don’t think so. It seems like all the rebuilding is happening on one side of the ball. Once you start rebuilding on one side of the ball, when you have such a dominant defense that the Miami Dolphins have, the guys are not getting any younger over there. When you are talking about rebuilding, how long is it going to take in the rebuilding process? Me being a player, you never want to use the word rebuilding, you always want to say, retooling. I really think that the moves that they are making, is because Coach Cameron wants to retool and he really feels like keeping his players in there. I wasn’t one of his guys when it boils down to it. I really don’t think I wasn’t good enough to play the tight end position because he knows my numbers speak for themselves. I never missed a game in five years. I put up great numbers every year. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with my skill level. That’s why I don’t worry about it and that’s why I’m not upset. I am extremely happy to be able to start over fresh. Miami was one chapter in the life of Randy McMichael and now I have to go write a new chapter in St. Louis.”