*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 20, 1997: -- Kosar Retires --
** Kosar Announces Retirement
Bernie Kosar has announced his intention to retire from
professional football. According to a story in the Miami Herald,
Kosar called coach Jimmy Johnson yesterday to inform the team of his
decision. Kosar says that he's now spending too much time on other
business and personal priorities in his life to give his full
attention to playing quarterback.
During his 12 year career in the NFL, Bernie Kosar spent most
of his time with the Cleveland Browns, where he lead them to 3 AFC
Championship games. Since joining the NFL in 1985, he has passed for
23,301 yards and 124 touchdowns.
Following his 8 years in Cleveland, Bernie Kosar earned a
Super Bowl ring as backup to Troy Aikman in Dallas and then came to
Miami, where he spent the last 3 years of his career as a backup to
Dan Marino.
** Dolphins Select 14 in the Draft
The 1997 NFL draft is now history and the Dolphins ended up
with 14 picks after JJ made a series of trades to add 4 late round
picks to the 10 that the Dolphins started with.
The 14 players selected were:
Round Pick
Rnd Pick Overall Player Pos. Ht. Wt. 40 School
1 15 15 Yatil Green WR 6'3" 200 4.4 Miami
2 14 44 Sam Madison CB 5'11" 178 4.48 Louisville
3 13 73 Jason Taylor DE 6'6" 245 4.6 Akron
3 32 92 Derrick Rodgers LB 6'1" 221 4.74 Arizona State
3 33 93 Ronnie Ward LB 6'0" 233 4.72 Kansas
3 36 96 Brent Smith OT 6'5" 303 5.1 Mississippi St.
4 25 121 Jerome Daniels OT 6'5" 358 5.6 Northeastern
5 19 149 Barron Tanner DL 6'3" 313 5.45 Oklahoma
5 27 157 Nicholas Lopez DE 6'4" 250 4.95 Texas Southern
6 3 166 John Fiala LB 6'2" 232 4.83 Washington
6 7 170 Brian Manning WR 5'11" 187 4.55 Stanford
6 10 173 Mike Crawford LB 6'2" 235 Nevada
6 14 177 Ed Perry TE 6'4" 246 4.78 James Madison
7 2 203 Hudhaifa Ismaeli DB 5'11" 191 4.57 Northwestern
** Dolphins to sign 15 rookie free agents
In the wake of the 1997 NFL draft, Jimmy Johnson has announced
that he hopes to sign up to 15 rookie free agents to add to the 14
players selected in the draft. This would give the Dolphins a pool of
almost 30 new players going into the first mini-camp next week.
Last year, the Dolphins signed 5 rookie free agents
immediately after the draft and 2 went on to make big contributions to
the team. Linebacker Larry Izzo and linebacker Anthony Harris were
both signed immediately after the draft and made the team, with Harris
eventually winning the starting weakside linebacker job from Chris
Singleton.
** Tim Jacobs Agrees to Terms
The Dolphins have agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent
cornerback Tim Jacobs, who joined the Dolphins last summer as a free
agent. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but it's likely
to be a 1 or 2 year deal for the league minimum.
Last year, for the Dolphins, Jacobs had 15 tackles, forced 2
fumbles and had one pass defensed.
My Comments:
It's always a little sad when good players retire and even
though Bernie Kosar was not quite in the same league as Marino, he was
an asset to the team, both as a backup and as an extra coach and brain
on the sidelines.
However, I think that it's clear to everyone that Bernie's
physical skills are not up to the task of playing quarterback any
more. His arm just doesn't have the necessary strength to throw the
football with any authority and he can't seem to compensate for that
lack of strength.
As far as the rookie free agents are concerned, the more JJ
can sign, the better. I hope that JJ signs as many rookie free agents
as he can fit on the roster, because that increases the chances of
finding players who will contribute.
I'm indifferent to Tim Jacobs re-signing, mostly because I
don't recall ever hearing his name called on game day. But if JJ
thinks he's good enough to spend the money, then that's good enough
for me.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
[email protected], DOLFAN in New England
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