Dolphins Bid Farewell To King Wake & Keep Jester Parker

M.J.

6 years ago

The Great Cameron Wake will no longer be wearing Aqua and Orange

One in a generation player, Cameron Wake, is moving on.

No two Miami Dolphins players could be more opposite over the last 4 years than Cameron Wake and DeVante Parker.

NONE!

Their difference WAS oceans apart as a king compared to the court jester.

The word ‘was’ leaves a bitter taste in my mouth…

… even if these moves were because of pragmatic reasoning.

This tastes the same as when Don Shula and Dan Marino ‘retired’ and Miami thanked Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas for their services before saying ‘now, beat it’.

This ‘goodbye’ is more distasteful through serendipity.

With the reports coming on the same day of Parker’s extension and Wake’s signing to the Titans, the irony of the situation is exasperated. This is the bitter essence to the idiom ‘add insult to injury’… making Wake’s loss more hurtful and Parker’s return more puzzling.

YES, yes, yes… this is the inevitable course of the rebuilding process I called for before the season ended. Hard goodbys are for the best–long term. Youthful potential takes precedence of grizzled production for this regime.

Can’t I yelp when the band-aid is torn off… before I get rational again?!

Beyond the money, winning and losing, fame and fortune, football is a game of men, their camaraderie, interactions, and tales of triumph or wilting under unfathomable pressures.

Football extols the bygone virtues of the Pre-Industrial Era–the good ole’ days of yore.

When you strip away all the veneer, NFL football embodies humanity at its core: the beauty and grotesque, joy and blood made better or worse by the character of people and how they co-exist: Real Life.

When you care for people it’s never easy to end your story with them.

Let me make this clear: Parker is a nice kid. There’s nothing to dislike about him on a human level. Most will never achieve what he has in his short life. But, on a human level AND level, there’s everything to admire and respect about Cameron Wake.

Cameron Wake is a man who has earned everything through iron will, commitment, and valor. I liken him to the rise of Conan the Barbarian in Robert E. Howard’s stories (sorry, Arnuld’s movies are but shadow).

Cameron Wake is exactly the man you pray for your son to grow up to be… whether your son plays football or not. His greatness is about who he is… and the physical aspects just icing on the cake.

Consider the journey of both men:

The Dolphins took Parker in the 1st Round with the 14th pick and have stuck with him through thick and thin…. mostly thin. In contrast, Wake had 32 teams pass on him through 7 rounds until he went undrafted… And after the Giants signed him as a UDFA he was released three months later and out of the league.

One player was valued and the other disrespected because of their draft status.

One sat on their laurels… the other dug deep, went to work, and clawed his way to the top.

Cameron Wake is an iron man with meticulous professionalism, herculean work habits, and inspirational personality. Parker, injured every year, didn’t even know you needed to eat and drink water before practice until his second season when staff had to baby him up to speed.

One player was carried on a stretcher and the other lifted the team.

One is a player of the ages and the other a bust.

The difference here isn’t about talent… it’s about what’s at the core of each man’s soul. They are oceans apart… and that’s why one will be missed and remembered.

Like a Pheonix, Parker ‘can’ still rise from the ashes to meet his potential

But in this, there’s hope for Parker. The Dolphins rolled the dice on redemption. Can Parker finally figure out his issues are about his will and commitment? Chris Chambers tried to help… and he was rejected. ‘Phibust’ and Gase did too. So far, the light hasn’t come on.

The pay per head services like Ace Per Head aren’t betting this regime’s last attempt ends well. Still, I get it for the price… just as I get Cameron Wake is moving on. It’s distasteful just the same.

The king has left the building… let’s hope the frog can become a prince.

Thanks for all the great memories and inspiration, Cameron Wake. You are one of a kind and a Miami Dolphins great. I look forward to your induction to Canton, the Dolphins ring of greats, and when your number is retired. Go Phins!!!

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