Alumnus Richmond Webb – May 4, 2020
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Monday, May 4, 2020
Former Dolphins T Richmond Webb
(You must have some good Don Shula stories when people ask you ‘what was he like to play for?’ Anything for you?) – “It was already established when I got there. The thing that sticks out for me is that he was a very disciplined coach. (He was) very intelligent (and) always preached the mental aspect of the game – not making mental mistakes, not doing things to beat yourselves. I guess it just gave me an understanding of coming from college to the professional level of how much difference – there isn’t much difference between the talent level that is on the opposing team, so any little edge you could get and being mentally prepared and not making mental mistakes and penalties and stuff like that was a huge thing that he stressed from day one. Those were the little things that I think definitely stands out when you’re asking that question.”
(I had a couple of players really tell me that Don Shula really broke down the game to them and helped them understand the game because he would always go over things such as goal-line offense, and third-down stats, so if you could talk about that. Then the other thing, apparently he had this book that he used to carry fines and things like that. If you are familiar with that, can you talk about that also?) – “The thing is, I think when you talk about the statistics that he went over, we did that after every football game win or lose. I think it just drove home the point that he knew what he was talking about, rather than some guy saying ‘you don’t have to do that because it’s not that big of a deal.’ When you actually go through third-down efficiency or we had this many penalties and he would go over – if you had a penalty. Let’s say it was a third down and five and you get a holding penalty and it is third-and-15. Then you actually gained 12 yards; but if you didn’t have the penalty, you actually get the first down and you keep the chains moving. He was really particular and we would always go over that. That was one of the first things I noticed about when we would get on the buses, that Harvey Greene would have the stats sheets from each team – passing, rushing – and he would look at all of that. I can remember that (Dan) Marino would look at it and certain players would look at it, like Marino and the coaches and stuff like that. As far as fines, I remember weigh-in day. You did not want to be overweight because not only would he announce your name, but he would announce how many pounds you were actually overweight. I think it just put pressure on you that you wanted to make your weight because you didn’t want your named called out in that meeting, because not only did Coach Shula know, but everybody on the team knew who was overweight or whatever. Even though some guys struggled – because I was one of them sometimes. I could get in the hot tub to try to lose a pound or two to get it, because you wanted to do whatever possible to not have your name called out at those meetings.”
(A lot of players, especially from the 70s, 80s and I’m sure in the 90s, talk about some of the values that Don Shula instilled in them that helped them after football – whether in the business world or what have you. What do you know about that? What was it that he instilled in you to help you succeed even after football?) – “When you ask that question, it goes back to one incident with me. It was my second year in the league and I hurt my knee in Tokyo in the preseason game. I ended up missing the first two regular season games. When I got back, I wasn’t playing at the level that I was the previous year. I can remember different reporters and people in the media asking what percentage, are you 100 percent? I would say no. They would say, what percentage are you? I’d basically let them know that I wasn’t 100 percent, this and that. Well, I get the famous call to Coach Shula’s office. Everybody knows that if you play for Coach Shula, the media or whatever, that if you get called into his office, it’s not a good thing. He calls me in there and he was like ‘What are you doing? What are you putting in the paper?’ You’ve got to find a way to play. If you’re hurt, it’s different; but if you are injured, you have to find a way because everybody plays with some little nagging injury. Nobody goes through the season 100 percent. It pissed me off because I was trying; but then after I calmed down, I thought about it and he was telling me exactly what was true. He said that doesn’t matter, you have to find a way. It just caused me to really focus in. I’ve got to be more technically sound. Yeah, I know I’m not feeling 100 percent; but I can still go out here and be effective. That transitions not only in football but it transitions in life. When you learn something like that, when people are being brutally honest with you, it might piss you off at first; but if you really think about it and grasp what they are trying to say, and you know that person truly cares about you and wants to see you succeed, that was that moment for me with Coach Shula it’s carried on with me for years after I played football.”
