Larry Brown Sports

Jeff Ireland has to be used to not being the most popular man in Miami by now. Dolphins fans have long been tired of the teams their general manager has assembled and the draft choices he has made, and many of them want him gone. Still, Ireland is a human and humans get frustrated. Not being able to control his frustration resulted in Ireland issuing an apology on Tuesday.

According to the Miami Herald, Ireland was walking through the concourse at Sun Life Stadium during halftime of the Dolphins’ game against the Raiders on Sunday when he stopped to chat with a few fans. One fan, who later called 790 The Ticket in Miami and revealed his identity as “Sean,” reportedly complained to Ireland about the way he has managed the team and told him he needs to fire himself. Ireland responded by calling Sean an “a**hole.”

“I don’t begrude the guy for not appreciating what I had to say,” Sean told The Ticket. “I can’t tell you I wouldn’t respond any differently if someone said I should fire myself. By the same token, I’m not the general manager of a professional football team. I feel like I expressed an opinion he probably needed to hear.”

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As expected, a number of Dolphins fans gathered to protest on Tuesday outside the team’s training facility in Davie, Fla. The brown paper bags were out and — unsurprisingly — general manager Jeff Ireland was the target of most of the criticism from the various signs and chants. As Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post shared with us on Twitter, some of the signs included “Toot to give Ireland the boot” and “Stop the circus, Ireland must go.” Some fans even took the opportunity to let the team know they have no interest in settling for Tim Tebow, as evidenced by a sign that simply read “No Tebow.” At the moment, it doesn’t appear anyone arranged for a “Fire Jeff Ireland” banner flyover. Here are a couple more pictures that Volin passed along:

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The 2012 offseason has not been kind to Dolphins fans. When Peyton Manning was released over a week ago, it was widely believed that Miami was the most likely destination for the four-time MVP. As the days passed and Manning visited the likes of the Broncos, Titans, and 49ers, it became evident that the Dolphins had fallen behind. They then turned their attention to Matt Flynn, who ended up signing with the Seahawks. Over the weekend, Miami was reportedly negotiating with an irritated Alex Smith, but now that the Niners have missed out on Manning Smith will likely return to San Francisco. On Monday, the Fins signed David Garrard to a one-year deal. Yeah.

According to Helmet2Helmet, WQAM in Miami reported on Monday night that Dolphins fans are planning to form a protest at the team’s spring training facility at around 1 p.m. Tuesday. The station plans to broadcast the protest live, which will call for GM Jeff Ireland to be fired and owner Stephen Ross to sell the team.

Various Twitter users have also changed their avatar to the “Fire Jeff Ireland” graphic that you see above. As you may remember, Dolphins fans also hired an airplane to fly a “Fire Jeff Ireland” banner over their stadium back in December, so their frustration is nothing new. Cue the brown paper bags. It’s going to be a long season in Miami.

Channing Crowder has given a number of reasons to support his decision to unexpectedly retire a year ago at the age of 28.  At the time he was cut by the Dolphins, Crowder’s wife was nine months pregnant and he said his heart was no longer in football.  Both seem like legitimate reasons, but his recent comments would seem to indicate there was also a problem between him and the Dolphins front office — particularly G.M. Jeff Ireland.  Crowder said in a recent interview that he is interested in returning to the NFL next season, but would never play for Miami.

“I wouldn’t go on a team with Jeff Ireland. I’m not very confident in him,” Crowder said Wednesday on Radio Row according to NFL.com. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing in my opinion. He’s real disrespectful, he doesn’t know how to deal with people and the whole Dez Bryant (situation) kind of showed to the world what he’s about, but guys in the building know what he’s really about.

“He’s not a good person. He has no class, and I wouldn’t choose to go back and play there. And I would have to say it’s the only team I don’t want to play for.”

In case you don’t remember, the Dez Bryant situation Crowder is referring to is the time Ireland asked Bryant if his mother was a prostitute when meeting with him before the draft.  As we saw this season, Dolphins fans aren’t exactly fond of their team’s G.M., either.  I’m not the biggest Crowder fan, but I can’t say I blame him. If what they say about Ireland is true, I doubt many players enjoy playing for him.

Some Miami Dolphins fans are upset that Tony Sparano was whacked earlier this week, but that GM Jeff Ireland (pictured) is still employed, so they’re planning to hire an airplane ad calling for his firing.

Chris Joseph and Roger Paul are die-hard Dolphins fans who run the website finsnation.com. They first mentioned the idea on Twitter and began looking into hiring a plane after receiving positive responses from other fans.

The plan is to hire a plane to fly over Sun Life Stadium for a few hours prior to kickoff on January 1st, the team’s final home game. The message will be a plea to franchise owner Stephen Ross: “Mr. Ross, save our Dolphins. Fire Jeff Ireland.”

Ireland and Sparano came to the Dolphins at the same time after being hired by Bill Parcells. The GM has presided over the franchise’s first three season losing streak since the AFL-NFL merger, and the fans say they have lost faith in him.

The last airplane ad some fans in South Florida purchased worked out pretty well, so maybe this one will too. Frankly, we’re just surprised Ireland made it past this incident.

It isn’t out of the ordinary for NFL teams to sit town with perspective draft picks to get to know them better. But for the Miami Dolphins‘ GM Jeff Ireland, he went a little too far with his questions. Prior to the draft, Ireland sat down with Dez Bryant, a wide receiver out of Oklahoma State, and began asking very personal questions about his mother. Ireland asked Bryant whether his mother was a prostitute and whether she was still doing drugs. Excuse me? Bryant handled the situation really well:

“No, my mom is not a prostitute. I got mad — really mad — but I didn’t show it. I got a lot of questions like that: Does she still do drugs? I sat and answered all of them.”

Please tell me what that has to do with how this kid plays football. Not only is that question just plain rude, but it’s also none of his business. Ireland tried to justify this by saying that it’s his job “to find out as much information as possible about a player that [he's] considering drafting.” I disagree. You look at the talent this kid has on the field and the way he presents himself. His personal family background should have nothing to do with what you are looking at.

At the end of the day, I think Bryant is the one who benefits from Ireland’s poor judgment. He is receiving sympathetic media coverage because of this situation, and he was also the Dallas Cowboys’ first round draft pick. Just a hint of advice Mr. Ireland — don’t ever say anything bad about anyone’s mama.

Sources:
Bryant: ‘There’s nothing diva about me’ [Yahoo! Sports]
Dolphins GM apologizes for question to Dez Bryant [AP/Yahoo! Sports]

It’s so hard to tell when it comes to the NFL draft whether information is just that, or if it’s misinformation. You don’t know what’s been planted by GMs and coaches for purposes of gaining leverage in trade negotiations. But of all the things they say, some turn out to be true. For instance, not long ago everyone thought the Texans were crazy when they talked about building a franchise around defense, with Mario Williams as a cornerstone who would pressure Peyton Manning for years to come. Everybody laughed it off (with the exception of one person I know). At a news conference on Tuesday, Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland did the same thing, only this may have been an unintentional blunder:

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