Larry Brown Sports

Former New York Jets superfan Ed Anzalone, aka “Fireman Ed,” is not the only notorious supporter of his favorite NFL team. The Miami Dolphins have a noteworthy nut job as well, and he goes by the name “Big Papa Pump.”

Big Papa Pump, who has been a Dolphins season ticket holder for 17 years, went off on Ed for quitting on the Jets during an appearance on Sports Talk: The Ticket on Tuesday morning.

“If you’re stepping down because of what you see, getting your butt whupped week-in and week-out and you haven’t been to the Super Bowl since Super Bowl III, that is a wuss,”  he told Hochman and Zaslow according to ESPNNewYork.com. “You don’t back out of your team like that. That’s something you don’t do. You don’t step down from being a superfan. You don’t do that. Fireman Ed, you’re a disgrace, man.

“This team is looking up to him and this is what he’s telling them? You quit? You just give up? If you’re winning and you quit, it’s another thing. But you’re losing and you quit, that’s even worse.”

As you may have heard, Fireman Ed said he stepped down because of the increase in confrontations that he has had to deal with during this disappointing Jets season. Not only does BPP believe Ed is a disgrace for jumping ship, he also doesn’t believe he would ever be welcomed back after the way he left.

“You can’t come back,” he said. “You have to come back as somebody else. Maybe he can be Nurse Ed. He can’t come back as Fireman Ed, there’s no way. You can’t welcome him back. How can you trust him?”

Are these guys living in their own world or what? I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking superfan charity boxing match at either SunLife Stadium or The Meadowlands.

Photo credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip

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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In terms of head tattoos, this is about as hardcore as they come. When a guy gets a tattoo of a Dolphins logo that is big enough to overshadow his Eeyore ink, you know he must take his favorite team seriously. That’s exactly what we see here from Miami fan Emmett Dove, who shared a photo of his insane tattoo with the Twitter world on Tuesday.

As The Huddle pointed out, the issue that could potentially arise with this Dolphins tribute is that the team is rumored to be exploring logo change options for next season. My guess is someone who is as hardcore a fan as Dove would welcome the change. Like this Al Davis tattoo, Dove’s ink would become instant vintage. And hey, it’s better than having an awful tattoo that is the result of a lost bet.

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.

During his 15-year NFL career, Jason Taylor left the Dolphins twice.  He found his way back to Miami both times.  Taylor signed with the Redskins in 2008 before returning to the Dolphins in 2009.  He then signed with the Jets last season before going back to Miami again this year to close out what should be a Hall of Fame career.  Since 131 of his 139.5 sacks and 13 of his 15 NFL seasons were spent with the Dolphins, Taylor decided to thank the fans with a billboard near Sun Life Stadium.  Here is a picture that Darren Rovell passed along:

Billboards have managed to withstand the test of time through the internet and new media generation.  Sometimes they work and other times they don’t.  Some billboards are just for fun while others result in a player being fined for something he didn’t do.  In any event, this is a classy move by one of the NFL’s all-time great defensive ends.

H/T to Los That Sports Blog for passing the picture along.

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.