Mike Pouncey | Larry Brown Sports

Mike Pouncey told Cris Carter Jonathan Martin considered quitting during rookie season

November 6, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Jonathan Martin abruptly departed the Miami Dolphins last week, but the idea may have been in his mind for a while.

We have previously heard that Martin has had “emotional issues” since his rookie season, and Dolphins center and leadership council member, Mike Pouncey, says as a rookie, Martin was having second thoughts about playing pro football.

Per The Miami Herald, Pouncey told Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Cris Carter that Martin considered quitting football during his rookie season.

Here’s what Pouncey told Carter, per The Herald:

Pouncey told Carter, the Hall of Famer later relayed, that Martin had considered quitting football long before leaving the team.

Carter said Pouncey told him: “There were times he struggled as a rookie and contemplated, ‘Am I cut out for this?’ ”

That seems to mesh with what Martin told Richie Incognito over text. Martin reportedly told Incognito that the football culture and locker room got to him, leading him to leave.

Among other issues, it sure seems like Martin may not have fit in in the NFL — or at least with the Dolphins — and came to that realization.

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Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Cris Carter, Jonathan Martin, Mike Pouncey, Richie Incognito

Mike Pouncey served grand jury subpoena after Dolphins game

October 27, 2013 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey was served a grand jury subpoena by Massachusetts State Police following his team’s 27-17 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Sports Illustrated reported the story and has a photo of Pouncey getting served inside Gillette Stadium after the game. The subpoena is believed to be related to the Aaron Hernandez case. SI says Dolphins officials were surprised by the subpoena and that not even Patriots owner Bob Kraft was aware of the police’s plans to serve Pouncey.

A grand jury has been meeting to gather more evidence related to Hernandez’s alleged crimes for potential prosecution. They reportedly were pushing for Hernandez to be charged for a 2012 drive-by shooting that left two dead. The former New England Patriots tight end was formally indicted by the grand jury in August for the murder of Lloyd.

Being subpoened by the grand jury does not mean Pouncey has done anything wrong nor that he will be charged with any crimes. He likely will be asked to contribute to the investigation of Hernandez. More specifically, SI says he may be asked about potential gun trafficking by Hernandez. SI reports that Hernandez is being investigated for potential interstate gun trafficking by at least three states — Massachusetts, Florida and New York.

Pouncey and his twin brother Maurkice were teammates and close friends of Hernandez at the University of Florida. In July, the brothers expressed their support of Hernandez by wearing “Free Hernandez” hats. Maurkice later apologized for wearing the hat, but Mike did not.

Filed Under: Featured Stories, Football, Legal Matters Tagged With: Mike Pouncey

Mike Pouncey avoids apologizing for wearing ‘Free Hernandez’ hat

July 21, 2013 By Steve DelVecchio 1 Comment

Last weekend, twin brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey had a regrettable lapse in judgment when they wore hats that said “Free Hernandez” on them during their birthday bash at a nightclub in Miami. Maurkice, who plays center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, apologized with a message on Twitter just two days after wearing the hat. Mike, who plays for the Miami Dolphins, has remained silent.

On Sunday, Mike was asked to address his decision to support Aaron Hernandez while his former Florida teammate awaits trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

“I’m here to talk about football,” he said, via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. “After football.”

It was believed that the Steelers put pressure on Maurkice to apologize for wearing the hat, but Dolphins coach Joe Philbin would not say if he did the same to Mike.

“Any conversation I may or may not have had with Mike will stay internal,” Philbin said, according to Around the League. “I will tell you that it’s important for every member of this organization — player, coach — to represent the Miami Dolphins in a first-class manner.”

I can understand Mike not wanting to get into a full-blown discussion about the hat after Miami’s first training camp session. You don’t want to become a distraction, but would it have been difficult for him to say he made a dumb decision and tell reporters that’s the last he’s going to say about it? Refusing to address the issue simply magnifies it.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Aaron Hernandez murder, Mike Pouncey

Mike and Maurkice Pouncey wear ‘Free Hernandez’ hats to birthday party

July 14, 2013 By Steve DelVecchio 1 Comment

Twin brothers Mike and Maurkice Pouncey were teammates with Aaron Hernandez at the University of Florida. The three stars won a BCS National Championship together in 2009 and reportedly hung out together, so you can understand why the Pounceys might continue to support their friend as he awaits trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Just don’t do it publicly.

Twitter user @JazzyNice5 shared a photo of the Pouncey brothers wearing “Free Hernandez” hats on Saturday night while they were celebrating their birthday at Cameo nightclub in Miami. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel confirmed that the twins were there, and Maurkice tweeted the following photo earlier in the night:

#TURN-UP!! pic.twitter.com/RUxL1WKpb0

— Maurkice Pouncey (@MaurkicePouncey) July 14, 2013

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Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Aaron Hernandez, Aaron Hernandez murder, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey

Mike Pouncey: Ryan Tannehill is NFL’s best rookie QB, will be like Tom Brady

November 1, 2012 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

You could easily make the argument that Ryan Tannehill has exceeded expectations as the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins this season. His TD-to-interception ratio of 4-to-6 is underwhelming, but Tannehill’s quarterback rating of 75.8 is not all that bad for a rookie leading an offense. Most importantly, he has played well enough to lead the Dolphins to a 4-3 record.

But we don’t need to get carried away in praising the former Texas A&M quarterback. His teammate, Dolphins center Mike Pouncey, already did that for us last week.

“I think he’s the best rookie quarterback in the NFL right now,” Pouncey said according to Chris Tomasson of FOXSports.com. “Without his success that he’s having right now, we wouldn’t be the 3-3 Dolphins that we are.”

When asked specifically if he thought Tannehill was better than Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, Pouncey confidently said that he was. Now that the Dolphins have improved to 4-3, he must think Tannehill is ready for the Hall of Fame — especially since the center also compared his quarterback to Tom Brady.

“I think he’s better than RG3,” Pouncey said. “Their games are different. RG3 can throw, but he can also run. Tannehill’s a smart quarterback. I think he’s going to be one of those elite guys like Tom Brady when it comes said and done. Just his composure. His leadership in the huddle right now is just phenomenal. … I do see Tom, and the way he coordinates and runs his offense is the same as Tannehill does.”

Confidence in your quarterback is one thing. Having delusional thoughts is another. Luck has roughly the same passer rating as Tannehill, so I can see where that argument may come from. RG3 has a whopping 97.3 rating and has scored 14 total touchdowns, so he appears to be leading the way for rookie quarterbacks.

As for whether or not he’ll be the next Brady, do we really even need to go there? Pouncey should probably wait and see if Tannehill can lead the Dolphins to the playoffs before comparing him to three-time Super Bowl champions.

H/T Pro Football Talk

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Mike Pouncey, Ryan Tannehill

Mike Pouncey: Aaron Maybin is a joke, won’t play enough to hit Reggie Bush

October 25, 2012 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

It may only be Thursday, but the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets have exchanged enough trash talk over the past four days to last an entire season. Most of it has centered around Reggie Bush, as some of the Jets players have vowed to get revenge on Bush after he called Darrelle Revis’ season-ending injury karma.

One of those New York players was linebacker Aaron Maybin, who told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday that Miami wants to knock Bush out of the game with a legal hit. Dolphins center Mike Pouncey said he is not all that concerned about Maybin injuring Bush, since he believes Aaron will spend most of Sunday’s game warming the bench.

“I don’t even want to talk about (Maybin),” Pouncey told Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel. “He’s a joke. He’s not even going to play enough plays to touch Reggie. I have to be on punt block to say something to him.”

Now children, let’s all just take a deep breath and count to ten. The game will be here soon enough. Earlier this week, Rex Ryan said he wants Bush to apologize for saying Revis deserved to go down. With the way things are heading, it sounds like the Jets and Dolphins will need a kindergarten teacher on Sunday instead of an NFL officiating crew.

H/T Around the League
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Aaron Maybin, Mike Pouncey, Reggie Bush