Former Miami Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson has had quite the summer. Coach Johnson was immortalized in Canton, Ohio as a new member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, making him a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in all of sports. And now, with the dust settled and Johnson gearing up for another year of NFL coverage in his broadcast role, he’s apparently feeling in the mood to break Miami Dolphins fans everywhere.
Because Johnson, during a recent appearance on the Dan Le Batard show, claimed that he “could have” made a trade to secure quarterback Peyton Manning in the NFL draft while serving as the head coach of the Dolphins back in 1998.
“It would have taken my entire draft board, but I could have made a trade to move up to get Peyton Manning. In truth, I talked to Peyton and Archie about it this weekend,” said Johnson.
“That’s all the details I can give you. I probably gave you too much already.”
Maybe there’s fine print here that Johnson didn’t include. Maybe Manning would have had to fall to No. 2 overall and saw the Colts draft the “other” quarterback from that year’s class first, Ryan Leaf. But if, in reality, Miami did not end up acquiring Manning in 1998 when Johnson and the team had the opportunity to do so, it isn’t someone Johnson should be so ready to admit. It certainly wouldn’t fit into the “highlights” chapter of his Hall of Fame resume to have passed on making the deal.
What the Dolphins ended up doing with those assets only amplifies the egregiousness of Johnson not making the trade if he really could have: the team nailed Patrick Surtain in the 2nd-round but used their top pick at No. 29 overall to secure running back John Avery.
So for Johnson’s sake, we certainly hope there was a stipulation required to make the trade that didn’t materialize for Miami and prevented a deal. Because otherwise Johnson just revealed he and the Dolphins tore out some chapters from his Hall of Fame career; ones that might have been his most impressive of all had the early 2000s Dolphins had Manning in the fold.