Barring you have flowing dark dreads and go by the name Channing Crowder, it's easy to have pity for Jeff Ireland.
The Miami Dolphins general manager is entangled in a nasty narrative from which he may never escape.
He makes bad decisions.
Nobody wants to play for him.
He's persona non grata at any Dez Bryant family function.
As such, every interview Ireland seems to give these days includes a section devoted purely to self-defense. This was the case again on Thursday during a spot with WAXY-AM in Miami.
"We don't really spend a whole lot of time worrying about criticism, to be honest with you," Ireland said (via SportsRadioInterviews.com). "I'm certainly a critic of my own work. I guess you could criticize some draft picks in the past, but you're not gonna hit on 100 percent of those guys, so sometimes you take a flyer on some guys, you learn a lesson from that and then you move on. But I'm not one to sit and swell up on what people say about me, that's for sure."
Once we got through Ireland's twisted version of pleasantries, the GM was asked how the Dolphins planned to replace Brandon Marshall, the Pro Bowl wide receiver traded to the Chicago Bears last month.
"Well, we didn't lose Brandon Marshall. We decided to trade Brandon Marshall," he said. "So, that was a plan that was in place. So, that was on purpose. So, we have certainly a plan to rectify that. Obviously we got one more piece of the pie to go, in terms of player acquisition."
Many of our draft experts believe the Dolphins will select quarterback Ryan Tannehill with their first pick (eighth overall), but could Ireland's comments serve as a hint that Justin Blackmon or Michael Floyd could also be in play? Whatever the case, this draft could be Ireland's last chance to rectify a tarred-and-feathered reputation.
