Report: Bob Griese Pleaded With Dolphins to Draft Russell Wilson in 2012
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As Russell Wilson prepares for a rare chance at helping the Seahawks become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since the Patriots, ironically enough, accomplished the feat in 2005, many Dolphins fans might be wondering about what the team could've been had their team been the one to pull the trigger on Wilson in the 2012 NFL Draft.
According to a report by the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero, Dolphins radio broadcaster and hall-of-fame quarterback Bob Griese "told everyone within the organization that would listen that Wilson needed to be picked by Miami."
Griese told the Dolphins Wilson was, as one source put it, "far and away the second best quarterback prospect in the draft behind Andrew Luck."
Obviously, no one listened.
I will say then-general manager Jeff Ireland told me in a 2013 conversation that he "liked" Wilson. But he had decided Tannehill would be his guy and he wasn't about to double down at quarterback by picking Wilson as well.
The same report also mentioned how owner Stephen Ross was high on Bret Bielema, Wilson's coach at Wisconsin, in 2012 when the Dolphins were searching for a head coach but that the two sides differed greatly on "personnel issues," most notably Bielema's belief that drafting Wilson would help the Dolphins win a Super Bowl.
The Dolphins ended up taking Ryan Tannehill eighth overall while Wilson slid into Seattle's hands in the third round at 75th. Miami also selected offensive tackle Jonathan Martin (42nd) and defensive end Olivier Vernon (72nd) before Wilson came off the board.
While fans who prefer Wilson over Tannehill might be irked at this discovery it's important to remember 31 other NFL teams, including the Seahawks, passed on Wilson multiple times. With the randomness of the NFL Draft, it's impossible to say luck doesn't play a major role.
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