For professional athletes — especially those who use their arms for a living — throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game becomes a no-win proposition. Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis became the latest to learn that undeniable lesson last night before the Phillies-Marlins game in Miami.
If he had climbed the mound (which changes everything about the process) and grooved an effortless George W. Bush post-9/11 semi-fastball down the middle of the plate, no one would have known. For NFL quarterbacks, the effort only becomes newsy if it goes awry.
For Willis, it did.
He exuded plenty of confidence. Windup. Leg kick. It looked great. Until the ball soared very high, and very outside.
This wasn’t 50 Cent. It was a $50 million (over two years) starting NFL quarterback. A man who throws balls for a living, presumably with some degree of accuracy.
It ultimately means nothing, other than to create a small stir on a slow Saturday. Willis has shown that he can play. The Dolphins’ decisive pursuit of the man who is well known by new G.M. Jon-Eric Sullivan and new coach Jeff Hafley shows that they know he’ll perform at a high level.
Still, the experience proves yet again that there’s very little to gain when a professional athlete in a different sport (especially a quarterback) accepts an invitation to throw a first pitch.
Miami has hosted 11 Super Bowls. It will be a while until South Florida makes it to a dozen.
Owner Stephen Ross said this week that Hard Rock Stadium no longer meets the NFL’s requirements for hosting a Super Bowl.
It’s not about the stadium itself, but the area around it, which has changed to accommodate the annual Miami Open and F1 events.
“The one thing that suffered is Miami hasn’t gotten a Super Bowl here, and we normally have one every five years,” Ross said, in comments initially reported by Brian Brandell of South Florida Business Journal (via Mike Oliva of DolphinsTalk.com). “Miami is not really in line for one. It’s always exciting to have the Super Bowl but that was before we had all the other events. Miami has by far the best weather. It’s in their best interest to have one here but at this point they don’t believe we meet all the requirements and the demands.”
Ross hasn’t completely given up on the possibility of bringing the Super Bowl back to Miami for the first time since 2020.
“We are looking at how to make improvements,” Ross said. “I want to make the stadium always feel like a new stadium, we are looking at what the next phase will be and making the fan experience that much better.”
The most recent title game in South Florida — Super Bowl LIV between the Chiefs and 49ers — came after a 10-year break resulting from the need to make significant upgrades to the building itself, including a giant roof to protect fans from the rain that persisted throughout Super Bowl XLI, between the Colts and Bears. Ross tried to finagle public financing for the upgrades before realizing that wouldn’t be happening and paying for them himself.
Ross’s son-in-law, Daniel Sillman, has become more and more involved in running the team as the eventual successor to Ross. Sillman told Brandell that the team believes there’s a solution to satisfying the league’s expectations.
Regardless, Miami won’t be getting a Super Bowl in the foreseeable future. The next three have been awarded to Los Angeles (2027), Atlanta (2028), and Las Vegas (2029). Nashville will open a new stadium, and it will get one as part of the taxpayer money quid pro quo that applies to most new venues. And the league will keep going back to L.A. and Las Vegas on a regular basis.
The deeper message is that, as more and more newer and better stadiums are built in cities suited to host the game, the more pressure will be applied to all cities to fork over the funding needed to ensure that the best facilities will get the biggest game.
Hopefully that will happen in Miami. It should host the game every five years. For now, the record gap of 10 years is destined to be broken, with no end to it currently in sight.
The Dolphins have parted ways with senior personnel executive Champ Kelly, Jonathan Jones of CBS reports.
Kelly served as the interim G.M. last season after the Dolphins fired Chris Grier on Oct. 31. The Dolphins hired Jon-Eric Sullivan as their new General Manager early in the offseason.
Kelly, 46, has spent 19 seasons in the NFL.
He began his career with the Broncos in 2007 as a regional college scout. He worked his way up to assistant director of pro personnel in 2011 before leaving for the Bears in 2015 as the director of pro scouting.
The Raiders hired Kelly as their assistant General Manager in 2022, and he served as their interim G.M. in 2023 after firing Dave Ziegler. Las Vegas fired Kelly on Feb. 17, 2025.
It appears the Dolphins already have a hire in place to replace Kelly.
Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports the Dolphins are hiring Jaguars senior personnel executive Josh Scobey.
Scobey, 46, was director of college scouting for the Cardinals before the Jaguars hired him in 2024.
The Dolphins took Kadyn Proctor with the 12th overall pick in the draft last week and General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan shared the team’s plan for his rookie season on Wednesday.
Proctor played left tackle at Alabama, but there was talk before the draft that he could wind up at guard and that’s where he’s set to start his NFL career. Sullivan said on The Joe Rose Show that the rookie will “do a little bit of both” in order to prepare, but that the plan is for him to be at left guard when he first lines up with the team.
“Kadyn Proctor was our guy all along,” Sullivan said. “We felt like he was a rare, unique talent. A man that size with the athletic ability that he has and then the versatility that he brought. We were very much in alignment with in the building. That was my guy, if he was there I was going to take him.”
Jonah Savaiinaea will move to right guard with Patrick Paul and Austin Jackson set to play the tackle positions in Miami as things stand right now.
Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell is working his way back from a torn ACL in his left knee. He might have gone higher if not for that.
Still, the Dolphins drafted him in the third round, making him the 94th overall selection.
Bell injured his knee in the Cardinals’ 38-6 loss to SMU on Nov. 22, and Dr. Dan Cooper, the Cowboys’ team physician, performed the surgery in Dallas soon after.
A report this week indicated Bell is ahead of schedule in his rehab.
Bell had 72 receptions for 917 yards and six touchdowns in the 11 games he played last season.
The Dolphins have retooled their wide receivers room, moving on from Tyreek Hill and trading Jaylen Waddle this offseason. They drafted Texas Tech wide receiver with the 75th overall pick.
