Dolphins President Talks Throwbacks, Super Bowl, DCC
The Miami Dolphins held their biggest fundraising event of the year Saturday with the 14th annual Dolphins Challenge Cancer at Hard Rock Stadium.
Original estimates had this as the biggest DCC (it previously was known as the Dolphins Cancer Challenge) yet, which had team president/CEO/vice chairman Tom Garfinkel happy and proud after he completed his 39-mile bike ride.
Garfinkel met with Dolphins beat writers and touched on a variety of topics, including the famous throwback debate, the next Super Bowl for Hard Rock Stadium, hosting the World Cup and, of course, the DCC.
Here were the highlights:
THROWBACKS NOT BECOMING PERMANENT
This actually has become a big thing among a group of Dolphins fans who want the team to adopt their 1970s-eras uniforms as the permanent look for the team.
Two weeks after Dan Marino said on Super Bowl Radio Row that owner Stephen Ross isn't looking to make the change, I asked Garfinkel about the idea of making the throwbacks permanent.
This was his answer: "Yeah, we're very happy ... I love the throwbacks. I love when we wear them. I love celebrating our history. And I think they're very appropriate for celebrating our history. And it keeps them special that we wear them a couple times a year."
THE NEXT SUPER BOWL IN MIAMI
South Florida has played host to the Super Bowl a total of 11 times but is not among the sites that have been announced for future games, though that's something that could change sooner rather than later.
"We're talking the NFL about that," Garfinkel said. "And we expect at some point, you know, we'll be able to announce another one hopefully."
The next three Super Bowls are scheduled for New Orleans (Superdome); Santa Clara, Calif. (Levi's Stadium); and Inglewood, Calif. (SoFi Stadium).
South Florida last had the Super Bowl following the 2019 season after a 10-year absence. The first 10 South Florida Super Bowls were SB II (1967 season), SB III (1968), SB V (1970), SB X (1975), SB XIII (1978), SB XXIX (1994), SB XXXIII (1998), SB XLI (2006) and XLIV (2009).
THE DCC SUCCESS
The Dolphins Cancer Challenge more than a decade after former Dolphins player and longtime radio voice Jim Mandich was diagnosed with cancer and has grown through the years.
Garfinkel understandably is proud of that accomplishment.
"It's really special," he said. "This event existed when I got here and all I've tried to do is just rally everybody to grow it further. And every year we grow it and it's very meaningful. I mean, we're going to do over 7,000 participants. I think we should be over $12 million this year, which is incredible, 460-plus cancer survivors are here. I have people come up to me and hug me and thank me. What this does is provide money for research for clinical trials that save ... I have people literally hug me and say this saved my life. So that's incredible.
"And Sylvester is an NCI-designated cancer center now. And Dr. (Stephen) Nimer has told me that it's because of what we've done here and the now more than $75 million we've raised. So it's just very rewarding. Cancer is something that affects everybody, myself, probably everybody, a family member, friend. And it's amazing. It's amazing to see a community come together like this."
HIGH HOPES FOR THE TEAM
While the Dolphins have yet to accomplish the ultimate goal on the field, the team has produced four consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back playoff appearances.
And Garfinkel is very optimistic about the outlook moving forward.
"Very good," he said. "I have a tremendous confidence. Steve (Ross) and I have tremendous confidence all the football leadership, and Mike (McDaniel) and Chris (Grier) and the decisions that they make. Everybody is working together really well, which is important and just very excited about the future."
