Dolphins cut down on rookie hazing

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
After the bullying scandal last year, the Miami Dolphins are doing everything they can to make sure they have a professional locker room culture without crossing the line. This includes over the top hazing of the rookies – including inappropriate haircuts, making rookies pay for lavish meals and so forth.

This year, it has stopped. When players reported in the offseason and again in training camp, they were told that hazing has to be severely curbed if not cut out altogether.

 “There’s nothing you can do about it,” veteran Randy Starks said with a shrug. “We don’t want to put any wrong ideas out there. We’re just concentrating on football.”

“They’ve been very welcoming,” first-round draft pick Ja’Wuan James said of the team’s veterans. “When I got here, everybody was kind of like, ‘Oh rookies, they’re going to get messed with, blah, blah, blah.’ But they just want to win. Everyone here wants to win so they just want us to be the best we can be. So they’re just trying to teach us, push us. That’s what they keep saying: ‘We’re only going to be as good as you’re going to be.’ They need us to be good, and we need each other.”

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