Dolphins legends dine together with Ryan Tannehill and Joe Philbin

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twiitter: @PhinManiacs
Imagine being the server and chef who are taking care of Don Shula, Bob Griese, Dan Marino, Ryan Tannehill, Joe Philbin and Tom Garfinkle at a restaurant. Well, that happened back a few months ago at Shula's Steak House in Miami Lakes.

The informal dinner, which was organized by Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkle, was meant as a way to bridge the generation gaps throughout team history. It was also, in an indirect way, a time for the Dolphins legends to give advice to Tannehill and Philbin. 

Griese joked and told Tannehill that he thanks him for getting sacked 58 times last season as it got him out of the record books. Griese was sacked 54 times back in 1968. However, the joke had a a deeper meaning. 

"Once you make the Hall of Fame, they don't talk about your failures anymore," Griese said. "But we all had failures. I sure did. One of them was those sacks. One was our losing record my first three years in the league. I had plenty of failures. Anyone who accomplished anything failed at some point in getting there."

Griese also had advice about reading coverages and how much you're able to translate onto the field in your third year.

"Ryan is going into his third year, and I said, 'It took me a couple of years to learn how to go through progressions of a pass play,' " Griese said. "When you have four or five guys downfield, you read deep to short on most plays. If the coverage allows, you want the deep receiver running, say, a post. But if a defender is there in the middle of the field, you come back and look at the square-in under the post. If linebackers are dropping there, you come back to the short, outlet pass. And one of the things I learned early on, I said, was when you're at the line of scrimmage, remind yourself who your outlet is. If the play goes to hell in a handbasket quickly, you can throw to him."

Marino talked about putting in extra work with his receivers after practice and may have even take a slight jab at receiver Mike Wallace, who is notoriously known for not always wanting to work on his deep ball with Tannehill after practice.

"Duper would say I could never out-throw him because he was so fast, so I'd go out there and try to out-throw him," Marino said.

It seemed like a great night and one that was extremely helpful in not only building the bond between generations, but also as a way for the current leadership to get some much needed advice. 

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