Mike Pouncey set to be a leader in the Dolphins locker room
The Miami Dolphins are looking to move on from the PR disaster that was the Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito fiasco during the 2013 season. Last year, during the crucial push to the playoffs, the Dolphins season came to a crashing halt in part due to the media pressure and coverage surrounding the incident.
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Now that Incognito and Martin are both gone, the Dolphins are ready to move on to the 2014 season with the hope of making the playoffs. To avoid a similar situation as last year, the Dolphins need a leader on and off the field, and the organization believes they found him in center Mike Pouncey.
“I’ve always in my mind been a leader,” Pouncey discusses his role with the Sun-Sentinel. “I’ve never doubted that. I would hope that anybody else wouldn’t doubt that.
“The work ethic I put in, the way these guys on this football team look at me, they all know I’m the leader they want me to be. So that’s all my main focus is, is to be the best that I can be.”
Although Pouncey is undoubtedly one of the best centers in the NFL, red flags must be raised when he is being considered the team leader. Last year, Martin named Pouncey as one of the players who was a part of the hazing and bullying he endured. Even more shockingly, Pouncey sent out a tweet that referred to rookie hazing as well during the NFL draft earlier this month when the Dolphins selected an offensive lineman.
Pouncey, a former teammate and friend of Aaron Hernandez at the University of Florida, was also given a subpoena to testify in front of a grand jury in relation to the Aaron Hernandez murder case.
Although the red flags are seemingly staring at the Dolphins in the face, the team is cautiously optimistic that Pouncey can be the leader they need for up and coming players as well as the grizzled veterans.