Last season, Vontae Davis claimed that he was one-half of the NFL’s best cornerback tandem. Today, the Dolphins traded the 24-year-old to the Indianapolis Colts for a second and a conditional sixth round draft pick, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.

“We appreciate all the contributions Vontae has made to the Dolphins since we drafted him in 2009 and we want to wish him the best of success in Indianapolis,” said GM Jeff Ireland in a press release.

Davis, drafted 25th overall in 2009, had started 36 games of 44 games for Miami over three seasons, racking up 143 tackles, nine interceptions — including a team-high four in 2011 — and one sack, but never seemed to get on the right track with the new coaching staff, who questioned his maturity and conditioning. Davis had already lost his starting job to free agent pickup Richard Marshall, and the Hard Knocks cameras showed Coach Joe Philbin pulling No. 21 aside for his unprofessional behavior during training camp.

Having already dealt Brandon Marshall for a pair of third-round picks and released Chad Johnson during the offseason, the front office and coaching staff have shown a commitment to high character, but have also done little to replace three of their most skilled players on the field in the short-term (Terrell Owens, anyone?) while starting a rookie quarterback who has been up-and-down in the preseason.

While picking up future assets is essential for a rebuilding team, in Davis, the Dolphins are giving up on another young player with Pro Bowl-caliber talent, while also losing significant depth at cornerback, where Marshall, Sean Smith and Nolan Carroll are the only players with veteran experience.

After losing their first seven games to begin last season, there might be a sense of déjà vu in South Florida in 2012.

Best of luck to Davis, who will get a chance to face his former team in Week 9 at Indianapolis.

Short Michelle and I founded Dolfans NYC a couple years after becoming friends at a thing called Web Weekend. Web Weekend is an event the Miami Dolphins host every year bringing together people who run Dolphins fan blogs. I used to run a site called Bored With Losing and Michelle and her friend Tall Michelle ran a site called 2 Michelles. After Tall moved away from NYC we started doing Dolfans NYC as our full time Dolphins project. During the Web Weekend we also met a great guy named Tom Eddie. Sadly Tom passed away from Cancer and we come together every year and remember him. The best Dolphins website of the year is now called the Tom Eddie award.

For the second year in a row we are raising money for cancer research in Tom’s name. The Dolphins do a Cycling Challenge ever year and last year Dolfans NYC donated 200 dollars. I would like to beat that this year. To help get the ball rolling I found a sponsor that in exchange for mentioning them on the site will be donating $100 to the cause. So check out NFL betting on Top Bet and thank them for helping the cause.

Now I know times are tough but donating would not only be a good thing to do but it would help Dolfans NYC’s relationship with the Dolphins. When we donated $1000 to the Miami Dolphins Foundation a couple years ago the Dolphins organization really took notice of our little club. Since then they have done a lot to help us and hooked us up with things like autographed memorabilia for our game day raffles.

When Michelle and I started this club we knew there were opportunities to make money with the club but we also knew we didn’t want to turn this into a money making venture. We do this for the love of football and we decided to put any money we made back into the club and then to donate the rest to charity. So this club from the beginning has been about helping others and I hope you guys can donate a little bit to the Dolphins Cycling Challenge.

So DONATE NOW and make sure when you mention Dolfans NYC in the comment section so the Dolphins organization knows it came from us. Thanks and Go Dolphins!

On Wednesday, the Miami Dolphins hosted a live chat with linebacker Gary Guyton, the third call set up exclusively for the fan websites invited by the team to attend the annual Web Weekend.

Guyton — who went undrafted in 2008 despite having the fastest 40-yard time at his position at the NFL Combine (4.47) — spent his first four seasons with the New England Patriots, starting 32 games, including all 16 contests in 2009 when he had 85 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Over the last two years, the 6-foot-3 LB recorded 110 total tackles, three sacks and three interceptions, including one pick-six. Following him on Twitter: @GaryGuyton59.

In addition to talking about his transition to a new coaching staff and defensive scheme, Guyton, as well as a member of the Dolphins Cycling Challenge staff, encouraged everyone to get involved in the third annual DCC, a two-day, 170-mile charity cycling event to benefit the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, on November 3 and 4. Both of Guyton’s parents are cancer survivors and he recently lost his grandmother to the disease, making the support the DCC gives to cancer research — $1.6 million raised over the last two years, with a goal of doubling that amount this season — a very important cause to him.

Please go to RideDCC.com to register as a rider, volunteer or a virtual rider; click here to help raise money in memory of our friend Tom Eddie.

On the football field, Guyton has been pleased with the continued growth and development of the Dolphins while putting in the long hours in preparation for the upcoming season. Coming over from New England, he talked to DolfansNYC* about the  difference in coaching styles between the two organizations.

“(They’re) great coaches – all of them on both sides of the ball are very knowledgeable in the game,” he said. “Getting in here, learning other things you may not have picked up from other coaches, it all helps you be a better player.

“I think right now, (Kevin) Coyle and (Joe) Philbin, we’re all here just working together. It’s a first step for us on defense, just to get in here and learn the defense. We’re all here to learn together and just (be) the best we can.”

No. 59 also told us that all of the Dolphins’ tight ends, led by the veteran Anthony Fasano, have been tough to cover.

“They all do certain things differently – all are good,” he said. “Any one of those guys can come in and do a good job for us to be a good role player.”
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Hey DolfansNYC!

We hope everyone is having a great summer! Hard to believe that football season is only 5 weeks away. Can’t wait for it all to start again and for everyone to get together at Third and Long!

We have GREAT news — as you know, every year we organize a large group of Phins fans to invade the Meadowlands to see Miami take on the Jets. And every year we do our very best to get everyone sitting together, at least in neighboring sections.

This year will be our best effort to date as we’ve been in touch with the Met Life Stadium Ticket Office and they have FOUR back-to-back rows (all seats in all 4 rows TOGETHER) available for us if we want them!! The game is at 1:00pm on Sunday, October 28th.

That’s a possible 111 Dolphins fans sitting ALL TOGETHER!

This is ONLY possible in one section of the stadium. All other group seats are more scattered, so we wouldn’t all be together.

The seats are in Section 323, Rows 16 – 19 (Click here for the stadium seating chart).

HERE’S THE DEAL AND WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU:

-The price of the tickets will be NO MORE THAN $75 per person. NO TAXES. NO FEES. $75. That’s it. (For the record, this is the LOWEST that DolfansNYC has ever paid for their group tix!)

-Please e-mail us ASAP at DolfansNYC@gmail.com and tell us if you are interested in attending the game as part of our group. I HAVE TO CONFIRM WITH THE TICKET OFFICE IMMEDIATELY SO THEY HOLD THE SEATS.

-Please ONLY respond if you are sure you can be there and if you are able to get the money to us within the next week.

-In order to reserve the seats we have to put down a deposit and I can’t put that all on my credit card. 🙂

In addition to attending the game, we are definitely looking into the cost of organizing a bus to take us to and from the stadium so we can travel together and tailgate. More details (times, costs, etc) on that to come later.

Right now we really just need to know who is in for this group of tix so we can reserve them before we lose them. Please e-mail us at DolfansNYC@gmail.com and let us know how many tix you want.

Thanks everyone!!!
-Michelle & Igor

On Friday, the Miami Dolphins hosted a live chat with cornerback Sean Smith — the second call of the offseason exclusively for the fan websites invited by the team to attend the annual Web Weekend.

Smith, the 61st overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, has started 40 of the 47 games games he’s played during his three seasons in Miami, coming up with three interceptions. Last season, No. 24 tied for second on the team with a career-high two picks and registered 51 tackles. Make sure to follow Smith on Twitter: @SeanSMITH24.

Over the course of the 10-minute call, the 6-foot-3 CB discussed the impact of new defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle on the secondary, his new role as a mentor and leader, and, like Richie Incognito last week, told DolfansNYC that he takes great pride in seeing fans clad in aqua-and-orange in New York New Jersey and other opposing stadiums.

“It means a lot, because we definitely appreciate the fan support,” said Smith. “Whenever you’re on the road, you’re always the villain — you’re getting booed no matter what you do — so it’s always good to have that one section you can look up to (where) you get the fans screaming in aqua-and-orange.

“When you can only hear your crowd at their place, you know you’re doing something right.”

With long-time veteran Yeremiah Bell no longer on the team, Smith told us he has taken on the role of mentor to not only the younger players, but some of his more-established teammates.

“I’m always trying to pull guys to the side, whether it (is) the young guys, or the older guys like Vontae (Davis) and Richard Marshall,” he said. “We’re always out there trying to help each other get better.”

Smith explained that he doesn’t just want to give himself the title of being the leader of the secondary, but rather earn it on the field.

“I just go out there and do my job the best way I can and try to show the guys the right way to do things,” he said.

Smith also touched on numerous key topics, including his offseason routine, his expectations for the up-and-coming Phins wide receivers, and adjustments to the new defensive scheme.
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