Standing inside the same auditorium where his former coaches delivered passionate pregame speeches and reviewed game film with the team – Joe Philbin’s mantras and principles, as well as framed photos of the organization’s two Super Bowl-winning squads gracing the walls around him – former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers addressed dozens of fan-site moderators gathered for Web Weekend XI.

Joined by fellow team icon A.J. Duhe and Finsiders host Greg Likens, Chambers – decked in a black windbreaker jacket and matching thick-rimmed glasses – was candid and reflective, touching on everything from being caught off-guard when he was traded to San Diego midway through the 2007 season to earning a Pro Bowl selection during Nick Saban’s lone tumultuous year in South Florida.

After presenting DolfansNYC with two of our extremely humbling three Webby Awards and obliging every photo- and autograph-seeker following the ceremony, No. 84 graciously took time out to look back on his career highlights, express his appreciation for Dolphins fans on the road and much more in a one-on-one interview.

Looking back on your six-and-a-half-year Dolphins tenure, what were some of your favorite memories?

“There are so many moments. The Dallas Cowboys game (on Nov. 27, 2003), being able to score three touchdowns. Jay Fiedler and I both got the Turkey Award there, (but) I gave it to him though because he was the older guy. Now, I (tell him), ‘I want my award back!’ It was cool at the time.

“My first touchdown against Indianapolis (on Nov. 11, 2001), Jay threw a beautiful ball to me, and I caught it, 60 yards (downfield). I ended up getting my second touchdown in the same game.

“And then the Buffalo Bills game (on Dec. 4, 2005), where I set the Dolphins record for receiving yards and catches. That was a game that was very bleak at halftime, and then enter Sage Rosenfels, and it was bombs away!

“Those games have been outstanding, and I can’t wait to continue to look back and watch some of those games, and show my son and some of his peers what his dad did when he was on the field.”

That was an incredible Dolphins comeback against Buffalo. Do your franchise records still stand?

“Brian Hartline broke (the receiving yards record), actually (on Oct. 30, 2012), and I was kind of crying a little bit. [Laughs] But he’s a good receiver, and I don’t see anyone touching that for quite some time. We’ll see how (long the record stands).”

You caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks in Miami. What kind of impact did the ‘quarterback carousel,’ as you’ve called it, have on your game?

“You know, you kind of got used to it after a while. We never had that one guy who was the quarterback here – (whom) you started with here, continued to play with and grew with. That’s what made it difficult, when you’d have to have a different guy (frequently). I remember us having a left-handed guy, then we had another righty, and then a guy who was a little more mobile.

“I called it a lot of guys on (ends) of their careers, like Daunte Culpepper, who wasn’t healthy. Gus Frerotte – he had gray hairs, for God’s sake! Guys like that, they went out there and did what they did, and I had some good seasons, but once I got with a more stable quarterback (with the Chargers), that’s when I was able to take off a little bit.”

Who were some players you admired growing up and modeled your own game after?

“Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I was a huge Ohio State fan, so, Terry Glenn and Joey Galloway (were my role models). If you see a lot of my plays, you see me diving and stuff, I got that from Terry Glenn.

“I was a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan, with Webster Slaughter, Eric Metcalf and those guys. They were really good – they had Bernie Kosar and The Dawg Pound – and that’s what really ignited me as a youngster to play football. To be able to have that (experience) and know that today, kids really look up to us, it really is something special.”

When you first entered the NFL, were there any veterans who took you in and served as role models?

“Absolutely – Sam Madison, Terrell Buckley, James McKnight, who was already a receiver here. He was one guy I really looked up to (because) he was a really good route runner, a very positive guy, a very clean guy.

“I just kind of jumped in, and once the guys saw my athletic ability on the first day of camp, guys received me even though I was kind of there to, at some point, take their jobs. They did an excellent job of supporting me and showing me the ropes.”

You recently had a chance to serve on the Dolphins coaching staff during training camp and help some of the younger players. How much did you enjoy that experience?

“I was an intern, so I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know if I was going to be stapling papers or whatever, but when I went in there, I knew a lot about this offense already, because a lot of plays that Norv (Turner) ran were similar to Bill Lazor’s. We were all on board and they really respected my knowledge. Every time I spoke in the receiving room, the guys paid attention to me.”

Do you plan to pursue a full-time coaching gig in the future?

“It’s just something that I wanted to do. I don’t know if I’m ever going to become a full-time coach, but I love the flexibility to come out here and help the guys, and see the guys go on their way. It really brought me closer to this organization again, because I didn’t know anybody but the snapper, (John Denney). He was the only guy who was here when I was here. Now that I know some of the players’ faces, had some conversations with them, it meant the world to me, and I think the Dolphins should continue to do that with some of their former players.”

Finally, DolfansNYC will have as many as 1,000 fans cheering on the team when the Dolphins visit the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 1. As a player, how did it feel when you’d walk into opposing stadiums and see aqua and orange in the stands?

“It felt so good! I think we have some of the best fans in the NFL – we always have. To come to New York – when you have your Fire Marshall on one side and have (Dolphins fans) rooting – it was just an outstanding feeling. Knowing you can come into a stadium and you see Dolphins tents and you see Dolphins tailgates, for the home team, it’s kind of intimidating, and it lets you know that the support is huge.

“I just want the Dolphins fans to continue to support us. I think we’ll have a very good team this year and (fans) will be able to get behind us.”

For more Chris Chambers check out his non-profit foundation Catch 84 and his South Florida training facility The Chamber.

This past weekend was amazing. Not only did we help organize a group trip for fan clubs around the country but it was also the Dolphins annual Web Weekend a conference of Miami Dolphins web masters that I have attended 11 years in a row.  Also the Dolphins played one of their most dominant games in the history of the franchise so that was nice too.

Dolfans NYC was founded because of Web Weekend. Michelle and I both ran Dolphins fan sites and realized we both lived in NYC and started watching games together. A few years later we abandoned our former sites and started Dolfans NYC. This is the 6th time we have attended as Dolfans NYC and the weekends keep getting better.

This year we donated $5000 to the Miami Dolphins Foundation beating our $3000 donation last year after giving $1000 in both 2011 and 2012. That’s $10,000 to the Foundation thanks to you guys. To celebrate we are holding a FREE raffle this week at Slattery’s Midtown Pub for the Lions game. All you have to do is show up and you get a ticket! We should have some cool prizes including a Dolfans NYC shirt signed by AJ Duhe.

Speaking of AJ Duhe, he and Chris Chambers came and spoke to us during Web Weekend. We also had GM Dennis Hickey and CEO Tom Garfinkel in attendance as well. It was pretty great. Plus Jordan Tripp, Michael Thomas and the Finsiders joined us at a party on Friday. Coach Philbin was supposed to speak with us but unfortunately he was out of town because of the death of his father. As always Michelle stepped up and bought a condolence card that we all signed.

The last event of the weekend (aside from the game!) was the Dolphins Webby Awards which are given out to Dolphins Websites. It means a huge amount to me that we have now won the Eddie Jones Community award all three years of its existence. This club has become as much about giving back as it is about football and so that award means a ton to me. We also won the social networking award which I take a bit of pride in considering I do 90% of the social networking for Dolfans NYC. Our third award was the “Most Informative Site” award which is kinda silly considering I haven’t updated this site in a month. That being said our Twitter account and Facebook page serve as great newswires and it still means a great deal because the awards are voted on by our fellow web masters.

Anyway, check out the pictures in this Flickr gallery below. I took all the pictures with our logo watermarked on the images. The other shots are courtesy of the Miami Dolphins. See you guys Sunday!

[tylr-slidr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolfansnyc/sets/72157648718752277/[/tylr-slidr]

It’s victory Monday and we can breath a little for the next two weeks. No better way to go into a bye week than with a commanding victory and coincidentally it’s a great time to sell you guys stuff too! So I just wanted to remind everyone about our big Jets week takeover on Monday Night Football on December 1st! We have nearly 1300 people signed up but only about 600 people have paid. We want to beat our MetLife Stadium group sales record of 761 so if you have signed up get your money in ASAP!

If you haven’t signed up do it now! After signing up you will get an email (be patient sometimes it takes a week or more for us to get back to you) with info on how to pay for the tickets. If you have already signed up all the emails should be sent out by the end of today. If you haven’t received an email from us check your spam folder or email dolfansnyc@gmail.com for more info. But don’t bug Michelle she has a full time job and a baby so sometimes it takes a few days to get back to people.

You can read this FAQ to answer more questions about the #MetLifeTakeover but here’s some quick info. The tickets are $60 which is lower than face value. We get them for slightly less than that and use the money left over to help fund events and to give to charity. We don’t profit at all off any of this. It’s a labour of love.  We don’t like give out what section the tickets are in because we don’t want Jets fans to buy seats around us but they are up top. I know a lot of people don’t love to sit in the upper decks but I assure you sitting with close to 1,000 Dolphins fans is a much more fun experience than sitting front row at the 50 yard line. We also have a bus ticket package where we provide transportation from our bar Slattery’s Midtown Pub but keep in mind that it’s very difficult to park in the city on a Monday night.

Also, I wanted to announce that we are going to throw a party the day before the game at Slattery’s. No details yet but it will probably take place around the 4pm games and will be very worth attending. Since we aren’t doing an official tailgate this year, Sunday will be a great opportunity to meet fellow Phins fans from NYC and beyond, buy Dolfans NYC gear and check out some of the serious surprises we have in store. So if you are coming from out of town make sure you plan to be in the city on Sunday!

Lastly I wanted to thank everyone who came out to the bar on Sunday. We raised over $400 for Hank the bulldog’s medical bills and another $100 for the no kill animal shelter BARC. Really means a lot that we are able to do that for members of our community.

Now enjoy the next two weeks and get ready for a serious test against Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers. Phins up!

SIGN UP FOR THE #METLIFETAKEOVER HERE!

I don’t need to start with the game last week or the way the Dolphins have been playing. Obviously it’s not making any Dolphins fan happy, but Dolfans NYC was founded with the goal of enjoying our Sunday’s and doing something positive at the same time. Win or lose we have more fun every week being with our Dolfan brothers and sisters at Slattery’s and this week we are doing something to help one of them out.

When I first moved to NYC almost exactly 8 years ago I googled “Dolphins Bars NYC” and a bar called Proof came up. When I got there there was only one other Dolphins fan. His name was John and we watched games together every week. At some point my Dolfans NYC partner Michelle came into the bar and we had our first chance meeting which led several years later to the founding of Dolfans NYC. When word go out about our club John heard about it and I saw him again for the first time in a couple years and he instantly became one of the most essential members of Dolfans NYC. He is there every week and has done a lot of great stuff for us and now he needs some help.

John’s dog Hank has been really sick and has been in and out of the vet. John approached us about raffling some of his memorabilia off to help pay for some of his dogs treatments and we of course agreed. So on Sunday John is going to be bringing in some of his memorabilia and we are going to be upping the game with some of our own stuff including an autographed game used Brian Hartline glove.

75% of all the money we raise via raffle will go to Johns dog and the other 25% will go to the no kill animal shelter BARC in Brooklyn where Michelle volunteers.

If you can’t make it to Slattery’s on Sunday and still want to help out , please contact us and we can put you directly in touch with John.

Check out Hank below and check out our Instagram now until Sunday for daily updates featuring Dolfan animals!