The #MetLifeTakeover was such an amazing success this year. From our pre-party to our tailgate to our fundraising efforts to our impact from the stands to the score of the game everything was pretty much perfect. I didn’t take a ton of photos because I was too busy running around the whole time but I wanted to give you a quick rundown of the weekend and share some of my photos, but the real fun is going to be when you see the video we filmed at the game. It should be pretty incredible.

The first group of photos are from our party on Saturday night at Slattery’s Midtown Pub. We had a great turnout and ended up raising about $1000 for the Miami Dolphins Foundation through our raffles and auctions. We had DJ Tropic spin and Solo D performed, or at least he tried to. The speakers at Slattery’s aren’t exactly ideal for a live performance, but it was still a lot of fun. I love this party we do every year. It gives everyone in from out of town a chance to meet up and check out our bar and our little Dolfans NYC museum we have in the back.

The rest of the photos are from our tailgate which has to have been the best one yet. Last year we ended up partnering with Urban Tailgate at the last minute and things went great but we had some minor issues that all seemed to have worked out this year. It was also the second year in a row that Joe Rose filmed his show “Cup of Joe” live from our tailgate and this year his guests included the legendary Marks Brothers, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton. He also had Kim Bokamper as a guest who has always been super supportive of our group. Nat Moore also came to the tailgate for the 7th or 8th time which is pretty amazing. He was the first person from the Dolphins who ever checked out the club way back when it was at Third and Long and there were only a few dozen of us. Michelle and I also went on the show and donated a $2000 check to the Miami Dolphins Foundation to Jason Jenkins from the Dolphins, another one of our early supporters at the team.

Once again DJ Tropic DJ’d at the tailgate and this time Solo D got some redemption from the bad sound the night before at Slattery’s. He played to a completely pumped group of people at the tailgate and the soundsystem was great. I took photos of his first song and then got myself up on Urban Tailgate’s UHaul so I could get a good group photo and I got to see the end of his set from a above and the crowd was rocking. It was so much fun to watch people just getting crazy hours before kickoff. That energy really carried over because despite the heat our section was loud and going nuts all game long.

Obviously the game was amazing and our crew could easily be heard on TV during the game and our camera guy got his camera into the stands so we should have some really amazing crowd footage for the first time ever. So huge shout out to Curtis and his crew from RizeOptix and our buddy Oscar who hosted the video for us. I can’t wait to see the finished thing and I can’t wait for you to see it, but in the meantime check out this trailer Curtis put together!

Lastly, we did a raffle for the Jason Taylor Foundation and they sent us a signed TJ jersey and we sold raffle tickets for it online, at the party at Slattery’s and all day long at the game, and we raised $1000 for the Foundation and then we as a club matched it. So that’s $2000 for the JT Foundation to go with the $2000 we donated to the Miami Dolphins Foundation. And that doesn’t even include the money we raised from merch and ticket sales. We are gonna be able to do a lot of good with the money we raised.

Now it’s time to check out my photos from both days of the #MetLifeTakeover and we will be back soon with our epic #MetLifeTakeover video!

It took me 26 years to earn my first press credential. It took my son less than five.

Charlie – a laminated media pass dangling from a lanyard around his neck down to his knees – joined a group of Dolphins fan website moderators for a team-organized Web Weekend Training Camp event last Sunday.

At the conclusion of a closed practice, each attendee was granted field access to interview a select group of players, wandering down a short flight of stairs from our covered riser to a walkway through the bleachers seats to a designated area behind the left goal post.

While I’d normally join the scrum during media availability sessions to ask right tackle Ja’Wuan James and center Daniel Kilgore about preseason takeaways and the offense’s progression, I took in the moment from the back of the assembled group. Standing under the Florida summer sun and scant, grey-white cloud bubbles hovering above Nova Southeastern University, I soaked in a rare opportunity to cover a sporting event with my son.

Besides, when I tried to explain the significance of the special occasion to Charlie, he asked if we’d be talking to “the dolphins that swim in the water.”

But what he lacked in football experience and knowhow, he made up for in enthusiasm and encouragement. He giddily high-fived James and Kilgore, who bent down to their knees to greet the youngest media member in attendance. As the players walked off the field, he raised his arms in the air and chanted, “Go, Dolphins!” and innocently broke a media rule by snagging autographs for his personal collection.

Before departing, we stopped to greet Kenny Stills, who’s renowned for staying long after every practice to sign and take pictures with fans, just as he did for us last season. True to form, the Dolphins wide receiver smiled and chatted with an animated Charlie, who collected his second lifetime autograph from No. 10 – except this time, on a miniature toy ukulele that rarely leaves his side.

Just then, we recognized another Dolphins player who exited the locker room – the star quarterback whose left knee brace fascinated Charlie throughout practice (“How did he get that boo-boo?” he’d asked me repeatedly).

Although Charlie doesn’t know it, he’d stockpiled his first Ryan Tannehill autograph before he was even born. Back in October 2013, during Web Weekend X, each invitee was handed a single raffle ticket, and Michelle – then five months pregnant – received a second one for the baby. The last drawing of the evening was for a mini-Fathead set signed by the Dolphins quarterback, and of course, Charlie’s number proved to be the winner.

Charlie’s first jersey was, naturally, an aqua No. 17, and we took a photo of him as a baby in his Miami gear next to the now-framed sticker collection. Thanks to a senior member of the Dolphins Digital Media Team whom we’ve come to know closely over the years, Tannehill caught wind of the adorable snapshot and inscribed it, “To Charlie, Future Dolphins QB!”

Fast forward to Sunday – nearly four years later – and Charlie finally had a chance to meet his favorite player in person. While he was too shy to ask the quarterback about his “boo-boo” – he’ll get his media chops soon enough – he did hand him that trusted ukulele. A surprised Tannehill laughed before graciously signing the slightly-peeling body of the musical instrument, and gave Charlie a resounding high five after learning the full backstory of his connection to the young fan.

Although Charlie may not have jotted down notes or gathered enough quotes to submit a full practice report, he interacted with four key offensive starters, and even walked away with a bagful of keepsakes. Not bad for a rookie journalist covering his first of what will surely be many Dolphins events.

Ignoring everything that happened after 1pm, yesterday was a tremendous success. We had over 1000 Dolphins fans sit together, threw one hell of a tailgate and raised a TON of money for charity. I just wanted to quickly thank everyone who came out especially our volunteers and everyone who helped us get stuff on and off the busses. The day went very smoothly right up until the moment the game started.

Huge shout out to Urban Tailgate for their help with the party. We had a few tiny hiccups (the Jets wouldn’t lets us park our busses by the tailgate!) but overall it was amazing. We had some complaints about the cost before the tailgate but I didn’t hear a single complaint afterwards. I have a feeling we are not gonna have any trouble selling tickets next year.  This tailgate was fairly last minute and I can’t wait until next year because we are gonna up the game on everything. Next year should be epic.

Thanks to DJ Tropic for playing music and Solo D and DWA for playing a few songs and keeping the crowd going long after the performance.

Thanks to Joe Rose and the team at Cup Of Joe for taping their show live at our tailgate.  Nat Moore and Tom Garfinkel were guests on the show and hung out a bunch. Thanks to Jason Jenkins who helped put that together and has been at pretty much every Takeover. He’s a huge supporter of what we do. Jim Jenson came by the tailgate too just to hang out. That was pretty amazing. Thanks Crash!

And finally thanks to our liquor sponsor Sailor Jerry. They have sponsored the last few tailgates and we really appreciate the love. I think they actually have a bar at Hard Rock Stadium.

I am sure I am missing some people but we will thank them all in the wrap up video. We will also have an update of all the money we were able to donate to charity thanks to this weekend, but I should mention that the Cam Wake signed helmet raffle raised nearly $1800 alone for the Miami Dolphins Foundation and we donate $500 to Kiko Alonso’s hurricane fundraiser after the raffle we did at the party at Slattery’s Saturday night.

I gotta be honest and tell you that after the tailgate last year I was completely burnt out and ready to never do this again, but this year I am just sunburnt and ready to start planning the 2018 Takeover!

Phins up, Jets still suck, check out all the pictures below!

We are excited to announce that Dolfans NYC has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to receive 501(c)(3) status. Our rapidly-growing fan club is now officially a non-profit, charitable organization.

Under these new guidelines, we are able to continue raising funds for those less fortunate and hope to make an even bigger contribution in our local communities — both the New York metropolitan area and South Florida.

We are very grateful for the continued support of the Miami Dolphins organization. It is thanks to them that we are able to ramp up our events and take our fundraising goals to the next level. In addition, we are extremely fortunate to have such generous and kind-hearted members of our club, without whom our fundraising efforts would be impossible. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to them for their contributions over the years to all of the causes we have supported, including the Miami Dolphins Foundation, the victims of the Metro-North crash, Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, The Concern Foundation and many more.

In South Florida we have made an impact by donating annually to the Miami Dolphins Foundation, which provides support in South Florida communities under education, health and volunteerism initiatives. We have also made yearly donations to a number of riders participating in the Dolphins Cycling Challenge to raise money for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

We are looking forward to hosting our first fundraiser as a non-profit organization during our watch party on September 10th at Slattery’s Midtown Pub as the Miami Dolphins take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers week one of the 2017 NFL season.

Two weeks later, on September 24th, we are anticipating a record-setting crowd at our annual #MetLifeTakeover. Since 2013 we have brought an average of 1000 Dolphins fans to the Dolphins at Jets game in New Jersey. Part of every ticket sale goes to our charitable efforts and combined with raffle and merchandise sales it is far and away our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Going forward, Dolfans NYC aims to support the respective causes of past and present Miami Dolphins players, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Jarvis Landry), Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (Jay Ajayi) and the Anthony Fasano Foundation to name a few.

For any organizations affiliated with the Miami Dolphins or the NFL interested in partnering with us in our future fundraising efforts, please contact Michelle Kramers and Nate Igor Smith at DolfansNYC@gmail.com.

Make a tax deductible donation via PayPal here:

Across from the disassembled basketball hoops inside the upper-level Don Taft University Center practice court, Dolphins running backs Daniel Thomas and Jahwan Edwards sat at the first of five autograph stations, greeting and posing for photos with hundreds of season-ticket holders at Sunday’s Finatic event.

“Oh, yeah!” exclaimed Thomas when we informed him over a thousand fans will rock aqua and orange at Metlife Stadium. “Hello to all the Dolphins fans in New York!”

As we scanned the names of current Miami players and alumni listed on the metallic boards – claiming a spot in a line that stretched outside the gymnasium to meet former fullback Lousaka Polite and newly-acquired cornerback Byron Maxwell – a Dolphins staffer made an announcement that sent half the crowd rushing for the side exit.

It turned out, the player whose name and number coated the backs of nearly every other jersey at the session made an unexpected appearance. Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry was a surprise guest, and word spread quickly as more and more fans dashed through the narrow hallway and into the adjacent auditorium.

By the time Charlie and I grabbed a football, a glove and a DolfansNYC hat in hopes of snagging No. 14’s signature, the line had twisted around a half-dozen barricades and extended past the bathrooms in the club level area. An usher immediately informed us that Landry – like all of his teammates – was on a tight schedule from 12 to 1 p.m., and we weren’t guaranteed autographs.

Of course, we decided to wait, anxiously staring as the seconds ticked away on the clock and jubilant fans at the front of the line smiled and high-fived Miami’s top playmaker, decked in his aqua jersey and white cargo shorts.

In the meantime, Charlie treated everyone nearby to nearly an hour of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” YouTube clips on my phone, while Top-40 hits from all decades blared through the speakers as AARP Foundation volunteers packed a million meals on the lower level.

We inched our way to within 20 people of the autograph station, but once the clock struck one, Landry mouthed, “I’m sorry” as he was promptly whisked away by event coordinators.

Our setback didn’t last too long, however, when we found out that during our hour-long wait, Michelle acquired signatures and video shout-outs from nearly every other player in attendance, including Sam Madison, Polite and Maxwell.

Minutes later, long snapper John Denney took Landry’s former seat and posed for a photo with us, wiping away any lingering feelings of disappointment.

Check out a compilation of past and present Dolphins thanking DolfansNYC for their undying support below. We’re looking forward to hearing everyone in the stands at #MetLifeTakeover, so stay tuned for ticket sales info!

Tonight is Monday Night Football and in celebration today the 2015 #MetLifeTakeover video is here! The Dolphins might have lost the game but looking back in 10 years hopefully all we will remember is how much fun we had!

This video was shot by Greg Jeske and edited and hosted by Alex Bente. It featured interviews with Nat Moore, Tom Garfinkel, Andrew Abramson, Solo D, The Fintroopers and even Ace Ventura! Plus there is dancing… lots of dancing!

Thanks again to our sponsors Pabst Blue Ribbon, Sailor Jerry and AquaHydrate! Thanks to everyone who helped with the tailgate and everyone who helped with this video!

Honestly I don’t really know what else to say but watch the video and show it to everyone! Phins up!

2015 #MetLifeTakeover from Dolfans NYC on Vimeo.

This season has obviously been disappointing and Sunday was pretty much a disaster on the field but off the field we had a hell of a time. It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been to a #MetLifeTakeover but there is truly no better experience as a Miami Dolphins fan. Obviously I am a bit biased but when you get to tailgate with hundreds of fans and then all walk in and sit with 1000 Dolfans and make so much noise that you can hear us on TV even in a disaster of a game it’s the greatest feeling in the world.

In the fourth quarter we were getting killed and for some reason most of the Jets fans had already left the game. A lot of Dolphins fans had left too, but our section was still filled with a ton of die hards. The Dolphins scored and we sang the fight song as loud as we could. We then recovered and onside kick and were cheering like crazy. Then, the Dolphins being the Dolphins, we fumbled the ball and the few remaining Jets fans started laughing at us. I turned to our remaining crowd and started chanting “Let’s Go Dolphins” as loud as I could. The rest of crew joined me and all you could hear was “Let’s Go Dolphins” despite just turning over the ball on the fourth quarter of a blow out. It was one of my proudest moments as a Dolphins fan.

It’s easy to be a fan when you are winning. It takes something special to root for your team when you are terrible. Reshad Jones Tweeted “When you winning, everyone is your friend, it’s easy to be on the wagon, so a SPECIAL shout-out to the ride or die fans!!” and we showed everyone we are out here riding for our team!

Now, about the tailgate!

We had a blast! Our four busses made it to the tailgate by 9am so we had hours to party. DJ Tropic DJ’d the whole thing which really upped the game from the last few years. Solo D and his Miami Sports Music/ DWA crew perform. We had a catered tailgate and Pabst Blue Ribbon donated 600 beers! We had water from AqauHydrate and Sailor Jerry Rum & cider. We are so lucky to have such rad sponsors.

We raised nearly $3000 through donations and merch sales which when you add to the money we made at the #MetLifeTakeover Pre-Party was close to $5000 that we can donate charity for the weekend not including the money we made from ticket sales. Plus we had a ton of people bring toys to continue the toy drive we did from the night before. Really amazing. Thanks so much everyone!

We had some cool guests at the tailgate as well. Dolphins legend Nat Moore and CEO Tom Garfinkel showed up at the tailgate which is always awesome. They have been big supporters of what we do up here. We also had Andrew Abramson from the Palm Beach Post and Brent Grimes infamous wife Miko show up as well. Miko has come to all our tailgates and this is Andrew’s second one so I appreciate the support from them. We even had some Jets fans come by to talk some smack. But they are the guys responsible for flying banners over the Patriots practices to troll them so I guess they aren’t so terrible.

Anyway, it was a terrible game but another amazing experience. Let’s just hope next year’s Takeover isn’t on Thanksgiving so we can bring out even more Dolfans and get another win. Since the first big #MetLifeTakeover this is our only loss so I think we are doing pretty well overall. Phins up!

Now check out all the photos from the tailgate!

Okay we get it. The Dolphins aren’t good at football. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the football season. We had a fantastic weekend here in NYC even if the last three hours of it were really terrible. Our weekend started off with a party at our bar Slattery’s Midtown Pub on Saturday. We invited our normal crew plus anyone who was in town for the game to a three hour meet and greet kinda thing and it was a ton of fun. We had people there from Indonesia, the UK, Canada and of course TON of people from Florida. It was a great turnout and we raised a lot of money.

We had DJ Tropic DJ and Solo D perform and of course we had a big raffle where we raised about $1000 for charity. On top of that we did a live auction to benefit the Dan Marino Foundation where we had a Marino signed ball go for $400 and a Cam Wake signed mini-helmet go for an insane $310. We decided to round up and we will be donating $1000 to the Dan Marino Foundation to help people with autism and other disabilities.

Lastly I just wanted to thank the Miami Dolphins, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Dolfans NYC member Rambo for donating items for the raffle and of course our volunteers for helping out! You guys rule.

Now check out some photos from the event! If you want to save an image you just have to double click it in the gallery and it will take you to the actual page on Flickr.

Just want to get this up quickly before the game and then I will come back and update with some more info. Just wanted everyone to know we are having a party next Saturday at Slattery’s Midtown Pub (8 East 36th St in Manhattan) from 4-7pm the night before the #MetLifeTakeover! We will have some really serious raffle prizes, tons of Dolfans NYC merch for sale and a live performance from Solo D. DJ Tropic will be DJing all evening as well and we should have some cool surprises in store.

It’s a great chance to meet fellow Dolfans before the game. Last year’s pre-party was a blast and Jay Fiedler showed up and signed some autographs. Don’t miss it!

Lastly, we are doing a toy drive so bring an unwrapped toy and we will give you two free drink tickets for the #MetLifeTakeover tailgate thanks to Pabst Blue Ribbon!

See you Saturday!

The line snaked around the charcoal Hugo Boss mannequins, extended past the neatly-arranged display of striped Lacoste polo shirts and tucked between the Calvin Klein and Michael Kors autumn apparel collections.

As cardboard posters bearing Dan Marino’s likeness and career accomplishments padded a makeshift stage on the second floor of Macy’s in the Dadeland Mall, one night before Halloween, hundreds of shoppers dressed in their favorite Miami Dolphins throwbacks and dug out beloved No. 13 memorabilia in hopes of snagging a priceless memory with the greatest player in team history.

Nearly an hour before the meet-and-greet was scheduled to start, a DJ began blasting remixed versions of familiar ‘Jock Jams’ through the department store speakers – Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” was a particular crowd-pleaser – while a fellow employee in an eggplant suit jacket tried to hype anxious fans by rattling off Marino’s impressive highlights.

None of the excitement appeared to faze our 20-month-old toddler, Charlie, who – with his bedtime on the horizon – began acting like a cranky, restless 20-month-old toddler, sprinting in the opposite direction, intentionally grounding crackers and spiking cubes of cheese in protest rather than celebration.

Considering we’d already waited in one line to make a qualifying purchase, followed by another to secure a color-coded wristband that corresponded with our place in the autograph queue, it was hard to blame him. Luckily, with most Macy’s clerks focused on instructing customers and curious onlookers, an unmanned cash register served as a welcome distraction, as Charlie pushed buttons, giggled at the cacophonous beeps and error messages, and quickly discovered how to print blank paper receipts.

Although Marino arrived a half-hour late, to his credit, the Hall of Famer – decked in a slim-fitting black suit and matching tie – made sure to shake each fan’s hand and personalize autographs, listening intently to variations of similar anecdotes he’d undoubtedly heard for decades.

Charlie could barely keep his head up and eyes open by the time it was our turn to meet his our Dolphins hero, gazing silently as an event staffer handed us a trio of black, Hugo Boss embossed footballs and borrowed my iPhone to snap nearly two dozen photos.

After we shared a few kind words with the former NFL MVP – informing him of DolfansNYC’s growth and proud commitment to charitable endeavors – a smiling, nodding Marino high-fived Charlie and gently patted him on the head, penning ‘Go Deep’ above his signature with a silver sharpie.

Charlie may be too young to realize the significance of that moment, but one day, he’ll understand not only the meaning of the inscription, but the sentimental value of joining his parents and grandfather in a snapshot of three generations of Dolphins fans alongside their football idol.

And Dan, when that time comes, he’ll be sure to take you up on your offer.