By the middle of the third quarter of Sunday’s game, MetLife Stadium was half-empty, as thousands of dejected Jets fans filed for the exits. By the the time the fourth quarter started and the Dolphins held a comfortable 20-3 lead, Sections 322 and 323 — along with several hundred aqua-and-orange-clad fans scattered around the stadium — were the only ones left clapping in the stands. 760 DolfansNYC members, plus a few more who migrated to join us, cheered for every first down, sang the fight song after every touchdown (even one that was ultimately called back) and made sure to let the Jets know #MetLifeTakeover was in full effect.

Prior to and especially following the game — along with the support of thousands of fans across the country — dozens of past and present Dolphins stars, front office personnel and media members offered humbling shoutouts to DolfansNYC. Check out notable Tweets and images from CEO Tom Garfinkel, team legend O.J. McDuffie and current players including Brian Hartline, Jared Odrick and Mike Pouncey — all of whom heard their fans loud and clear.

If that wasn’t enough, watch Coach Joe Philbin thank the fans “up in the cheap seats” during his radio show with the Finsiders (12:35 mark in the video) and Brian Hartline point up to us after scoring his TD! (more…)

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life and I have a feeling that another 750 or so people feel the exact same way after the amazing day we had yesterday at the Meadowlands. We rolled very deep taking four busses of fans from Slattery’s Midtown Pub to MetLife Stadium where a ton more Dolphins fans joined us. As a group we bought 760 tickets but there were a lot more at the game and I feel like most of them came to our tailgate!

The tailgate was catered for the first 300 people who signed up but a bunch of people brought their own food and set up around us. We also had beer and rum provided by PBR and Sailor Jerry and I can’t thank them enough for sponsoring our tailgate free of charge. The tailgate featured some Dolfan guests when team CEO Tom Garfinkle and Nat Moore showed up and posed for pictures with fans. While it wasn’t quite the Fergie appearance from last year Sun-Sentinel reporter Omar Kelly showed up and he was voted one of South Florida’s sexiest TV newsmen. (I actually had to google “Omar Kelly sexiest” to find that link. I hope the NSA isn’t judging me.) We also had a pretty awesome performance from Miami Dolfan Music’s own Solo D who recorded a #MetLifeTakeover song for the occasion. The Dolphins sent us a MASSIVE flag that we broke out at the tailgate. I had to climb on top of an RV to get pictures! I was also told Brent Grimes’ hilarious wife Miko showed up to the tailgate late but I missed her.

I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off so I barely had time to talk to anyone for more than a minute, but it was really amazing to meet all the Dolphins fans who came from all over the northeast for the game. The York PA Dolphins Fan Club and the Northern VA/DC club made group trips up and I hope it becomes a tradition. I love meeting fan clubs from all over and Michelle and I really want to do what we can to help grow these clubs around the country. Dolfans NYC has been successful partly because there are more than 10 million people living within an hour of us but I also think some of our marketing efforts have worked pretty well and I hope we can help other clubs do similar events at other Dolphins away games.

The game itself was of course amazing and our sections were ROCKING! We gave out 750 rally towels at the tailgate and they were in full force throughout the game. Marv Albert mentioned how loud we were on the TV broadcast after Brian Hartline scored a TD and pointed to our section with the ball. You could hear our LET’S GO DOLPHINS and DEFENSE chants in the background on the telecast but our Seven Nation Army chants were really audible in the fourth quarter. The Jets made a huge mistake by playing the song before a Dolphins third down and we kept coming back to it after that. It was pretty hilarious to use that against them.

Aside from the camaraderie and the huge win it was awesome to feel like what you were doing made a difference on the field. I think we all felt like we were making a difference in the game and giving our team energy and I don’t think we were alone in that. A ton of Dolphins Tweeted thank you messages to the crowd including several of them mentioning Dolfans NYC by name. We should have a list of all those Tweets on the blog tomorrow or whenever Alex gets a chance to do the post.

So check out all the photos I shot at the tailgate below and both MiamiDolphins.com and our crack team of video reporters were on hand so there should be some pretty cool videos coming soon! I also will be posting these pictures to our Facebook group so tag yourselves in them! Phins up!

[tylr-slidr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolfansnyc/sets/72157638292592313/[/tylr-slidr]

199 DolfansNYC members piled into MetLife Stadium on Oct. 28, 2012 and cheered, chanted and sang the team’s fight song as the Dolphins cruised to a 30-9 victory over the Jets.

The group’s spirited celebration was not only heard by dejected home fans throughout the stadium and clearly audible during the television broadcast, but left a lasting impression on Dolphins players.

“Oh, yeah!” said Miami punter Brandon Fields with a smile when I asked him about hearing Dolphins fans in the stands at N.J.

“When we’re up there, we usually have a pretty good presence – especially when we’re winning, doing well up there, you can definitely hear them, definitely getting loud. It’s something that (we), as players, love hearing.”

Fields grew even more excited when I told him that he and his teammates would hear over 550 DolfansNYC fans on Dec. 1 – a record for largest fan group to ever invade MetLife, and a number that has since grown to a staggering 760.

“It means a lot,” said No. 2. “It’s amazing when you go to an opposing team’s stadium and you see your own fans getting loud, cheering for you (and) rooting the team on. You draw energy from that, and the fact that you quiet their fans down.”

Come Sunday, Jets players and fans alike won’t know what hit them.