Accountant Cut from Miami Dolphins Roster
By Ken Dye
Les Brown, the accountant-turned-tight end for the Miami Dolphins, had his longshot dream yanked from underneath him as he was waived with 8 other players. NFL teams have to whittle down their roster to 53 players before the start of the season and Brown turned out not to be the fit that Joe Philbin and the rest of the organization had hoped he would grow into.
Brown, a former basketball player, was tried out and given a long look by the Dolphins. By now it’s no secret that some of the NFL’s star tight ends like Antonio Gates cut their athletic teeth on the basketball court – not a gridiron.
Indeed, Tony Gonzalez is also such a player. He just happens to hold every meaningful NFL record for tight ends…with no obvious signs of slowing down yet at age 38.
Les originally made the news as a human interest story. He’s quite the athlete, running a 4.4-40, but never could pick up blocking the NFL’s athletes on the other side of the ball, and as Tony Gonzalez himself recently said, “as a tight end, you have to be able to do both [catch and block].”
HBO’s series Hard Knocks will have to look for another story to follow as Brown was one of the favorite stories of the show’s producers to follow. The cut came on the heels of starting Miami Dolphins TE Anthony Fasano’s two dropped passes against the Atlanta Falcons, including a would-be touchdown. Rookie third-round pick Michael Egnew, who has had a camp more like Spiro Agnew might have had, survived the cut because of the team’s investment in him. Hard Knocks showed Dolphin OC Mike Sherman screaming at him this week that he’d have been cut already if he (Sherman) had his way.
The difference? Fasano can block. Agnew’s invested in by the ‘fins. Brown tried, but never did get anywhere close to adequate with the vital blocking skills.
Accountants make great money, although not NFL-type money. However, they rarely have angry 250+ pound men trying to rip their heads off. Then again, if he gets a job at Goldman Sachs…anything is possible.
No word yet from Zac Efron.
Don’t hold your breath.