The Miami Herald did an article with Paul Warfield because the Hall of Fame busts are being sent to Miami for a 40th Anniversary celebration and week-long display. Paul Warfield's career is proof that you don't have to be selfish to be a great wide receiver in the NFL. Players like Paul Warfield make me proud to be a Dolfan. CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE!
A true throwback Understated but not underappreciated as a wide receiver, Paul Warfield was 'one of the most gifted athletes' Don Shula coached. BY ARMANDO SALGUERO asalguero@herald.com Paul Warfield is yesterday's classy counterpoint to today's shrill, over-the-top wide receivers. When his Hall of Fame bust goes on display at Dolphins Stadium next week -- along with the eight other Dolphins Hall of Famers as part of a celebration commemorating the club's 40th anniversary -- local fans will have a chance to study the difference between the receivers of two vastly different generations. Today's receivers? Loud, sometimes angry, always demanding the ball and attention. Warfield? ''To each his own, I believe,'' Warfield said Thursday. ``I don't have anything against today's receivers, they're great athletes, but I don't identify with that aspect of their personalities. I come from an era where we believed, yes, the NFL was a professional game, but it was still a sport. ``And I believe in sportsmanship and respect for your opponent and the game above all else. Some of the things today's guys are doing are just hard for me to identify with.'' Warfield is 62, but don't make the mistake of believing he hasn't kept up with the times. He knows today's NFL well enough that he interviewed for the Dolphins' general manager job in 2003. He knows talent well enough that he now works for the Cleveland Browns as a scouting and career planning consultant. So Warfield is an expert at knowing what makes today's athletes special. And he has a good prototype from which to work. His own. ''He was such a special athlete,'' former coach Don Shula said. ``He had the skills and ability to play running back or defensive back or punt returner or kick returner if he had really wanted to. He was one of the most gifted athletes I ever coached.'' Warfield might be one of these athletes whose game has not been tarnished by time. His skills of 30 years ago still translate to today. ''The game has changed significantly and the athletes are much bigger and stronger and faster,'' Warfield said. ``When I played, I was one of the bigger receivers, but I purposefully kept my weight low. I was 188 pounds as a rookie and then kept weight off as my career went on so my final years I was at 180 pounds. ``But I had the frame to carry 200 pounds, and that's what I would do if I were playing today. I would still have the speed and flexibility, so I believe I would be able to compete if I were playing today.'' Warfield ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds during his playing days. But that time was taken while he was wearing shoulder pads, helmet and full equipment. Without the football gear, which is how today's players are timed, Warfield once ran a 9.5 in the 100-yard dash. Warfield's athletic prowess brought him Hall of Fame induction in 1983 after a career that spanned from 1964 to '77. But never in that time, not even when he was among the three Miami stars who defected to the World Football League, did Warfield allow himself to be embroiled in controversy. The Dolphins rushed the ball 613 times and attempted only 259 passes in 1972. Warfield, their top receiver, caught only 29 passes that year, but he didn't complain about not getting the ball. ''I believed in winning before winning individual honors,'' Warfield said. ``We had that ideology as a team. We weren't concerned with leading the NFL in passing; I wasn't worried about leading the league in receiving. We were doing whatever we needed to do win.''
