National Football League
Daily Buzz: Report on Dolphins locker room culture largely ignored by AFC coaches
National Football League

Daily Buzz: Report on Dolphins locker room culture largely ignored by AFC coaches

Published Mar. 26, 2014 7:17 p.m. ET

When the Ted Wells report was released in February, detailing the alleged abuse going on within the confines of the Miami Dolphins locker room, the incriminating manifesto seemed like the type of document that would totally change the way coaches and executives around the league viewed locker room culture. And maybe it will be.

Problem is, that kind of sea change is going to be difficult to accomplish, given that many of the people in power around the league apparently never got around to actually reading it. 

During the NFL owners' meetings this week in Florida, Yahoo Sports asked eight coaches and executives from teams around the NFL if they had gotten a chance to peruse the 142-page ruling. The response was overwhelmingly negative:

ADVERTISEMENT

"I didn't," Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

"No," said Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone.

"€œNo," said Raiders coach Dennis Allen.

"There are other things higher on my priority list,"€ new Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine said.

"No," said San Diego Chargers coach Mike McCoy.

Of the eight coaches asked, only one said he read it: Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.

"I was appalled," he said. "It was embarrassing."

Further, when Yahoo Sports asked the coaches if they expected the findings of the report -- which, recall, virtually none of them had read -- to impact the way they do business in their own locker rooms, each of them said they expected to maintain the status quo.

"I don't," said Tomlin.

"If I see something I don't like, I'll act," said McCoy.

"I understand the importance," [Tennessee Titans head coach Ken] Whisenhunt said.

"I think we got a pretty good locker room," said Allen.

And Lewis, who did read the Wells Report, said, "I think we're in really good shape."

If nothing else, the findings seem to have gotten through to Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, who, one assumes, has at least read the CliffsNotes. He did, after all, tell reporters in Orlando, Fla., that he planned to spend more time in the locker room and training room observing player relationships in the wake of the report.

And maybe some of the other coaches who weren't asked have read the report and are implementing changes to prevent a similar problem from impacting their own teams down the line.

But if radical change was the goal, and these coaches' respective dismissals of the Wells report's findings are any indication, we're not anywhere close to seeing it, and it seems like we're still a long way from the sort of leaguewide culture metamorphosis that many were hoping to see.

Now, for some links: 

• The Indiana wide receiver who nearly drowned is expected to return to the team this fall.

• Chris Bosh says he and LeBron James will both be back with the Heat next season. 

• Louisville's Skyline Chili restaurants are dyeing their spaghetti red and blue in honor of Friday's Louisville-Kentucky game. 

• Fred Carter says this year's Philadelphia 76ers team is worse than his 1972-73 team, which went 9-73. 

• Saints tight end Jimmy Graham says he won't be deterred by the NFL's new no-dunking-through-the-goalposts-rule. 

• Greg McDermott gave a great postgame speech after Creighton's NCAA tournament loss to Baylor: 

• Nick Young demonstrates why it is a bad idea to celebrate a basket before the shot goes in: 

• The Stanford cowbell player sat in with Jimmy Kimmel's band: 

• Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock proposed to his girlfriend while the team was in Australia. 

• Phil Jackson decided to leave Tuesday's Lakers-Knicks game early to go home and "walk the dog." 

• Los Angeles Lakers ratings are reportedly down nearly 50 percent this season. 

• UNLV's low Academic Progress Rate could cost the Rebels a bowl game

• Ohio State's athletic director will receive an $18,000 bonus because one of the school's wrestlers won an NCAA championship. 

• Rudy Gay on O.J. Mayo's weight gain: "When you're hurt in Wisconsin, you eat":

• This is how Jameis Winston signs a Florida Gators hat: 

• The Portland Trail Blazers' good-luck charm is a 15-year-old boy with cerebral palsy:

• Nashville wants to host a season kickoff college football game between an SEC team and a school from another power conference. 

• The Arizona bookstore was already offering commemorative Elite Eight shirts before the team even played in the Sweet 16. 

• Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook says he isn't sure if his minutes restriction will be lifted during the playoffs. 

• Russell Wilson will be honored at halftime of the NC State spring game. 

• An OHL goalie pulled himself from a game and left the arena after giving up eight goals on 26 shots. 

• In the same game, the opposing team's goalie slashed an opponent in the back of the head:

• Elsewhere, a CHL player got a penalty for biting the forearm of an opponent:

• The Red Sox could be wearing these to the White House:

• David Beckham and Florida Gov. Rick Scott took a selfie:

share


Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more