Any Given Sunday “A Retrospective”

When I look back at the Miami Sharks, I see a team that reminds me of the Oakland Raiders at the turn of the century. They’re a team of mercenaries and older players, put together to reclaim their glorious past. Much like the Raiders, the Sharks were a great team at some point but like most franchises, they couldn’t maintain their success forever.

The 2001 Miami Sharks weren’t necessarily favored to win but they had the talent to do some damage and get into the postseason. Despite Jack “Cap” Rooney’s age, he was still a capable quarterback and the undisputed leader on the team. A winner of two Pantheon Cups, he and coach Tony D’Amato had built a great rapport and trusted each other. Another veteran was Julian Washington. Many people, Coach D’Amato included, feel like Washington was a detriment to the team because of his mercenary attitude. He played for himself rather than for the team and was only looking to improve his numbers because of his incentive-laden contract.

So what makes the 2001 Sharks so special? It was their resilience. They were able to come together through injuries, arguments and adversity to return to the Pantheon Cup. Cap Rooney goes down with a back injury and in the very next play, the backup quarterback Tyler Cherubini gets hurt. Coach D’Amato is forced to put in third string quarterback and former seventh round pick Willie Beamen. Beamen’s arrival into the game was auspicious to say the least. Beamen’s knowledge of the playbook was limited and it was clear. He was also clearly nervous and vomiting in the huddle made that obvious. After a short while, Beamen picked up the offensive schemes and the Sharks were not only winning games but winning them in exciting fashion.

Beamen’s success started to go to his head and it affected his relationships with his teammates. On three separate occasions throughout the season, Beamen antagonized his teammates and caused altercations either on or off the field. When he criticized Julian Washington, they fought and Washington needed stitches. As the quarterback and de facto leader of the offense, he should have done a better job in that situation. What if Washington’s injury had been more severe? The Sharks’ backup running back situation was pitiful at best. In another situation, Beamen angered his offense with his arrogance in they refused to cooperate and listen to him, resulting in a loss. At a party held at Luther Lavay’s house, Beamen criticized the defense, which obviously angered Lavay to the point where he used a circular saw to split Beamen’s car in half.

Any Given Sunday Trailer

This Sharks team had an incredible ability to win despite all the controversy. Luther Lavay was coming off of a neck injury that hadn’t fully healed, the team’s owner Christina Pagniacci was trying to push Tony D’Amato out for the younger, more innovative offensive coordinator Nick Crozier. Beamen’s arrogance and attitude was getting out of control. Cap Rooney’s willingness to play despite his injury was also an interesting story. Throughout all these distractions, the Sharks were able to put together a successful season and go deep into the postseason.

Its also interesting to note that the events that followed the season opened a lot of eyes around the league. When Coach D’Amato was expected to retire after the season, he surprised everyone when he decided to become the head coach and general manager for the new expansion team, the Albuquerque Aztecs. Another bombshell was that he’d be signing Willie Beamen to a long term deal, thereby leaving the Sharks in disarray without a quarterback for the future.

Looking back at that Sharks team, its probably one of the last pure teams. Teams that don’t run gimmicky offenses, teams that pride themselves on playing through the whistle, inflicting pain and intimidating the opponent. And they are one of the few teams that prove that on any given Sunday, any one team can win.