Bruce Beal played no small role in the Dolphins' tampering. Is he fit to own club? | Habib
MIAMI GARDENS — The NFL applying a sledgehammer to the Dolphins understandably left everyone focused on the two high draft picks that vanished into thin air, plus owner Stephen Ross, who was told to vamoose as well until mid-October, but not before depositing $1.5 million into the league’s coffers.
That takes care of the immediate future.
What about beyond that?
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Specifically, Ross has a succession plan in place that involves Vice Chairman and partner Bruce Beal taking over as owner, provided Beal still wishes to do so and provided other NFL owners vote him into their exclusive club.
Given what the NFL ruled Tuesday, it’s reasonable to wonder 1) If Beal still wants this, 2) If he’ll be approved and 3) How Dolphins fans should feel.
Make no mistake, Ross was the main culprit in this fiasco, according to the league. While Beal played a supporting role, it was no cameo. Read the report and you’ll see he left multiple fingerprints. The fact they are scattered over multiple years precludes any “my bad” mea culpas.
Beal acted deliberately. Maybe he’d claim he didn’t know he was breaking tampering rules.
Too bad. He should have. That responsibility comes with the job. In fact, it is the job.
Beal was found to have made “impermissible communications” with Brady as early as August 2019, while Brady was with the New England Patriots.
Beal, then, accomplished something no other man in football has. He made the Patriots out to be sympathetic victims. If you’re a Dolfan, you're ineligible to utter the word “Cheatriots” in 2022.
Perhaps Beal thought his friendship with Brady blurred the lines enough. The NFL thinks otherwise.
“These numerous and detailed (emphasis added) discussions were conducted by Mr. Beal, who in turn kept Mr. Ross and other Dolphins executives informed of his discussions with Mr. Brady,” the NFL ruled.
The communications continued during and after the 2021 season, the NFL said, after Brady had joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The league said they focused on Brady becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins, possibly serving as a football executive and at times involved the idea of playing in Miami.
“Ross and Beal were active participants in these discussions,” the league said in banning Beal from league meetings this season and fining him $500,000.
Thankfully, these talks had no impact on Brady’s approach to a game Oct. 10. Being the competitor he is, Brady tore up the Dolphins in a 45-17 rout.
Unclear who in Miami made contact with Sean Payton
By January 2022, the Dolphins’ grand plan was to bring in Brady and have him paired with coach Sean Payton. Problem: Payton was under contract with the New Orleans Saints and didn’t bother to ask permission before making contact. It is, however, unclear if it was Ross, Beal or others in the Dolphins’ organization involved in those back-channel discussions. It was only after Payton announced he was retiring that the Dolphins asked for the OK to speak with him. The Saints said no.
Had the Dolphins bothered to check with their historians, they would have been reminded that they also were docked a first-round pick in 1970 when they hired coach Don Shula, even though they inquired about Shula’s availability with Baltimore Colts President Steve Rosenbloom. The league said they should have gotten the OK from Steve’s father and Colts owner, Carroll, who was in Asia.
Beyond those extenuating circumstances, the difference is the Dolphins got their man in ’70 and should have been grateful to ship the Colts a slew of No. 1s for Shula.
Today’s Dolphins didn’t get Brady, didn’t get Payton, did get egg on face.
Who is Bruce Beal?
Who is Beal? For one, he’s someone content to avoid the limelight. The Dolphins’ 2022 media guide lists him and his titles with the club and includes a head shot, but unlike most executives, it has no bio of him.
He is president of Ross’ Related Cos., “overseeing the day-to-day development process for projects across all asset classes,” the company website says.
Beal is a Harvard grad who is associated with a trust that purchased a $19.1 million waterfront home in Palm Beach in 2020, according to the Boston Business Journal.
All that is hardly enough to judge whether he’d be a good owner. You’d like to think his lone exposure into the NFL spotlight has been a teaching moment. Who knows? Some learn faster than others.
And I’m not here to bury Ross, a part-time Palm Beach resident. We all know his record as Dolphins owner, most notably the zero playoff wins. I’ll let his record speak for itself, reminding those who are angry at the latest humiliation that he’s also the man who built the state-of-the-art practice facility and overhauled Hard Rock Stadium, turning it into our mecca for everything from the Super Bowl to Formula One to the World Cup. If Ross had raised the Vince Lombardi trophy a time or two, he’d be beloved.
Imagine the ugliness if the Deshaun Watson circus also were in town
Instead, he’s also the man who pushed for Deshaun Watson to wear aqua and orange. Imagine if that urging succeeded.
Monday: “Dolphins” lose starting QB Watson for six games for sexual misconduct and sexual assault. The public is outraged over this slap on the wrist and the league’s cavalier attitude toward women despite its PR campaign to the contrary.
Tuesday: Commissioner Roger Goodell blasts the Dolphins for “tampering violations of unprecedented scope and severity,” taking away a 2023 first-round pick that was a vital piece of the team’s plans, which could have included pursuing the first overall selection.
Wednesday: NFL appeals with intent to come down harder on Watson.
While the Dolphins dodged what would have been the grossest few days in team history, the fact remains they’re a laughingstock.
And one of the chief architects of the caper might be presiding over the next era of Miami Dolphins football.
Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins: Is Bruce Beal fit to own team after tampering with Tom Brady?
