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Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel clears the air with his side of the viral story of how he met his wife

david furones, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read

MIAMI GARDENS — The story of how Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel met his wife, Katie, as told on the Amazon Prime Video broadcast by legendary commentator Al Michaels, went viral over the weekend.

But McDaniel felt the story was tweaked slightly once he got wind of Michaels’ version that aired during the Dolphins’ 34-13 win Friday against the New York Jets.

“I would say the skeleton of the story is correct,” McDaniel started Monday when asked about the story getting out there, “but there’s a couple important caveats.”

Before we get into the revised version, let’s recap what Michaels said on the broadcast, as he was telling the story likely off of something McDaniel told him in a production meeting.

Michaels sets the stage with McDaniel the running backs coach of the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League in 2010. The team went out to a nightclub to celebrate a win over Omaha.

“One of the running backs that he coaches is dancing with a girl, and Mike says, ‘Listen, you’re not dancing with her anymore, or you’re not playing with his team next year. So the guy says, ‘What can I do?

“So then McDaniel starts dancing with her. That’s the beginning of the story. … Four years later, they’re married. Katie, that’s how he met her: ‘Hey, you. Get off. I’m dancing with her.’ ”

Social media loved the story, but McDaniel didn’t love the image it left.

“I feel like I was painted out to kind of be a D-bag, and it wasn’t like that at all,” McDaniel said Monday.

He got his chance to tell his side Monday of the interaction between him and the player in question, Steve Baylark.

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“First of all, the perceived threat I made was (an) over-the-top a joke, considering both he and I knew that, as the running backs coach, I had no ability to say if he was there or not,” McDaniel said. “It was more in gest. And then second of all — my wife was telling me people were talking about me stealing people’s girls — the dude had met her for 45 seconds.

“It was a light-hearted, very unique scenario. It was a special place in our memories. … We were celebrating as a team, and it was something that I think Steve Baylark, the player that was dancing with her, was well aware when I made that joke in gest that it was more important to me than it was to him. And I’m pretty sure I was right. I have a family now. Good decision.”

Incidentally, McDaniel’s stint in Sacramento not only connected him with his future wife — it also then led him back into NFL coaching circles. And at the site he and his Dolphins (8-3) are visiting this Sunday.

The next season, McDaniel, who was an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans from 2006 to 2008 and an intern with his hometown Denver Broncos in 2005, was hired by Washington, first as an offensive assistant in 2011 and 2012 and then promoted to wide receivers coach in 2013. The Dolphins visit FedEx Field and the Commanders on Sunday.

“There was a lot less command in Washington when I was there,” McDaniel joked of the franchise’s name change, as one of several differences from his time there.

“I think it’s a different owner, different coaches. It’s pretty much different. I’m not sure who’s still there from when I was there. But I do remember a very, very passionate fan base. I didn’t realize the total scope of history and how big of a region call themselves Washington Commander fans. That was an interesting part.”

McDaniel, although never crossing paths professionally with Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who is on the hot seat for Washington (4-8), does have one link to him from his past.

“Coach Ron, as he called it, was the first person that, when I was trying to get a GA job coming out of college, I was writing letters all over the country,” McDaniel said, “and he was one of the first people to actually respond to a letter to try to get me a job. “He didn’t give me a job, but I have a lot of respect for him.”