Record-breaker Raheem Mostert ‘forgives' Dolphins, who won't soon forget him | Habib
MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins had just beaten the New York Jets 30-0 and the happiest player in the locker room may have been Jake Bailey, the punter.
Or make that Jake Bailey, fantasy football owner, for whom Sunday represented two victories, not one.
“Each week this guy comes up to me,” running back Raheem Mostert said. “He’s just like, ‘Hey, I got you. I got you lined up today, so you better not be a disappointment.’
“I’m like, ‘I got you.’ ”
If anyone on the Dolphins knows something about disappointments, it’s Mostert.
If anyone on the Dolphins knows something about overcoming disappointments, it’s Mostert.
When Mostert scored touchdowns on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard against the Jets, it gave him the team record for rushing touchdowns in a season (18, breaking the mark of 16 by Ricky Williams in 2002) and total touchdowns (20, breaking Mark Clayton’s record of 18 in 1984).
Touchdown records weren't in cards before season
Do those seem like big numbers? You don’t know the half of it. Mostert entered this season with 19 total touchdowns. In his career. The most rushing TDs he’d scored in a season? Eight. Now he’s such a cinch to find the end zone that coach Mike McDaniel put the ball in his hands on three straight goal-line runs. If Mostert wasn’t going to disappoint his fantasy owner, he certainly wasn’t going to disappoint the head coach who believed in him enough to bring him along when he arrived from San Francisco.
All this for a Dolphins organization that was No. 2 on a list of eight teams over the years that told him his services were no longer needed. When it was suggested to Mostert that breaking those longstanding team records seemed rather improbable, Mostert couldn’t argue.
“If you were to ask me when I was a younger self, I would have told you that you’re right like this — that’s probably not what I thought I would do,” Mostert said. “You know, I was a young, young grasshopper just trying to learn and try to figure out how I can achieve the ultimate goal of being a player.”
That was eight years and about 45 career transactions ago. Now 31, Mostert sets the bar higher.
“I’m always trying to chase a gold jacket,” he said, referring to the attire given to Hall of Famers. “That’s always been my M.O. You know, I truly believe that I’m on the path. I know that it doesn’t seem like that, but me personally, I’ve just got to continue to step up to the occasion.”
No one can say he doesn’t. Mostert finished this game with 15 carries for 42 yards. McDaniel gave him a game ball as a reward for the records.
“I kind of feel bad,” Mostert said.
Wait. Feel what?
Mostert looked at the first column — number of carries — and compared it to his yardage total and concluded he must have done “a terrible job.” See, his average on this day was 2.8, not even half his stellar career average of 5.3.
Not that Mostert needs to prove anything to McDaniel or his teammates.
“It should tell you how much trust that he has, to be able to call three runs in a row down there,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “That should tell you basically enough about the trust that our head coach has.”
Even in the Jets’ locker room, there was appreciation for Mostert’s journey.
“I feel happy for him,” said Jets running back (and Miamian) Dalvin Cook, who trains in the offseason with Mostert. “He’s putting it on for the city.”
Raheem Mostert has long respected Ricky Williams
Mostert grew up in New Smyrna Beach, following the Dolphins, so the records he owns, he doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s something that I didn’t necessarily think I would ever do, especially with a guy like Ricky Williams,” Mostert said. “I thought the world of him, because maybe I’m from Florida. You watch certain players and he was definitely a player that caught my early eye.”
There’s no magic potion to explain his sudden touchdown surge. Mostert credits the players around him, particularly on the offensive line, proving he got wiser as he got older. His recipe for crashing into the end zone? “Get downhill.”
Bailey has enough faith to keep leaning on Mostert. It earned Bailey a bye in his fantasy league.
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“I’m like, ‘That’s what I’m talking about! We’re in this together, brother!’ ” Mostert joked.
McDaniel sees the real-life Mostert, not the fantasy player, as someone anyone can respect.
“There’s a lot of people on the team that have been told they couldn’t,” McDaniel said. “And there’s certain types of people that really thrive in those types of scenarios.”
Mostert, who can name every team that released him in order, is one of those people.
“He’s one of the strongest-willed people that I have ever been around,” McDaniel said. “And oh, by the way, he’s a unique athlete.” McDaniel reminded everyone that like Tyreek Hill, Mostert too has hit 23 mph on the radar gun.
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So while McDaniel was handing Mostert a game ball, while McDaniel was feeling happy for his running back’s historic success, Mostert was offering McDaniel an apology that he didn’t give his team more.
If it were possible for an organization to offer an apology, one would have gone from the Dolphins to Mostert, who can smile about it now.
“Miami was one of those teams that I had on my list,” Mostert said, referring to the list of teams that cut him. “But you know, all is forgiven. That’s all I’ve got to say. All is forgiven and no hard feelings.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Forgiving, never forgotten: Raheem Mostert rewrites Dolphins' record book
