Ryan Tannehill rocketed up the draft boards after the NFL combine, finally landing at the eighth overall pick, going to the Miami Dolphins, who have been looking for a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino retired. Tannehill is the first quarterback the Dolphins have selected in the first round since Marino in 1983. No pressure in trying to fill those shoes.
At least one man who knows Tannehill well doesn’t see a problem. Tannehill’s high school football coach Tim Holt weighed in recently. “Dolphin fans, there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is a T-Rex you got. Just give him time,” Holt said. “He has the Clark Kent effect: looks like an unassuming tall, stiff white guy until he starts moving and running. He is incredibly quick and explosive.”
Comparing him to a dinosaur and Superman in the same sentence just raises expectations even higher, but Tannehill seems well equipped to deal with it. “I try to stay out of the media circus,” Tannehill said. “I’m just excited to get down here and start working, and get to know the guys.”
He seems to have all the tools he needs. He’s got the athletic ability – besides playing quarterback, in high school he was also a basketball star, triple jumper, hurdler, center fielder and golfer. And before you think he’s a dumb jock, he’s got the brains to go with it – he had a 4.0 in high school, graduated from Texas A&M with a 3.6 in biology, and his backup plan to football is to go to medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.
And to anyone who doesn’t already feel a twinge of jealousy bubbling up – did we mention his stunning, blonde model wife Lauren?
“The whole thing has been dreamy,” Lauren said. “I get more giddy than him, but he is having just as much fun. We feel so blessed. We keep looking at each other and asking, ‘Is this real? Is anyone in the world as happy as we are right now?’”
Asked about all the attention she is picking up since draft night, at which point she became an instant internet-sensation, her answer was touchingly grounded. “Ryan’s very attractive, and has lots of female fans, too, especially now that he’s in the NFL,” Lauren answered. “But we have good, Christian values, and I know he’s a one-girl kind of guy, and he knows how much I love him, too. We do everything together, and can’t wait to start this new chapter. Ryan will love Miami, and Miami will love him.”
It’s hard to root against the Tannehills, regardless of whether you are a Dolphins fan or not.
