Zach Thomas Calls Hall of Fame 'Definitely a Win'

Former Miami Dolphins great Zach Thomas spoke about the 2023 team when addressing the media a week before his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

It's now less than a week until former Miami Dolphins great Zach Thomas takes his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2023 induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

In the meantime, Thomas stopped by the Baptist Health Training Complex on Sunday, the first day this summer that a training camp practice was open to the public and he spoke to the media beforehand.

Here were some of the highlights of his media session:

BEING A HALL OF FAMER

"I finally got that win, when it comes to being a Hal of Famer, because that’s all I played for was the wins. It wasn’t for the accolades or any of that stuff. It was always just about the wins. This is definitely a win. I’m very proud and it’s good to see everybody in here and just to be part of it. It’s pretty cool.”

“It definitely just makes me proud because everything we fought for was the championship. I’m not going to lie. I feel like if you get that championship, it makes your road a lot easier, so you had to do something right if you didn’t get the championship. I feel like I played the game right and didn’t ever get the championship. To look back at it, I wouldn’t want to change a thing, but I wanted to win for you guys. I wanted to win for the fans. They deserve it.”

On his bust and whether he's pleased with the result: “Oh yeah. I tell you what, they did a great job. They pretty much just had to make a square. (laughter) I don’t think it was too hard on them.”

PLAYING MEMORIES

On his first training camp: “Wow, 27 years ago. That’s crazy. I do remember it being hot. It still smelled of the wet grass, the dew on the grass, that early morning when they used to start before 9, right? 8:45, right, Harvey? Just being out there and just looking across – that’s Dan Marino right there man, right across from me. I’m competing against Dan Marino. And just looking back at those camps, man, I was so focused, laser-focused just to make the team. There wasn’t anything else on my mind but making the team and those were good days. Good days. It was back when the two-a-days happened. There’s no one-a-days.”

On Jimmy Johnson making him a starter as a rookie: “I talk about good time because he’s a new coach and he brought in Jack (Del Rio) to be a vet. Jack even took me to the first preseason game and he was giving me pointers. How cool is that? But I respected his game. He taught me. But back to Jimmy, for him to throw me in the mix? Look at me, man. I still don’t look the part. I was the 154th draft pick. Yeah, I was his guy, but still. To throw you in the mix before a game even starts? First game? That’s wild to me, but he saw something. That’s why Jimmy is the best. I feel like he definitely can evaluate talent when it’s on the field and so for him to throw me from the get-go, because I could’ve ended up anywhere else. I could’ve been in a 3-4, I could’ve been with one coach who didn’t believe in me and then I would’ve been a special teams guy trying to make the team on the fringe. Crazy how it plays out, isn’t it? That’s what I’m grateful for. So it wasn’t just all hard work and none of that. It was just getting a little lucky, blessed, grateful to have a guy that believed in me.”

ZACH ON THE 2023 DOLPHINS

"We have great talent on this roster. We have a great head coach, an offensive coordinator and probably the best defensive coordinator on the team now. But none of that means nothing if you don’t win in this building, you don’t win on that practice field. They know that. It’s a choice that they’ll make and we’ll see how great they want to be. I’m cheering for them. But I know this, you have to have talent to win. And we got it. I think Chris Grier’s done a great job with this roster. It’s exciting. I’m more excited this year than any year.”

FINAL WORD

What would be your message to a high school player here in South Florida or even on Texas who might be a little undersized, might be a little down on himself? What would be your message to him to motivate him? “Well, hopefully I give them a little hope. For somebody who’s undersized, when it came to talent or anything like that, to never give up if you love something. Success is just finding something you love, but it’s up to you to find that, not anybody else. If you love something, keep straight ahead. Don’t let all the outside noise from everybody doubting you, well if you want to use it as fuel, yes; but don’t let it affect your path, because I could have gave up on myself a lot. I got doubted the whole way, but I used it as fuel. So I feel like if you love something, that’s success, man – stick with it. Who cares? You don’t have to please everybody. You’re not going to. You just have to please yourself, and that’s by putting in the work, betting on yourself and no matter the results, you’ll go out a winner forever. That’s how it is, so you don’t ever have regrets.”