The Miami Herald (if anyone is signed up)

[SoFlaJets]

has an article that I would post if they sent me my friggin password,about our new B/U QB.So,if anyone can please post it,it was written by Jason Cole

[Mean Papi Green]

With Dolfans, he just couldn't win

Jay Fiedler never won over Dolphins fans despite a 35-23 record as a starter, but the now-Jets quarterback always handled adversity with class.

BY JASON COLE

jcole@herald.com

Perhaps one day Dolphins fans will truly appreciate what Jay Fiedler accomplished during his five seasons in Miami.

Not the wins and losses, per se. Just the fact he maintained his sanity.

Friday, Fiedler finalized his departure from the Dolphins when he signed a five-year contract with the New York Jets, the team he rooted for while growing up on Long Island. If there's one thing Fiedler has learned, it's that following a star is no easy feat -- and takes amazing composure.

Unlike former Jets quarterback Richard Todd, who couldn't take the heat of following Joe Namath, Fiedler never grabbed a reporter and shoved him in a locker stall.

Even when given a chance to take some swipes at Dolphins fans who booed him regularly at games, Fiedler continued down the dignified path this past weekend. He politely thanked the team and the fans for the chance and moved on.

''I loved the chance I had down here,'' Fiedler said Saturday. ``It was a tough road sometimes, and I wish we had done more, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Dolphins.''

Enjoyed being booed during introductions at home? Enjoyed being the brunt of so much nasty criticism that it sometimes seemed as if Fiedler had committed crimes against humanity, not just missed a few throws?

''It really wasn't that hard,'' Fiedler said. ``I've always had the ability to focus on what I needed to do.''

Amazingly focused with a heavy dose of dignity. While the Dolphins made the playoffs in Fiedler's first two seasons, the fan base never really warmed to him because of what he wasn't.

That is, he was a long way from Dan Marino, the pretty-boy passing great who will enter the Hall of Fame in August. Unlike others who have followed great quarterbacks, such as Todd or Steve Young in San Francisco, Fiedler never seemed to give in to the pressure.

WHAT A RELIEF

Take what happened to Young after he led the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory against San Diego during the 1994 season. Burdened with following the legendary Joe Montana, Young not only beseeched teammates to ''take the monkey off'' his back during the closing minutes of the game, he got out of his limo during the ride back to the team hotel and threw up on the side of the road.

Young then walked the last mile to the hotel to regain his composure.

Most others have similarly crumbled, such as when Marty Domres followed Johnny Unitas in Baltimore.

Said Fiedler: ``There's no doubt, I recognized how heavy a burden it can be if you let it get to you. It's difficult. I'm not saying it was easy. . . . To follow arguably the greatest passer in the history of the game wasn't easy. People were used to not only winning, but winning and having 300-yard passing games along with it.

``We had to win games a different way.''

While the Dolphins were 35-23 in games Fiedler started and made the playoffs in each of his first two years, fans grudgingly gave him credit, if they gave him any at all.

''You'd think making the playoffs would be OK those first couple of years, but nobody ever wanted to give him credit for anything,'' said Fiedler's father, Ken. ``The kid played through pain. He did everything he could. But he wasn't pretty. Everybody wanted pretty. That's not what he is.''

In fact, there was a moment during the 2003 season when Fiedler replaced Brian Griese and rallied the Dolphins to a win against Washington and the fans cheered him. Ken called wife Donna from a cellphone inside Dolphins Stadium and held the phone up for her to hear. ''I couldn't believe it,'' he said.

Through all of it, however, Fiedler kept at it. He did constant charity work with the Boys and Girls Clubs, worked with kids in distress and formed his Reach for the Stars Foundation to aid children with cystic fibrosis.

He also did the actual work. He would actively coach kids in youth camps. He also was relentless about showing up. Dolphins community relation director Fudge Browne tells the story about an autograph session on a day of nasty rain.

SHOW MUST GO ON

Fiedler had water pouring through the roof of his home when he called to say he might not be able to make it to the autograph session.

Browne, who has had players drop out of events for much less, understood completely. No problem, she said, and Fiedler had certainly earned some points during the years for consistently showing up.

Shortly after the call, Fiedler showed up anyway. As he always did, a trooper in the worst of moments.

''If I put my name on something, I feel like I'm responsible to be there,'' Fiedler said.

In the process, Fiedler earned great respect from teammates.

''People would say stuff, ignorant stuff, about Jay and you'd see him handle it, smooth,'' cornerback Sam Madison said last season. 'Nobody understands all the kind of criticism and pressure he got. He could do no right. . . . People would say to me, `Don't you wish you had a better quarterback?' I told them, 'Jay is my quarterback.' ''