This was supposed to be a celebration, but there was a sadness to it, and the gentle, aching slap of mortality, the way there might be at a high-school reunion where the star quarterback limps in an old man.
The Miami Dolphins were celebrating their 50th anniversary season with a lavish banquet at the swank Diplomat Hotel off the ocean in Hollywood, and in walked all of the old heroes, the 50 players selected as the greatest in franchise history. This was December 2015.
I recall speaking briefly that night with Bill Stanfill, the great former pass rusher.