The holiday spirit was strong in the team's sixth episode of the series, with the game taking place hours before Santa's arrival and the week leading up to it filled with excitement, cheer, and of course, in true Dolphins fashion, some light-hearted holiday shenanigans.
Let's relive all the magic before and after the Dolphins' huge 22-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
The @MiamiDolphins QBs and Uncle Dan Marino had an all-time gift exchange 😂#HardKnocks on @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/UGmaMvDDUs
— NFL (@NFL) December 27, 2023
"Uncle" Dan Marino: The Regifter
What does the man with everything give friends and family for Christmas? If you're Dan Marino, it's the tongue-in-cheek gag of giving the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks a few of what might be hundreds of free Isotoner gloves lying around his home from his days as the company's spokesman.Every family has that one person who is known to regift, and apparently, the Dolphins' greatest player of all time is that person within the franchise's family. Marino did set the Dolphins players up nicely for what could be a cold trip this weekend for a road game in Baltimore.
What the holidays are all about 🤗#HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/YhLrUaBiRo
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) December 27, 2023
Christmas Spirit
A clear theme of this post-Christmas episode was paying it forward. For those Miami Dolphins players in a position to give back, it was all about providing toys to less fortunate families and their children across South Florida.The camera followed running back Raheem Mostert, cornerback Xavien Howard, linebacker Jerome Baker, and offensive lineman Terron Armstead as they welcomed children to events featuring donated toys and goods.
Mostert's trip to the Alonzo "Babe" James Community Center was featured, showing him dropping off toys in his hometown of New Smyrna Beach, about a three-hour drive from Miami up I-95.
"It's the Babe James Center, where we used to hang out with friends. It was an afterschool program. They are part of the reason I'm in this position I'm in right now," Mostert said in the voiceover while footage showed him unloading donations from a U-Haul truck.
The segment served as a good juxtaposition between the stressful business side of the team's challenges on the field and what the calendar says should be the focus.
Episode 7 Prediction: Stress
The biggest game of the Dolphins season is followed up by the biggest game of the Dolphins season, as Miami heads to Baltimore to face the AFC's first-seed Ravens, with a home-field advantage and a playoff bye week on the line. If the Dolphins fall this Sunday, next Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills could decide the winner of the AFC East, with the loser settling for a Wild Card playoff berth and a much more difficult path in the postseason. You can bet that will be talked about in next week's episode. That, and some New Year's Eve high jinks mixed in.
