Mike McDaniel adds context to Al Michaels’ telling of how he met his wife

There are a lot of interesting anecdotes about Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.

During Amazon Prime’s coverage of this past Friday’s Jets-Dolphins game, McDaniel was the central focus of the broadcast. The legendary Al Michaels, who has received his fair share of criticism this year and last for seemingly lacking some enthusiasm in the booth, was in rare form, as he and his broadcast partner Kirk Herbsterit, keyed in on McDaniel, his sideline attire, and some stories the general public has never heard before.

However, it seems that Michaels omitted some crucial elements from his telling of how McDaniel met his wife, Katie. Michaels recounted an incident where McDaniel, during his coaching tenure in the United Football League, threatened to sever ties with a player for dancing with a woman. This woman, unbeknownst to many, is now McDaniel’s spouse.

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The quick-witted McDaniel didn’t appear to be a fan of how he was portrayed in this telling of events. He didn’t take any issue with what Michaels said but wanted to set the record straight and add some important context when he met with the local media on Monday.

Allow #Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel to clarify how he met and called dibs on his wife. pic.twitter.com/jjMa2ypexP

— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 27, 2023

“I’d say the skeleton of the story is correct, but there’s a couple of important caveats,” McDaniel said, via Omar Kelly. “First of all, the perceived threat I made to a player was over-the-top a joke, considering both he and I knew that as a running back coach, I had no ability to say if he was there or not. It was more in jest.

“And then second of all, my wife was telling me that people were talking about me stealing people’s girls. The dude had met her for 45 seconds. I mean I kind of did (called dibs), but I mean…it was a very unique scenario I think. It was a special place in our memories…I feel like I was painted out to be kind of a d-bag, and it wasn’t like that at all. It was all niceties. We were celebrating as a team. It was something that, I think the running back that was dancing with her — when I made that joke in jest, that it was more important to me than it was to him — and I’m pretty sure I was right.

“Right? I mean, I have a family now. Like, good decision.”

Will have to see if the running back ever comes forward to tell his side of the story, but McDaniel feels he added some important context, and that he made a good decision to make a move on his now-wife.

Was it the dance moves that won Katie over?

“Clearly,” said McDaniel, tongue-in-cheek. “It had nothing to do with anything. It wasn’t my physical disposition, I promise you that. But, it was a cool, light-hearted story that I felt took a turn.”

Amazon Prime Video won’t have any NFL playoff games during the 2023–2024 season, and the Dolphins aren’t on Thursday Night Football from here on out. So, perhaps Michaels will have to wait to add this context until next season. But, McDaniel wanted those enthralled by the story, to know that it had been a little sensationalized and taken on a life of its own, devoid of context.

[Omar Kelly]