Gay has been among the most outstanding players of the Dolphins training camp these first 10 days. An elite athlete, he's been impossible not to notice.
MIAMI GARDENS — The first thought that came into Mike McDaniel's head when asked to describe rising linebacker Willie Gay Jr. was "magnetic."
And then the Dolphins coach got even more effusive in his praise.
"You can feel his presence throughout the building," McDaniel said, adding his "energy" is not a "one-off thing" and that energy makes him a threat as a "takeaway guy" on every tipped ball or overthrow.
Gay, a free-agent signee in March after one season in New Orleans, reacted just the way you would have thought after hearing his coach.
Full of enthusiasm and excitement.
"I just love the game so much," he said. "Love being on the field so much. I feel like everyone says, energy is contagious, you know. And if you bring it, it's going to always spread like a virus. So that's what I do, just be myself."
That passion is displayed every day by Gay before the first drill at practice. That's when Gay lets out what has become his signature scream, one you would expect to hear coming a roller coaster as the ride hits an overbanked turn.
Something, Gay says, started during his second season in Kansas City during a practice that was moved indoors because of the rain. He was drafted in the second round in 2020 by the Chiefs.
His doesn't know why it happened. It just did. And he certainly didn't know it would become a thing.
"People just started buzzing about it," he said. "But I never did it for people, I do it to get my blood flowing a little bit. And everywhere I go now, it becomes big, so it helps me get going a little bit, too."
That scream, though, is going to stay spontaneous. Gay was asked following a recent practice if he could let out a scream on cue.
"No, no, no," he said, in a very calm voice.
Gay is a two-time Super Bowl champion with Chiefs
The buzz now around the 6-foot-1, 246-pound linebacker from Mississippi State is more about his play than his scream.
Gay, 27, has been among the best performers during the first 10 days of training camp. An elite athlete who can play inside and outside linebacker, he has been impossible not to notice.
Now, the man who ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine and recorded a 39 1/2-inch vertical and 11-foot-4 broad jump, has put himself into the competition for a starting spot at inside linebacker.
"He's all over the place," Dolphins outside linebacker Bradley Chubb said. "He flies around. He's a Super Bowl champ. So I always tell him, ‘man, we need that Super Bowl DNA. Whatever bits and crumbs you got for us, man, we need it.’ "
Gay was on two Super Bowls championship teams with the Chiefs and played in a third. The team he is joining has not played in a Super Bowl in more than four decades.
But Gay, who signed a one-year deal, has a ways to go from training camp stud to regular season star. Most obvious is proving what we’ve seen in the early days of camp continues, but also showing maturity.
In college, Gay served an eight-game suspension for academic fraud and he allegedly was involved in an incident with the starting quarterback before the a bowl game that forced the quarterback to miss the game.
In 2022, he was suspended four games while with the Chiefs for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. And Gay recently admitted to quitting on the Saints late last season.
Gay was not having a good season in New Orleans and rationalized it by saying “sometimes things don’t go your way.” But then came the confession.
"Like Week 11, man, I kind of clapped out, because I was like, 'Bro, I’m playing 10 snaps a game,' ” Gay said. “I was just like, ‘Forget it.’ "
So he packed it in, at least mentally. He finished with 28 tackles, by far the fewest of his career. Gay averaged more than 58 tackles his first four years, including 88 in 2022.
Willie Gay says Dolphins can be best defense in NFL
Gay has said he’s learned from all his mistakes. And the Dolphins can only go by what they have seen so far, which certainly is more than they had hoped.
But Gay's first 10 days of practice were not flawless. He is disappointed in the three or four times he has gotten to the ball but was unable to secure it for the interception.
Even the receivers are giving him grief.
While admitting he should be catching those balls, he did throw some love his way by saying he’s closed on the ball so fast he would “panic” and just throw a hand out to knock it down instead of catching it.
"We're going to make them count," he promised, before talking more in depth about the defense.
That talk included some high praise and lofty expectations.
"I feel like we can be the best defense in the league starting up front," he said. “The D line, with the edge guys, linebackers. … I feel like the best linebacker room in the National Football League.
"We got a room that understands its role. And (if) we come together and do our job collectively, we know we can go far as long as we do that. … We're going in the right direction.”
Just like one of the newest members of the group.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Willie Gay Jr. playing his way into starting role for Miami Dolphins
Category: Football
