Recapping an off season unlike any other

Miami Dolphins fans enjoyed watching Coach Brian Flores and his two sons, Miles and Maxwell, via Zoom from the Flores home during the three-night NFL draft.

- CHRIS PERKINS 

As they enthusiastically celebrated each of the Dolphins’ three first-round picks — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, left tackle Austin Jackson and slot cornerback Noah Igbinoghene — fans were treated to a rarely-seen side of Flores. The man who burns with laser-hot intensity every game, with a glare that could melt an ice cube, was showing fatherly and familial instinct.

“I need to say, ‘Thank you,’ to my wife for dealing with having me home all the time,” Flores cracked via Zoom.

“I haven’t spent this much time with my family — my kids, my wife — in a long time and it’s been great to sit down and eat dinner, to help my kids with their homework.”

As Flores made this statement, the same thought occurred to everyone for the umpteenth time: We’ve never seen an offseason such as this one.

The social justice movement that prompted some players to take a knee during the national anthem the past few seasons took an even more prominent role in the nation after the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis. Several players and coaches, including Flores and safety Kavon Frazier, used their platform to speak or march on behalf of victims of social injustice.

And the threat of COVID-19 forced everyone to adjust. The NFL basically ceased to exist as a mass gathering, face-to-face, in-person league after the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in late February.

Since then it’s basically been a virtual league with most business being done via video. Team meetings are conducted virtually. Media sessions are conducted virtually.

Free agency and the draft were conducted virtually.