Cleveland Browns cornerback Travis Daniels says he's put Miami Dolphins behind himWednesday, August 27, 2008
Dennis Manoloff
Plain Dealer Reporter
linkCornerbacks need to have short memories. They cannot allow one blown coverage to bother them or it soon will lead to another.
Cornerbacks who played for the Miami Dolphins in 2007 are smart to have virtually no memory. Their position is difficult enough without having to reflect on week after week of ineptitude.
Travis Daniels, traded by Miami to Cleveland on Aug. 20, played in all 16 games of a 1-15 season. The Dolphins opened with 13 straight losses.
"Any time you go that long without a win, and only finish with one, it's extremely tough to deal with," he said. "As a competitor, you always want to come out on top, so when it doesn't happen, it wears on you. You keep putting the work in, but it doesn't show on Sundays."
That is pretty much the extent of what Daniels chooses to recall about Miami's nightmarish season.
"I've moved on, believe me," said Daniels, who also played for the Dolphins in 2005 and 2006. "The Dolphins are in the past. As soon as I got the call saying I was traded to Cleveland, everything I did down there became irrelevant."
Daniels got word of the trade after emerging from a meeting.
"It caught me by surprise, no question," he said. "At the same time, I was excited to be going to the Browns."
Daniels relished the opportunity to reunite with Browns defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, whom he first got to know in high school. Tucker was on coach Nick Saban's staff at Louisiana State University when he traveled to Daniels' home in Hollywood, Fla., on a recruiting visit.
Whatever Tucker said worked. Daniels was a four-year letterman with the Tigers (2001-04), starting 26 games. He started all 14 as a junior as LSU won the BCS National Championship, defeating Oklahoma in the title game in January 2004.
By the time Daniels had arrived in Baton Rouge, La., however, Tucker had moved on to Ohio State.
"It's great to see coach Tucker again," Daniels said. "I'm happy to finally get the chance to work with him, to learn from him, because he's a very good coach."
The Dolphins selected Daniels in the fourth round in 2005. Miami's coach at the time was Saban, who also had Daniels in 2006 before moving on to Alabama.
Daniels started 20 of 28 games in his first two seasons in Miami.
"I've learned as much football from coach Saban as anybody," he said. "The thing he always stressed was having a short memory at corner. You're going to get beat at some point. It's how you respond that matters." With Saban gone last year, Daniels started five games, shuttling between safety and corner.
The Browns acquired him to provide depth in the secondary. The fact that he has 25 NFL starts is significant given the relative inexperience of the projected starting corners. How much Daniels plays will depend on the health of guys in front of him.
"We haven't really talked about a role for me," he said. "Right now all I'm concerned about is going out and getting caught up. A lot of guys have been here for so many days - in training camp and OTAs - so I have a lot of work to do in a short time."
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