April 8, 2025
Craig Heil: The Swiss Army Knife
Craig Heil spent 30 years as a member of the Miami Dolphins organization, participating in a myriad of unique responsibilities that included everything from sending balance sheets to former team owner, Joe Robbie, to submitting the names of Dolphins picks at nearly two decades of NFL Drafts, to serving as the team liaison for network sideline reporters on game days. Contributors to this episode include Sevach Melton and Dolphins Productions. Theme song created and performed by The Honorable SoLo D.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1: You're now diving sitting down with Seth Living Oh Jay, and this is strictly but I'm a.
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Speaker 2: True flphin number one of course, y'all.
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Speaker 3: This ain't the other never sports talk.
00:00:23
Speaker 1: That might have been that. Welcome back to the Fish Tanks presented by iHeartRadio right here on the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, Seth love It, and the man with the best hands in the podcast business, O J McDuffie juice. How we feeling today?
00:00:37
Speaker 4: Man?
00:00:38
Speaker 3: Feeling great? Big Seth?
00:00:39
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, man, this is an epic episode we're about to record right here. Bro, It's like, uh, something that obviously hits close to home to me, even though you know we'll talk a little bit about it. You know it happened after my my tenure with the situation. When we'll talk about the situation, be so much fun, Bro, I am. I'm pumped for this, Bro, really pumped.
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. And these are I really think again we've talked about in the past, we get all the superstars names, having you on here all the every episode we've had the Jason Pals, I'm a superstar one hundred percent on thousand percent as you would say, one thousand percent. We've had it. We've had the Dann Marinos, We've had the Larry Zakas, We've had Zach Thomas. But when you throw the name Craig Hile out there, it's one of those where people go, wait, who, what have I heard of Craig Hyle unless you know, if you know, you know, as they say, But when we introduce the former accounting manager for the Miami Dolphins, it actually might be a guy that was, for a long time the most important guy in the organization because if you needed something to get paid and you were waiting on your money, the guy you wanted to go find was Craig Hile. So, Craig, I know you listen to the show.
00:01:48
Speaker 3: I know that. You know.
00:01:50
Speaker 1: I had to do a whole lot of convincing and arm twisting. But you're here in the tak Now, how are you, sir?
00:01:55
Speaker 5: I'm doing you good. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it, and we're ready to go. We talked to and Football or ex stop whatever whatever.
00:02:02
Speaker 1: It is, whatever you got, I want to talk Craig Hile.
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Speaker 3: That's what I want to show. Bro.
00:02:09
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, it's gonna be a lot of fun. And so again if people are just kind of scratching their head because they didn't read anything about this episode or they don't understand, Yes, you were in the accounting department, but your reach is kind of crazy, how many different areas of the organization that you were involved in. And the fact of the matter is that we're just a few weeks away from the twenty twenty five NFL Draft and Jews for the longest time, I told you about this, Like when I was in college and growing up, the NFL Draft was my absolute favorite thing in the world. And so when I you know, you watch the draft and you would always see these serious looking dudes sitting there in the pit and they're all suited up, and the phones are ringing, and and if you go back far enough, the helmet's right there where the phone was actually in the helmet, and they're writing things down, and they're handing the cards that are brought up to the stage and then the commissioner reads them and franchises are changed in a moment, you know, for for better or for worse, with these announcements. And I always wondered, like, who were these legends? And for nearly two decades, our guy Craig Hile oftentimes well most of the time, alongside the great Joey Tomado, Dolphins equipment manager.
00:03:18
Speaker 6: He's a Hall of Famer.
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Speaker 1: He is a Yes, he is.
00:03:22
Speaker 6: One thing.
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Speaker 5: As we mentioned Joey, let me mention, you know what, you go into life and you meet certain people and they just stand out.
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Speaker 6: Joey is one of those.
00:03:31
Speaker 5: For me, I'll tell you, and I'm sure Juicy is going to say the same thing that he stands out the way he operates, in the way he treats people and what have you. He's the best of mine. You know, he's great. Working with him for fourteen years.
00:03:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no I mean, Joey is absolutely fabulous. Nobody would argue that. But you guys, you didn't just work together for the Dolphins for what your normal job was, but you work together. Come draft day, you guys would pack up your stuff, you would get the suit and high and you'd head to whatever city the draft was being held, and you you were those guys. Just tell us a little bit how that even came about. How did you become the draft day guy? And then we know there had to be some crazy moments sitting there in those most intense times.
00:04:17
Speaker 5: One afternoon, when Rix Bielman was the general manager, I got a call to go into the boardroom and I didn't know.
00:04:23
Speaker 6: What it was going to be.
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Speaker 5: I thought it was going to be about some business or what have you. And he said, how would you like to go to the draft and be our representative?
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Speaker 3: And I go.
00:04:32
Speaker 5: Fantastic, because let me go. Let me also go back. I was the same way you were seth. And this was like in the nineteen seventies, late sixties, and the draft wasn't on TV at that time.
00:04:46
Speaker 6: It was on radio.
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Speaker 5: And I would still take the day off to listen to it on radio, so you know what to be able to do it.
00:04:54
Speaker 6: Not every year I watched the draft.
00:04:56
Speaker 5: Some times I would take if I was working at Eastern, I would take a personal day. When it started to be it used to be in the afternoons. So he asked me to be. And at that time they didn't know who was going to be my sidekick. I think Tony was, but I think he was going to have a child. And then Joey came so we we went to our first draft. And you'll enjoy this this story. This is like a where are.
00:05:22
Speaker 1: You if it was Rick? It was?
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Speaker 6: It was the Jamar Fletcher was our first.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: Draft choice one that's one.
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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, that was that was the Jamar Fletcher trade. Or we got Chris Chambers in the second round.
00:05:37
Speaker 1: Of that yep, yep, yes.
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Speaker 5: So we're walking to our first draft and the phone rings and it's Matt Thomas for Joey, and Joey goes, oh, you let's be talking about let's go ahead and good luck guys on the draft and what have you.
00:05:53
Speaker 6: He goes, Joey, has the laundry been picked up today?
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Speaker 1: Come on?
00:06:00
Speaker 6: And we're going what.
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Speaker 5: And he said, so, yeah, it has the laundry been picked up by saint?
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Speaker 6: It's still here and what have you.
00:06:08
Speaker 5: So on the way to the draft, as we walked towards Radio City, Joey is trying to put a fire out of somebody to pick up the laundry.
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Speaker 7: Something like a reminder, right, kind of brought you back to earth, like, yeah, they're rolling up like big timers, right, and then you gotta you know, back to life, you know what I mean in terms of what the other the main job is.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: You have to get back to that real quick and then get back and it's.
00:06:38
Speaker 1: Too good, and that was looking for him. I mean, so he had to call Joey's sell right, So he called that number downstairs to the office. He didn't answer there, and he was going to find him to get the sang laundry picked up. That is funny, but like what is in some I guess if you think about it, you guys aren't the ones who are responsible for the picks in terms of whether if that player ends up being a superstar or a bust or anything in between. You're not held accountable for it. But in that moment, like get that on the phone, you want to make sure you heard everything right, you're spelling it right, that your handwriting is legible, and then you got to go hand that car.
00:07:14
Speaker 5: There's a lot of nervous periods, believe me. I mean, you go in there and what happens is a representative will come to your table right before you draft. So they have one at the table that is picking at that time, and one who us who would be waiting for it. And what would they do is they would radio who the pick is, that we could relay that too back to Miami, and that they would be able to know who had been picked and to go for it from.
00:07:43
Speaker 1: There before them. Okay, yeah, so information's going both ways.
00:07:47
Speaker 5: Yes, but we get things that kind of differently than the rest of the NFL clubs did. We basically did play by play. Other teams would sit there and wait for the phone to ring or periodically talk to them on on the line, but we actually did a play by play. Joey was responsible for all the emailing and what have you, and I was responsible for talking and and then so basically Joey would be the eyes and ears for trades and what have you that we could tell them if you saw the verify or move to another table, you know that there's a trade. So we would be a basically be able to give them who it was being traded to before it happened.
00:08:32
Speaker 1: Interesting. Interesting, And then and so you're are you on the line the whole time? Yeah, so you're the whole time you're there, yes, and you're on the other end.
00:08:43
Speaker 5: And so we would give them the pick because you know, sometimes, especially back in the early times, there was a delay action, so we would be able to give them as they announced it at the podium. So as they announced it at the podium, we've been able to give it to them right there, and that they even saved thirty seconds forty seconds before they got a text to them, So.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: That time's valuable though.
00:09:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, everything was time. They wanted to know everything.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you were ready to give it to him.
00:09:13
Speaker 6: Oh, absolutely, no, you were.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: But Craig, you were telling me when we were when we were talking the other day getting ready for this, you were saying, in the seven draft, and that's that's an infamous draft here for this organization.
00:09:26
Speaker 6: I won't forget this one.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: You gotta tell us that story.
00:09:30
Speaker 6: Okay, we're doing the seven.
00:09:31
Speaker 5: And of course that was the Brady Quinn trade, the Brady Quinn draft choice that everybody thought the Dolphins were gonna pick it up.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: Sir, Dolphins needed a quarterback and everybody's eyes right, and they went.
00:09:41
Speaker 5: And they went, and they said, they came on the line they said Quinn. I thought they said gin And I said, we picked Brady Quinn and they go, no, it's Ted Ginn.
00:09:56
Speaker 1: So you thought you heard Quinn.
00:09:59
Speaker 6: Yes, you know, it's kind of like it's close.
00:10:02
Speaker 1: But I don't know. Were you trying to manifest something there?
00:10:05
Speaker 5: Maybe subconsciously I was, But but so that's when we drafted the gin family.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: If you remember I do. We remember it very very well from Cleveland, right.
00:10:18
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, yes. But there's one other thing about the draft also. We used to in the beginning, when it first started, we had no books or anything. Once in a while they would give out an our lives gade so a guide. So we were basically having to look up the name and what have you, and it got harry. If they go ted ginn is fine, but if it was a long name or what have you, you'd have you would be you would be searching. Of course, you had nerves on the other end. So in the at least in the in the first few years. But as time went on, we got a book, we got numbers, and it all worked out, and it even got to the point where we would check.
00:10:59
Speaker 6: They would say when we.
00:11:00
Speaker 5: Were on the clock, or right before we go on the clock, they would give us like four names that possibly could be picked, and we checked them off so we would be propped.
00:11:09
Speaker 3: Yes, oh man, that's too good.
00:11:12
Speaker 2: That's to you, you know, speaking the drafts, like Craig, was there a name that you guys you talk about the Quinn and Gain situation, but is there a name that popped up. You don't have to name any names where you're like in your mind, in your mind, like what the hell are we drafting this guy for?
00:11:26
Speaker 3: Like really this guy? Like, I mean, you're you're a Dolphin.
00:11:30
Speaker 5: All right, there would be something and I'm a draft deck right, but Eddimore, I didn't.
00:11:36
Speaker 6: I mean I can remember that one. I mean so we all can that one popped in juice.
00:11:44
Speaker 2: That was right, it real quick too before before I move on, like say, it was nineteen ninety three, you know, and the Dolphins had the twenty fifth pick in the draft, and that name, I don't know, some guy's name came across pathetically speaking, hypothetically speaking, what would Craig Hoile's react and be to that name come across the come across the board.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: That's all right, Craig yo yo O.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: J mcduffy got nine years with the Dolphins, whether you wanted it to happen or not, Craig, all right with that?
00:12:16
Speaker 5: No, I remember you with the blockbuster ball, buddy, you had a fantastic year.
00:12:23
Speaker 3: Thank you? All right?
00:12:25
Speaker 2: Something speak of the draft day. I mean, let's let's get into a little bit more now, Craig, you actually you actually had a cameo appearance in the movie Draft Day, actually playing yourself that intense dude getting getting a call from the Dolphins like we talked about, and the pick was coming in. I mean, how many accountants can you say co starred with Kevin Costner in a major motion picture and tell us how that experience was.
00:12:49
Speaker 6: Oh, it was fantastic.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: We had to go in the day before the draft and they brought us all in, and they brought the owner. There were there were a few stars that came in, like the owner of the team and what have you. If you see the movie, it's all the episodes of all the parts that were from Radio City were filmed at that time. And it was fantastic. But you know what, you could blink and miss me. I mean, I was on there for a few seconds.
00:13:14
Speaker 1: But you will sell yourself short in it.
00:13:17
Speaker 3: You have your sad card from it.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: I mean, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:13:22
Speaker 1: What about a credit? Is there a credit? Wait a minute, who was your agent? For crying out loud? Joey?
00:13:32
Speaker 6: He couldn't know Joey was in. Joey couldn't make it.
00:13:35
Speaker 5: He had to go to the Giants and the Jets facilities because we were talking about building our own, so he was checking them out that day, so he was inn't even there.
00:13:45
Speaker 1: He missed his big opportunity. Did it take like forever? Did they have retake?
00:13:50
Speaker 6: Yeah, it took a few hours.
00:13:52
Speaker 5: Yes, sometimes they just would go over and over and over again.
00:13:56
Speaker 2: You know, Big scept reminds me that United Wake worse. So I did you know playing Pokemon? Yeah, you don't realize how long things these these this filming takes. Yeah, when you know, I was on the sitting in these little lass chairs with these with these little kids for like eight hours for thirty second commercial, you know, So yeah, that over and over and over again.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Craig was kind of crazy.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: Too good, Oh it's too good all right. So look, we clearly just dove right into this thing and went to what we felt was topical with the draft coming up. But the reality is, when you have thirty years within an organization, was it exactly thirty? When you're with an organization for thirty years, you probably have more stories to share than we could even squeeze into one podcast. But Juuice, like any great superhero, it's important to know their origin story. So I get you know, Craig. I think when people completely outside of sports find out you worked for professional sports franchise or like, how in the world did you ever get that job? And for me, I think it was a little bit more of a traditional story. I went to school for sports administration, I did an internship with one team, and you know, then got an opportunity with another. Yours, though, is anything but traditional. So I know, before you ever worked for the team, you were just this mega Miami Dolphins fan. And I want to just kind of explain to people, because I think fans really relate to this. Explain to people just how big of a Dolphins fan that you were, and then how you ultimately started to before you worked for the team, you actually your life took you to work with the team. So if you can kind of through that history.
00:15:38
Speaker 5: I'm probably one of the few now remaining that was actually at the seventy two Perfect Season game. I was in Los Angeles at the Coliseum for that game.
00:15:49
Speaker 1: So Washington sixteen, you know, trying to go seventeen to o they're.
00:15:53
Speaker 5: Twenty years old and jumped on the field and what have you, and you know what, and this is history seventeen and oh and we're still sitting here many many years later and still so you only came undefeated.
00:16:07
Speaker 1: What in a super Bowl ticket? Like, how did you score a Super Bowl? How difficult was it to get it?
00:16:11
Speaker 5: Was the season ticket holder? And won it in a lottery?
00:16:14
Speaker 1: Really? Yes, so you're a season ticket holder? Come on? Yes, And so you had to enter a lottery and only a certain amount of season ticket holders got it. We got to go. So you go to California, you live down here, I'm assuming yes, yeah, season ticket holder obviously, and so and you're there watching Jake Scott at the you know, MVP and all that stuff, and you rush the field.
00:16:37
Speaker 6: Yes, I had a camera and I just had to have the moment. You had to have the moment. It was a perfect.
00:16:43
Speaker 1: Season, unbelievable.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: So you have you have the footbage day. What kind of camera do you had?
00:16:47
Speaker 5: I mean it looks like the films, like the movie ones that were probably just what have you?
00:16:56
Speaker 3: You know?
00:16:56
Speaker 1: Can you imagine trying to bring that into a stadium nowadays.
00:16:59
Speaker 6: Get in You wouldn't be able to get it.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: So what was that like? Well, like, what was that like? Rushing the field and all that stuff's going on and coach Shula is getting hoisted on the shoulders and I was.
00:17:09
Speaker 5: Right there and I got in some shots and they kept flickering on Dolphins are super Dolphins are super perfect season?
00:17:18
Speaker 1: The yes, unbelievable. So then then walk us through. So that's when you're you're twenty years old, You're just a kid. But then how many years later you're now working with uh, this is a real throwback. Now, just when I throw this name out there, Eastern Airlines. Okay, they call us the old guys here in the fish tag. So you're working with Eastern Airlines and life brings you back to your favorite sports ranch.
00:17:42
Speaker 6: Yes, and here's another story.
00:17:45
Speaker 5: Before Eastern Airlines, I went to radio school, so I was a radio DJ.
00:17:50
Speaker 6: I don't even think Seth knows this.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: I don't know any of this stuff.
00:17:53
Speaker 6: So I was a.
00:17:54
Speaker 5: Radio announcer in what have you? And I went to school. My first job was in vic Burg, Mississippi. I left for Vicksburg, Mississippi the day after the Dolphins beat Minnesota in Super Bowl eight. I guess, so I went there and I eventually came back and got a job in Hollywood. To make a long story short, my parents passed away, and my father used to record my games or my shows and they were on eight track. So this is these These were from nineteen seventy four. I recently got them uploaded. I played it and it was and I was talking about the day I was on the air, the day that the Dolphins Zonka kick in Warfield went to the World Football Wow in Toronto.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: Can you believe that Greig does Does Seth know what an eight track is?
00:18:48
Speaker 3: I don't.
00:18:48
Speaker 6: I don't think I don't know.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: I don't think he knows.
00:18:51
Speaker 1: Come on, man, it's very rare that I'm the young guy in the room anymore. But I get it. You can make all that he's just a kid.
00:18:58
Speaker 6: Those were the worst things, man. They would get jam continuously.
00:19:01
Speaker 5: You don't know the problems that this guy had to try to get it redone.
00:19:06
Speaker 1: I mean, too good, too good. But yeah, get us the Eastern Airlines, man.
00:19:11
Speaker 5: We need to get Eastern. And they knew I was a fan and what have you. And it came that I was mentoring under a guy. Remember I'm in the finance department. All these are all these our side to being other than in the finance department. And I mentioned under the charter coordinator for the Dolphins, and he said, you know, you could help us out at the beginning. So Stu Weinstein and I used to stand in front of the gate as the players came in. Remember there was no going through security at those times anywhere, so we would check off the players as they came in, and then they off.
00:19:47
Speaker 6: There would go and.
00:19:49
Speaker 1: But you're working for Eastern You're not you're working with the don yet, but you were still working with Stu.
00:19:54
Speaker 5: Y And then eventually, I think we did that for two or three and then it came that I could do the actual charter, and I did the charter, and the first charter that I had was this we opened the season in San Diego. And what happened was that James Pruitt missed the flight the first game of the year. He was a rookie and missed the flight. So I said, we'll go ahead, we'll bring I'll pick him up. So I had to go to the airport, go into the airport and pick him up. And believe it or not, he was relieved. He thought that Don Shula was going to pick him up. He was so relieved he thought that Shula was gonna be there.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Hold on so so the plane takes off, you don't travel with the team. You just make sure that the charter.
00:20:51
Speaker 6: No, I'm on the charters. I'm actually on the charters.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: So but how did you have to go after So he missed a flight, so you didn't get on the flight. Do that?
00:21:00
Speaker 6: No, the game we've been played in San Diego.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Oh, so you got there, and then they flew him separately, and then when you got to San Diego you.
00:21:10
Speaker 6: Had to go again.
00:21:12
Speaker 1: Now you didn't get him in Miami. So he flew he flew commercial.
00:21:16
Speaker 6: He flew commercial, absolutely.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: And you're just there waiting with the sign.
00:21:22
Speaker 6: Because I thought Sula was going to be pucking me up.
00:21:28
Speaker 1: He was Coach was gonna find him something.
00:21:30
Speaker 3: Sure, he's in the book.
00:21:32
Speaker 2: You know, he's in that fine book that we wish we could find out about with Coach Sula.
00:21:36
Speaker 3: But that is you know, I was actually late to mine. I was late.
00:21:39
Speaker 2: I was I didn't miss my first flight, my first rookie flight, but I was late.
00:21:44
Speaker 3: We were all worried about Shula's ass. If you know, late missed all those things. That's the worst thing you could do, especially as a rookie. Is even worse, right, a lot.
00:21:55
Speaker 5: Oh Jay, A lot of guys were very close, believe me, through the years.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: The real good Well, they should have got the speech that Harvey gave me. You know, Harvey Green told me my first trip, and we're going to talk about my first trip, because Craig, you and I will be forever connected for me getting my first road trip. But my first trip, Harvey said, he said, remember, PR guys wait on planes. Planes don't wait on PR guys. So planes don't wait on anybody other than Don Shuler or Jimmy Johnson in my case. So somebody should have given James prue At that speech.
00:22:26
Speaker 5: Yes, you know, I'm sure he remembers it to this day.
00:22:30
Speaker 2: That's not the right way to get started in the NFL, that's for damn sure, especially with coach. Yeah great, So at what point, you know, you go from the charter coordinator. At one point did somebody say, you know, Craig, why don't you leave Eastern and come work with us, you know in the account department?
00:22:46
Speaker 3: When did that?
00:22:47
Speaker 5: I mean, Eastern went on strike, okay, and we were fur load and it was like, all right, what are you going to do now? And I happened to look in the newspaper, you know, these are all signs. I looked for signs and there it was a Dolphins advertising for an accounting which was my specialty. So I called Stu Einstein up and basically he talked to them and I got an interview and they hired me. I had to wait now to be approved by Joe Robbie because he was at the NFL owners meeting.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: But did Joe knew who you were? Mister Robbi knew who you were?
00:23:27
Speaker 3: Oh?
00:23:27
Speaker 6: Yeah, he knew who?
00:23:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was.
00:23:31
Speaker 3: Was mister Robbie on the planes? Was he on the charter as well? Oh?
00:23:35
Speaker 6: Yes he was. Shall we go into that story?
00:23:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right.
00:23:43
Speaker 5: The stadium was being built and we were going to Boston. Usually when we went to New England you went into Providence, but for this year, for this time, we went into Boston. Well, mister Robbie would come on a car like a golf cart with his bags and they would be dropped off and whoever was in charge for the Dolphins at that point in time would pick them up and put him on the plane. Well, this time it didn't happen. We got into the air and mister Robbie decided he wanted to work on stadium plans. So they came to me and said, do you know have do you is mister Robbie's bags underneath? Did they accidentally put him underneath and not bring him up?
00:24:27
Speaker 6: I said, I don't know.
00:24:29
Speaker 5: I said, talk to your represent talk to representative.
00:24:33
Speaker 6: I don't know.
00:24:34
Speaker 5: Well, the next thing I know is I don't want to give the guy's name. So I'm just but the guy, the guy who was in charge, did not pick him up, and now everything breaks loose. Mister Robbie, of course, loved to have cocktails in the morning, so now he's getting where is my bags?
00:24:56
Speaker 6: I need to know where my bags are.
00:24:58
Speaker 5: So I finally went up to the cockpit and said, hey, listen, can you radio back and have somebody check to see if there's anything still sitting there at the gate and he bags and what have you? And they came back and said yes, So I said, hold.
00:25:15
Speaker 1: On, So they were left in the tarmac.
00:25:17
Speaker 6: Yes, they they were left at the gate because if they had.
00:25:20
Speaker 1: Been put underneath, you could almost like survive.
00:25:22
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, mister Robbie, accidentally we're put underneath in what have you?
00:25:26
Speaker 6: Right now?
00:25:27
Speaker 1: We left you?
00:25:28
Speaker 5: Now, now there is there's chaos breaking out. I mean with the flight attendants, where is the bags, what have you. So we get into the air and Charlie Callahan, who is the dolphins original PR director, was on board and he's trying to counsel this young guy of how to handle this situation because you now you're dealing with the owner. So we got into the air and I told them. I came back and told the Dolphin people that it was that they were basically and they would be sent to Providence. So they said, can you turn the plane around and go back? He said absolutely not, that's not happening.
00:26:10
Speaker 6: So I went.
00:26:14
Speaker 5: So I went, and I told him I would pick up the bags in Providence once we got into private, once we got into Boston, I would drive the Providence and picked them up. So in the meantime, we land in Boston and the individual tries to exploin. Mister Robbie is getting into his limousine which was parked right outside of the gate. He tried to talk to him, and the next thing I know, I see this body flying back and mister Robbie must have blown them out of most have blown them up and he and at that point in time, at that point in time, the individual's responsibilities.
00:26:52
Speaker 6: Were turned over other people. At that time. He stayed. He did not get fired. He did not get fired. I think he may have gotten suspended.
00:26:59
Speaker 1: But oh my god.
00:27:01
Speaker 5: So I went and the next thing I know, I was being summons to the hotel that mister Robbie was holding court at. So I go in and he's holding court with Rick Weaver, who was the play by play announcer. So I sit down and he says, can you just tell me what's going on here? He says, I have people telling me fifteen different stories. I said, to tell you the truth, mister Robbie. The bags were left at the gate, and that's the end of the story. I mean, they were left and they're being they're being sent to Providence and I'll pick them up and put them into your room or get them to your room when they come.
00:27:40
Speaker 6: He says.
00:27:40
Speaker 5: That's all I needed to know. I just needed somebody to tell me a straight story.
00:27:45
Speaker 1: Wow. Wow, I wonder what the fifteen stories were that he was good. I would have loved to heard like at least three of those, but he just wanted to know.
00:27:54
Speaker 5: At that point, he just wanted He said, That's the only thing I wanted to know is what happened.
00:27:58
Speaker 6: I said, basically, how it happened. What happened? Nobody? Nobody put it on the plane.
00:28:03
Speaker 1: I mean, the bags aren't here exactly, Craig.
00:28:07
Speaker 2: How was it working for mister Robbie? How I'm not I love the Robbie family. Obviously they drafted me, but they treat me like so.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: Well. How was it working with.
00:28:15
Speaker 5: The Robbin It was fantastic. I had no problems at all. And you know, Don Shula was a gem also. I never at working at Eastern and with the Dolphins, I never got screamed at, and he always treated me with all respect.
00:28:32
Speaker 1: Well, that's a good thing. You found those bags, that's right away.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: Big said that right away. He's got that street credit. Now.
00:28:41
Speaker 5: Of course, Stuve Weinstein takes it a little further when he explains it. He says he could see me coming in with the bags over my arms and hunched over and carrying the bags.
00:28:53
Speaker 6: Mister Robbie, mister Robbie, the bags are here. I got them for you, but that didn't happened.
00:28:59
Speaker 1: So, but I guess at some point that you did get the bags from Providence and then you brought him in.
00:29:04
Speaker 6: He was he was out to dinner. So our dom in is room in that.
00:29:09
Speaker 1: I like Stew's version better, I think I think I do like that version. But so you know, Jews asked you what it was like working with him. You also worked in the accounting department, and I and I, you know, there's a whole other side of Joe Robbie when you start talking about accounting and you know, Juice and I, Now we file, we submit an invoice, and we got to go through a process and uh, you know, it goes through whatever accounting and there's computer systems and all these other things had to be a little bit different back in those days.
00:29:38
Speaker 6: Well, it was a trial balance.
00:29:39
Speaker 5: We send the trial balance to his apartment and he would look at it and highlight with a yellow with debt, who to pay and who not to pay? I mean, he'd let you know who to pay and who not to pay. And sometimes things were off in those days. The achieving revenue wasn't what it is today, and they was reflected a lot of times with the season ticket holders money being coming in. So there would be periods when the money wasn't coming in. It would be tough when he got sick, it could be weeks and sometimes months before you would get stuff back.
00:30:16
Speaker 6: So we would cut the checks and put him on the top of a.
00:30:18
Speaker 5: File cabinet and wait we were released, and wait for approval from Joe Robbie.
00:30:24
Speaker 1: Yes, So every single bill that got paid or didn't get paid, that decision was made, every single one of them was made by Joe Robbie.
00:30:32
Speaker 5: Correct, unless it became a dire situation where Eddie Jones, the president would make a decision or Tim Robbie or that's going to say ever around at that time and time.
00:30:47
Speaker 6: But on the day to day no, unless.
00:30:49
Speaker 5: It was a dire emergency, you waited, and sometimes he would go out of town and you couldn't find him.
00:30:57
Speaker 1: He's a busy guy. So you are sending your sending over that spreadsheet.
00:31:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, and we would go up today.
00:31:05
Speaker 3: Up, it's not back.
00:31:06
Speaker 6: I guess he's not paying this week.
00:31:09
Speaker 3: But everybody, everybody like me, players personal no, no, no.
00:31:14
Speaker 6: No, no, this is venders. This is get paid.
00:31:18
Speaker 1: Players got so once I had a contract that.
00:31:22
Speaker 5: Was gonna have absolutely the players were never affected. It was the day to day vendors. Right, Okay, keeps going.
00:31:28
Speaker 3: I want to clear that up.
00:31:29
Speaker 6: Yes, yes, not players.
00:31:32
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well Jesus you don't mess a lot of money.
00:31:36
Speaker 6: Saying I always got my money.
00:31:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I'll try. That was the first one in line sometimes, Craig.
00:31:42
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. So what what I also think is just fascinating. One of my favorite words about your tenure, Craig, is, as we said, you're the accounting guy, but you were involved in so many other aspects of the operation. We just talked about the draft, and when it came to the department that I worked in media relations, you were on game days an extension of our department. Specifically, you were the sideline liaison. You worked every home game, every road game, and that was long before I got there. But and you would. You were basically Harvey's eyes and ears on the sideline. And I can't tell you how many times, you know, we had those walkie talkies. Craig, Hile, Craig, hile, come in, Craig, get to the phone, you know, and it's like you had to answer that phone, and Harvey's screaming down. Somehow he didn't realize you guys were using the telephone. But he's as if you thought you could hear him from the press box, but he's screaming through the phone. I see, you're like all dramatic behind the You know, how did before you even talk about the crazy stories that existed that that took place when you were there? How did that come about? How did they decide in the same way that Rick Spielman calls to say, hey, let's send Craig Craig Hile to the draft. How does Harvey decide that Craig Hile from accounting is going to be my sideline liaison.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: I can explain that I basically was like the utility in fielder on a team, or the Swiss army knife, a little of this, a little of that. I was a guy that you know that would play third base and then be pitching or playing another position.
00:33:14
Speaker 6: So it was.
00:33:17
Speaker 5: Scott Stone when the sideline reporters came into effect. Scott's Stone said, hey, listen, we're gonna need somebody to be on the sidelines to kind of monitor the situation. And he said, I told Harvey that you would probably be interested in it, and that's how that happened. Scott, Yes, it was Scott Yes, so and in those days it was in the beginning you would have sidelight reporters periodically, not every game when it started out, and then it eventually became more and more and more and more so. And in those times they used to tell you that you had to tell people that they couldn't get over the stripes. There would be the field is line where NFL films can go and the networks can go, but not so if somebody put their foot on there, you.
00:34:06
Speaker 6: Had to be wearing a green hat and tell them not to wear.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: You get that green hat. Oh, I've got a green hat story that I'm glad that Scott didn't tell in his episode. But yes, I'll have to tell that story at some point. Yes, but they got me with that green I wasn't trouble I got I got punked. I got punked again with that darn green hat. Yes, absolutely, yes, But Craig, so there's got to be between dealing with Harvey, between going the stadiums like you know in the Coliseum or you know Oakland with the black hole. There had to be some stories, because I know my favorite one that you absolutely have to talk about took place in Buffalo. But there had to be some crazy sideline experiences for you.
00:34:49
Speaker 5: Every stadium that I went to you had hecklers. I mean even to my level. I mean they were hecklers and you just keep on moving. In the black hole, Will was eerie. That was that was you go in there and it's it's not your normal NFL stadium, believe me, but experience. I know, I know what story you're going to be talking about, though there's another one coming up.
00:35:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, in Buffalo. You gotta tell us because Jus does not know this story and it is epic and I now have photos of it because you had photos of it.
00:35:23
Speaker 6: Yes, you gotta tell it. Okay.
00:35:25
Speaker 5: I was in Buffalo and it was a playoff game and it was snowy and it was freezing cold, and they wanted to show what cleats the players were wearing. So they said it was Leslie Visit was a silenty reporter. So she said, I want you to get a shoe in what have you and hold on to it and we're going to use it for prom during one of the segments in the game. So I'm holding it in pregame and the next thing I know is these guys are calling me over and they're saying, can you come over here when you got the shoe. I said, We're going to be promptly. He says, can you give me an autograph? I said, an autograph?
00:36:06
Speaker 1: Me?
00:36:06
Speaker 5: You want an autograph from me? So the guy and it was unbelievable. Why somebody would want that, I don't know. So that was just the start of what was to happen. So I signed whatever whatever, So I wait, he.
00:36:21
Speaker 3: Knew you were going to.
00:36:23
Speaker 5: And then then the next thing is the game started and I heard some mumbling and it was like I thought it was a group wrapped behind the bench like a hole, asshole with the shoe. Asshole with the shoe. And then I come, yeah, all right, whatever it is buffalo. Whatever the next thing is, there was a time out and all of a sudden, like the whole sideline was channing. Asshole with his shoe, asshole with his shoe as and at that point, what do you do?
00:36:58
Speaker 6: I mean, and what do you do?
00:37:03
Speaker 1: Ashole with the shoe doesn't.
00:37:05
Speaker 5: Like I had, I took to shoot from Cindarella's cassle.
00:37:11
Speaker 6: And stole it.
00:37:15
Speaker 1: The bubble fans and things that that becomes, but that mom mentality loo sho, oh my god, it's just so good. Wait to see these pictures, Juice. He's signing the autograph and he's smiling the whole shoe were you did you just kind of embrace it at that point.
00:37:32
Speaker 6: Yes, I guess, you know, he just kept down my job. I'm just ignoring. I mean, but it was like, come.
00:37:37
Speaker 1: On, professional, sup professional. Well, speaking of Leslie Visser and working the sidelines, you and I had a little run in, and Leslie's as sweet as all get out. Yeah she is, and we both have worked god knows how many games that she was a sideline reporter on, but there was one that didn't go too well for us.
00:37:53
Speaker 5: Greg, No, I was. I was assigned at the end of the games. You guys would come down to PR first, definitely come down. Harvey would come down, and everybody would come down and you would be given assignments of postgame interviews and what have you.
00:38:07
Speaker 6: This is a Monday night game, so this is high pro this game.
00:38:11
Speaker 5: Well yeah, yes, and I think Lamar Thomas scored three touchdowns.
00:38:15
Speaker 1: That game Denver.
00:38:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yes, so we go and I got assigned to radio to get a postgame radio So.
00:38:25
Speaker 6: Mine went fine, It was good, fine. My interview went fine.
00:38:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a who signed? Who did you have to get?
00:38:34
Speaker 6: Did Damon? You would playing? I think it was dam.
00:38:36
Speaker 1: It was Danny, It was Dan all right, then it would Yeah, I got, I got Al, I got Lamar.
00:38:43
Speaker 3: You got the bar.
00:38:46
Speaker 1: That's all I remember too. And Leslie Visser, I told him still, I stood right behind him, and I you know, I think I've told this on the show before a lot of times. I would almost hold on to the jersey right at the small of a guy's back, right before you know, they have to zero, and just so just to kind of give a little bit of a tug to remind, because I get it, you get caught up in the emotion. And for Lamar it was the game of his career, tru this was like, you know, if it was you, it was like either the game winner in Cincinnati or the three touchdowns against you know, the Saint. Like this was the game of his career. And I get all that, but man, I told him, like look and shoot, you know, Lamar, you don't think that he wanted to be on Monday night with his helmet off talking to Leslie Vesser like I don't. I just don't know what happened and then but part of the problem was it was Marino against Elway. Yes, from a like the fifty yard line to capture that was just as I mean, it was like a super Bowl almost because he knew that if these two guys were ever gonna face it off against each other again. And so all that did was add to the trouble of trying to find lt because he took off and sus handed. I went to Grant and he was gone. I had no shot, and boy, Leslie Visser was beside her.
00:40:01
Speaker 5: I was standing with her, waiting for you. I was standing with her. I had finished my interview with her and was going like.
00:40:10
Speaker 6: Where is he?
00:40:11
Speaker 3: Where is he?
00:40:13
Speaker 1: And you know they're going off the air because you know the game's already.
00:40:15
Speaker 5: I mean, it's he can't tell you she loved you, though, she said, you know, Seth, I love you.
00:40:20
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's exactly how it went down. Yeah, yeah, I'll never forget that one, that's for sure. And the last thing on this juice that I'll say is so I came in ninety six my internship year. Travel was not part. I was just going to work the home games. That was the deal. And Craig was the guy who would travel. He would do all the road games and for you know, as the sideline guy. But I went back and looked at the schedule. I thought the first game was Oakland, Craig, that I got to go to. But my first road game was actually at Philly. It was we played the Eagles. Juice went off seven for one hundred and thirty something yards, two touchdowns. The problem was Friar who was on the other side. It had four touchdowns and he went on. But I got to work in the booth for that game. I wasn't even on sidelines. I got to work in the booth with Sam Wisch and Marv Albert, which was quite a wow. Okay, but you weren't available. I think I got to go because you so I need to know if this was strategic, because you started to not feel well and you had maybe this ear infection and couldn't fly, and then like intermittently you would go and then comes Oakland in a five hour flight and you were full blown you can't travel anymore, and and next thing you know, that was it. I was on the road moving forward. How bad was your damn ear infection?
00:41:38
Speaker 3: Gregor?
00:41:39
Speaker 1: Were you just trying to my.
00:41:40
Speaker 6: Ear was.
00:41:42
Speaker 5: Like I told you before, Carly Simon did a song called You're So Vain, and nobody knows to this day what the end of that song or who is about.
00:41:56
Speaker 6: I'm going to tell you this same thing.
00:41:58
Speaker 1: Is that good?
00:41:58
Speaker 3: All right? All right?
00:42:00
Speaker 1: Well, so there you go. That's how I got on the road.
00:42:03
Speaker 3: That is so good. That is so good, It's so great.
00:42:07
Speaker 2: You know, I'm hearing all this this great stuff, and less you talk about the things that you've done, and you know, only earlier when we talk about you know, mister Robbie, seemed like nothing has anything to do with the county, you know, I mean I have to imagine these different roles that you've had, you know, in the positions that you were put in. It kind of had to work with, you know, people that you know, most of the staff had had never had to interact with, you know, especially people on the business side of it. So I mean, did you ever feel like you were kind of a bridge between the football side of the operation, in the corporate side of the football team.
00:42:40
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, there were stories, yeah, let me hear them.
00:42:44
Speaker 5: You know, at times football operations in the front office they get along but they like to be divided. Football operations is very protective of keeping who comes in, what happens, and what have you. Especially they can be as you as a player, you can remember that people would push you for marketing deals or marketing and the coaching staff did not like that. They wanted to be kept away from it. They felt it was a distraction. So at times I had to interven. And because I worked for the draft and I was close to most of all the coaches and the scouts, they trusted me. I mean, I guess I was one that they that they actually trusted, and I got they would ask me to do things that basically and not let the other side know who I was working for, and you know, and it got tricky. It was, you know, you just had to be a politician at times.
00:43:45
Speaker 1: Something else, Craig that people simply could not know is, although we're getting a glimpse into it now as we're looking here, you secretly have one of the world's most prolific collections of Miami Dolphin's content, so to for decades, Like when I started working there, I would hear rumors about the room, you know, the room, and I was like, wait a minute, so it's like this bat cave, if you will, of Craig's Miami Dolphin's collection, and we see there's memorabilia there. But you have audio recordings, you have videos of games, you have videos of commercials or interviews guys did on the you know some WPLG show that you know, Hank Goldberg used to do with Jimmy Seffalower. You have all this stuff on the tapes there behind you talk about the room because she was I was like, man, I gotta see this. When I started to hear about it, It's like, this is like the Library of Congress of Miami Dolphin's history. I wanted to see this darn thing. And he's like, nobody goes into the room.
00:44:48
Speaker 5: I've got a lot of tapes and there you know that they go back to probably seventy eight, seventy nine when VCRs just first came out. I had one of the first ones and what have you. I was working at Eastern that time, and sometimes if I had to miss a game, you gotta have a tape of it.
00:45:05
Speaker 6: So yeah, and then.
00:45:07
Speaker 5: It involved to have every game. But today you don't need to record it because you got an NFL Plus and you can go back and see any game that you want to see.
00:45:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you have that stuff. So like all those things over your right shoulder there, those are all game tapes.
00:45:23
Speaker 5: Yes, this whole wall is game tapes.
00:45:27
Speaker 1: That's crazy, It's absolutely crazy. We will talk about licensing.
00:45:34
Speaker 2: You convert your eight track to you know, yeah, you can convert your VCR and your VTS is to you know, DVDs.
00:45:43
Speaker 6: Or somebody convert everything.
00:45:45
Speaker 5: Or he had the tapes and I bought them and now I have them in tape and also okay, okay.
00:45:52
Speaker 6: And CDs.
00:45:53
Speaker 1: I know I needed something recently. I reached out to him and damnit, and Craig didn't have it. And then we're talking season road game. He had it. So that's all I know, and it's it's pretty impressive, all right, Craig. Look, you are a loyal listener of The Fish Tank, for which we are grateful. But because of that, you know that we wrap up every episode the same way. It's the Fish Tank two minute drill. So now you are on the clock, sir. Okay, you've got two minutes. We're gonna throw a few fast paced questions at you, have a little bit of fun, and then We'll get you across the goal line and get you out of here. Sound good.
00:46:31
Speaker 4: Let's go for it, all right, Greg Kyle is in the two minute drill.
00:46:35
Speaker 3: You're ready to say it? All right? Here we go, Craig, you ready? All right?
00:46:38
Speaker 2: People who follow this show closely, like you do, know the Big Seth is a mountain dew fiend. But from what I understand, you're a mellow yellow guy. Tell Seth, yeah, Tell Seth, that's better to stay mellow that the grab adu. Why is it better to stay mellow than the grab a du?
00:46:58
Speaker 5: No, No, Jerry, totally different. Mellow yellow has been around for a long time, a long time. And you know what I just think if you put them together or put them side by side.
00:47:12
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, he's a traditionalist. He's a traditionalist.
00:47:16
Speaker 3: I get it.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: I get it, all right. Toughest person to work for in your Miami Dolphin's tenure. Was it Joe Robbie? Was it Don Shula? Or was it was it Harvey Green?
00:47:26
Speaker 6: Harvey Green could be tough.
00:47:31
Speaker 5: You know what I'm gonna tell Harvey. It's hard to get Harvey's trust. But when he gets you trust, you feel like you've made it and I'll tell you how I thought I had made it with Harvey after all these years. Nick Saban was coach, and he allowed me to go ahead and do the pregame interview without him being around.
00:47:56
Speaker 1: Really, yes, how about that?
00:47:59
Speaker 6: Yes?
00:48:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, yes, I knew that he had that he trusted me at that point in time.
00:48:06
Speaker 1: Wow, I don't know that to this day he would let me do that. Jude, he trusted you more than he trusted me.
00:48:14
Speaker 2: Okay, let's keep it moving her big set, all right, Craig, We do not want you to name names here, all right, But as the man who handled the payroll for thirty years, how much interest did the Dolphins make on any player checks that weren't cast before the team moved to now with direct deposit?
00:48:31
Speaker 5: Like none there, none, none, none. They were a separate they were a non separate interest earning area.
00:48:42
Speaker 6: That nothing there.
00:48:43
Speaker 4: It is so that myth has been debunk all that and in fact, in fact, if it went on a long time, we were looking at you to go cash your check or reissued the check.
00:48:55
Speaker 6: There were some players.
00:48:56
Speaker 5: Yes, we all could live comfortably. We all could live comfortably, no.
00:49:07
Speaker 1: Doubt about it. All right, final question here, we just talked about the room. We're getting a glimpse into it. No person other than Greg Hile has ever seen this. Maybe somebody in the highle household. What is your most prized Mimmy Dolphins possession? What is the mona Lisa of the Craig Hile.
00:49:23
Speaker 6: Room, nineteen seventy two? Autograph football?
00:49:26
Speaker 3: Nice?
00:49:26
Speaker 1: The whole team there it is? That is the two minute drill? Did you sign it? Because if you celebrated on the field, you should be a part of that thing.
00:49:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you signed everything else, you know. I mean that's.
00:49:42
Speaker 1: Right signing up. That's exactly right. He cleared enough checks. That is too funny, Greg, this was a lot of fun man. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we I did.
00:49:52
Speaker 6: I did.
00:49:52
Speaker 5: One thing I want to say is, you know what when I left the Dolphins, Tom and Garfinkel and Chris Clemens did spectacular. I mean, I don't think anybody who was in football could have had a better send off, especially at my level. I mean, they were absolutely fantastic. And at the end of the as I left, I said I'm going to leave. It's two o'clock. Every employee was downstairs clapping as I went out the door. How many people can retire.
00:50:22
Speaker 1: On that, man, that's pretty damn good. Yeah, I mean that. You know, most people are just hoping that they don't get escorted out.
00:50:28
Speaker 6: I had a blessed career. Believe me, guys, I did awesome.
00:50:33
Speaker 1: Creg you do you have an aqua jacket?
00:50:37
Speaker 3: Crag?
00:50:38
Speaker 6: No, they stopped doing that.
00:50:39
Speaker 1: Okay, I didn't know if you had an aqua jacket. It's part of it. Very very cool.
00:50:46
Speaker 3: Craig, thanks for diving in.
00:50:48
Speaker 1: Craig, thank you, you're now diving just like Jew said. Thanks for diving into the fish tank presented by iHeartRadio. Be sure to follow us on whatever streaming platform you're using, and don't be afraid to rate the show or leave us a comment. We love your feedback, and remember you can find us as well as Drive Time with Travis Wingfield and all of our international partners on Miami Dolphins dot com.
00:51:13
Speaker 6: Time
Speaker 1: You're now diving sitting down with Seth Living Oh Jay, and this is strictly but I'm a.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: True flphin number one of course, y'all.
00:00:21
Speaker 3: This ain't the other never sports talk.
00:00:23
Speaker 1: That might have been that. Welcome back to the Fish Tanks presented by iHeartRadio right here on the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, Seth love It, and the man with the best hands in the podcast business, O J McDuffie juice. How we feeling today?
00:00:37
Speaker 4: Man?
00:00:38
Speaker 3: Feeling great? Big Seth?
00:00:39
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, man, this is an epic episode we're about to record right here. Bro, It's like, uh, something that obviously hits close to home to me, even though you know we'll talk a little bit about it. You know it happened after my my tenure with the situation. When we'll talk about the situation, be so much fun, Bro, I am. I'm pumped for this, Bro, really pumped.
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. And these are I really think again we've talked about in the past, we get all the superstars names, having you on here all the every episode we've had the Jason Pals, I'm a superstar one hundred percent on thousand percent as you would say, one thousand percent. We've had it. We've had the Dann Marinos, We've had the Larry Zakas, We've had Zach Thomas. But when you throw the name Craig Hile out there, it's one of those where people go, wait, who, what have I heard of Craig Hyle unless you know, if you know, you know, as they say, But when we introduce the former accounting manager for the Miami Dolphins, it actually might be a guy that was, for a long time the most important guy in the organization because if you needed something to get paid and you were waiting on your money, the guy you wanted to go find was Craig Hile. So, Craig, I know you listen to the show.
00:01:48
Speaker 3: I know that. You know.
00:01:50
Speaker 1: I had to do a whole lot of convincing and arm twisting. But you're here in the tak Now, how are you, sir?
00:01:55
Speaker 5: I'm doing you good. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it, and we're ready to go. We talked to and Football or ex stop whatever whatever.
00:02:02
Speaker 1: It is, whatever you got, I want to talk Craig Hile.
00:02:07
Speaker 3: That's what I want to show. Bro.
00:02:09
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, it's gonna be a lot of fun. And so again if people are just kind of scratching their head because they didn't read anything about this episode or they don't understand, Yes, you were in the accounting department, but your reach is kind of crazy, how many different areas of the organization that you were involved in. And the fact of the matter is that we're just a few weeks away from the twenty twenty five NFL Draft and Jews for the longest time, I told you about this, Like when I was in college and growing up, the NFL Draft was my absolute favorite thing in the world. And so when I you know, you watch the draft and you would always see these serious looking dudes sitting there in the pit and they're all suited up, and the phones are ringing, and and if you go back far enough, the helmet's right there where the phone was actually in the helmet, and they're writing things down, and they're handing the cards that are brought up to the stage and then the commissioner reads them and franchises are changed in a moment, you know, for for better or for worse, with these announcements. And I always wondered, like, who were these legends? And for nearly two decades, our guy Craig Hile oftentimes well most of the time, alongside the great Joey Tomado, Dolphins equipment manager.
00:03:18
Speaker 6: He's a Hall of Famer.
00:03:19
Speaker 1: He is a Yes, he is.
00:03:22
Speaker 6: One thing.
00:03:22
Speaker 5: As we mentioned Joey, let me mention, you know what, you go into life and you meet certain people and they just stand out.
00:03:30
Speaker 6: Joey is one of those.
00:03:31
Speaker 5: For me, I'll tell you, and I'm sure Juicy is going to say the same thing that he stands out the way he operates, in the way he treats people and what have you. He's the best of mine. You know, he's great. Working with him for fourteen years.
00:03:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no I mean, Joey is absolutely fabulous. Nobody would argue that. But you guys, you didn't just work together for the Dolphins for what your normal job was, but you work together. Come draft day, you guys would pack up your stuff, you would get the suit and high and you'd head to whatever city the draft was being held, and you you were those guys. Just tell us a little bit how that even came about. How did you become the draft day guy? And then we know there had to be some crazy moments sitting there in those most intense times.
00:04:17
Speaker 5: One afternoon, when Rix Bielman was the general manager, I got a call to go into the boardroom and I didn't know.
00:04:23
Speaker 6: What it was going to be.
00:04:24
Speaker 5: I thought it was going to be about some business or what have you. And he said, how would you like to go to the draft and be our representative?
00:04:31
Speaker 3: And I go.
00:04:32
Speaker 5: Fantastic, because let me go. Let me also go back. I was the same way you were seth. And this was like in the nineteen seventies, late sixties, and the draft wasn't on TV at that time.
00:04:46
Speaker 6: It was on radio.
00:04:47
Speaker 5: And I would still take the day off to listen to it on radio, so you know what to be able to do it.
00:04:54
Speaker 6: Not every year I watched the draft.
00:04:56
Speaker 5: Some times I would take if I was working at Eastern, I would take a personal day. When it started to be it used to be in the afternoons. So he asked me to be. And at that time they didn't know who was going to be my sidekick. I think Tony was, but I think he was going to have a child. And then Joey came so we we went to our first draft. And you'll enjoy this this story. This is like a where are.
00:05:22
Speaker 1: You if it was Rick? It was?
00:05:24
Speaker 6: It was the Jamar Fletcher was our first.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: Draft choice one that's one.
00:05:30
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, that was that was the Jamar Fletcher trade. Or we got Chris Chambers in the second round.
00:05:37
Speaker 1: Of that yep, yep, yes.
00:05:39
Speaker 5: So we're walking to our first draft and the phone rings and it's Matt Thomas for Joey, and Joey goes, oh, you let's be talking about let's go ahead and good luck guys on the draft and what have you.
00:05:53
Speaker 6: He goes, Joey, has the laundry been picked up today?
00:05:57
Speaker 1: Come on?
00:06:00
Speaker 6: And we're going what.
00:06:03
Speaker 5: And he said, so, yeah, it has the laundry been picked up by saint?
00:06:07
Speaker 6: It's still here and what have you.
00:06:08
Speaker 5: So on the way to the draft, as we walked towards Radio City, Joey is trying to put a fire out of somebody to pick up the laundry.
00:06:17
Speaker 7: Something like a reminder, right, kind of brought you back to earth, like, yeah, they're rolling up like big timers, right, and then you gotta you know, back to life, you know what I mean in terms of what the other the main job is.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: You have to get back to that real quick and then get back and it's.
00:06:38
Speaker 1: Too good, and that was looking for him. I mean, so he had to call Joey's sell right, So he called that number downstairs to the office. He didn't answer there, and he was going to find him to get the sang laundry picked up. That is funny, but like what is in some I guess if you think about it, you guys aren't the ones who are responsible for the picks in terms of whether if that player ends up being a superstar or a bust or anything in between. You're not held accountable for it. But in that moment, like get that on the phone, you want to make sure you heard everything right, you're spelling it right, that your handwriting is legible, and then you got to go hand that car.
00:07:14
Speaker 5: There's a lot of nervous periods, believe me. I mean, you go in there and what happens is a representative will come to your table right before you draft. So they have one at the table that is picking at that time, and one who us who would be waiting for it. And what would they do is they would radio who the pick is, that we could relay that too back to Miami, and that they would be able to know who had been picked and to go for it from.
00:07:43
Speaker 1: There before them. Okay, yeah, so information's going both ways.
00:07:47
Speaker 5: Yes, but we get things that kind of differently than the rest of the NFL clubs did. We basically did play by play. Other teams would sit there and wait for the phone to ring or periodically talk to them on on the line, but we actually did a play by play. Joey was responsible for all the emailing and what have you, and I was responsible for talking and and then so basically Joey would be the eyes and ears for trades and what have you that we could tell them if you saw the verify or move to another table, you know that there's a trade. So we would be a basically be able to give them who it was being traded to before it happened.
00:08:32
Speaker 1: Interesting. Interesting, And then and so you're are you on the line the whole time? Yeah, so you're the whole time you're there, yes, and you're on the other end.
00:08:43
Speaker 5: And so we would give them the pick because you know, sometimes, especially back in the early times, there was a delay action, so we would be able to give them as they announced it at the podium. So as they announced it at the podium, we've been able to give it to them right there, and that they even saved thirty seconds forty seconds before they got a text to them, So.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: That time's valuable though.
00:09:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, everything was time. They wanted to know everything.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you were ready to give it to him.
00:09:13
Speaker 6: Oh, absolutely, no, you were.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: But Craig, you were telling me when we were when we were talking the other day getting ready for this, you were saying, in the seven draft, and that's that's an infamous draft here for this organization.
00:09:26
Speaker 6: I won't forget this one.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: You gotta tell us that story.
00:09:30
Speaker 6: Okay, we're doing the seven.
00:09:31
Speaker 5: And of course that was the Brady Quinn trade, the Brady Quinn draft choice that everybody thought the Dolphins were gonna pick it up.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: Sir, Dolphins needed a quarterback and everybody's eyes right, and they went.
00:09:41
Speaker 5: And they went, and they said, they came on the line they said Quinn. I thought they said gin And I said, we picked Brady Quinn and they go, no, it's Ted Ginn.
00:09:56
Speaker 1: So you thought you heard Quinn.
00:09:59
Speaker 6: Yes, you know, it's kind of like it's close.
00:10:02
Speaker 1: But I don't know. Were you trying to manifest something there?
00:10:05
Speaker 5: Maybe subconsciously I was, But but so that's when we drafted the gin family.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: If you remember I do. We remember it very very well from Cleveland, right.
00:10:18
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, yes. But there's one other thing about the draft also. We used to in the beginning, when it first started, we had no books or anything. Once in a while they would give out an our lives gade so a guide. So we were basically having to look up the name and what have you, and it got harry. If they go ted ginn is fine, but if it was a long name or what have you, you'd have you would be you would be searching. Of course, you had nerves on the other end. So in the at least in the in the first few years. But as time went on, we got a book, we got numbers, and it all worked out, and it even got to the point where we would check.
00:10:59
Speaker 6: They would say when we.
00:11:00
Speaker 5: Were on the clock, or right before we go on the clock, they would give us like four names that possibly could be picked, and we checked them off so we would be propped.
00:11:09
Speaker 3: Yes, oh man, that's too good.
00:11:12
Speaker 2: That's to you, you know, speaking the drafts, like Craig, was there a name that you guys you talk about the Quinn and Gain situation, but is there a name that popped up. You don't have to name any names where you're like in your mind, in your mind, like what the hell are we drafting this guy for?
00:11:26
Speaker 3: Like really this guy? Like, I mean, you're you're a Dolphin.
00:11:30
Speaker 5: All right, there would be something and I'm a draft deck right, but Eddimore, I didn't.
00:11:36
Speaker 6: I mean I can remember that one. I mean so we all can that one popped in juice.
00:11:44
Speaker 2: That was right, it real quick too before before I move on, like say, it was nineteen ninety three, you know, and the Dolphins had the twenty fifth pick in the draft, and that name, I don't know, some guy's name came across pathetically speaking, hypothetically speaking, what would Craig Hoile's react and be to that name come across the come across the board.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: That's all right, Craig yo yo O.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: J mcduffy got nine years with the Dolphins, whether you wanted it to happen or not, Craig, all right with that?
00:12:16
Speaker 5: No, I remember you with the blockbuster ball, buddy, you had a fantastic year.
00:12:23
Speaker 3: Thank you? All right?
00:12:25
Speaker 2: Something speak of the draft day. I mean, let's let's get into a little bit more now, Craig, you actually you actually had a cameo appearance in the movie Draft Day, actually playing yourself that intense dude getting getting a call from the Dolphins like we talked about, and the pick was coming in. I mean, how many accountants can you say co starred with Kevin Costner in a major motion picture and tell us how that experience was.
00:12:49
Speaker 6: Oh, it was fantastic.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: We had to go in the day before the draft and they brought us all in, and they brought the owner. There were there were a few stars that came in, like the owner of the team and what have you. If you see the movie, it's all the episodes of all the parts that were from Radio City were filmed at that time. And it was fantastic. But you know what, you could blink and miss me. I mean, I was on there for a few seconds.
00:13:14
Speaker 1: But you will sell yourself short in it.
00:13:17
Speaker 3: You have your sad card from it.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: I mean, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:13:22
Speaker 1: What about a credit? Is there a credit? Wait a minute, who was your agent? For crying out loud? Joey?
00:13:32
Speaker 6: He couldn't know Joey was in. Joey couldn't make it.
00:13:35
Speaker 5: He had to go to the Giants and the Jets facilities because we were talking about building our own, so he was checking them out that day, so he was inn't even there.
00:13:45
Speaker 1: He missed his big opportunity. Did it take like forever? Did they have retake?
00:13:50
Speaker 6: Yeah, it took a few hours.
00:13:52
Speaker 5: Yes, sometimes they just would go over and over and over again.
00:13:56
Speaker 2: You know, Big scept reminds me that United Wake worse. So I did you know playing Pokemon? Yeah, you don't realize how long things these these this filming takes. Yeah, when you know, I was on the sitting in these little lass chairs with these with these little kids for like eight hours for thirty second commercial, you know, So yeah, that over and over and over again.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Craig was kind of crazy.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: Too good, Oh it's too good all right. So look, we clearly just dove right into this thing and went to what we felt was topical with the draft coming up. But the reality is, when you have thirty years within an organization, was it exactly thirty? When you're with an organization for thirty years, you probably have more stories to share than we could even squeeze into one podcast. But Juuice, like any great superhero, it's important to know their origin story. So I get you know, Craig. I think when people completely outside of sports find out you worked for professional sports franchise or like, how in the world did you ever get that job? And for me, I think it was a little bit more of a traditional story. I went to school for sports administration, I did an internship with one team, and you know, then got an opportunity with another. Yours, though, is anything but traditional. So I know, before you ever worked for the team, you were just this mega Miami Dolphins fan. And I want to just kind of explain to people, because I think fans really relate to this. Explain to people just how big of a Dolphins fan that you were, and then how you ultimately started to before you worked for the team, you actually your life took you to work with the team. So if you can kind of through that history.
00:15:38
Speaker 5: I'm probably one of the few now remaining that was actually at the seventy two Perfect Season game. I was in Los Angeles at the Coliseum for that game.
00:15:49
Speaker 1: So Washington sixteen, you know, trying to go seventeen to o they're.
00:15:53
Speaker 5: Twenty years old and jumped on the field and what have you, and you know what, and this is history seventeen and oh and we're still sitting here many many years later and still so you only came undefeated.
00:16:07
Speaker 1: What in a super Bowl ticket? Like, how did you score a Super Bowl? How difficult was it to get it?
00:16:11
Speaker 5: Was the season ticket holder? And won it in a lottery?
00:16:14
Speaker 1: Really? Yes, so you're a season ticket holder? Come on? Yes, And so you had to enter a lottery and only a certain amount of season ticket holders got it. We got to go. So you go to California, you live down here, I'm assuming yes, yeah, season ticket holder obviously, and so and you're there watching Jake Scott at the you know, MVP and all that stuff, and you rush the field.
00:16:37
Speaker 6: Yes, I had a camera and I just had to have the moment. You had to have the moment. It was a perfect.
00:16:43
Speaker 1: Season, unbelievable.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: So you have you have the footbage day. What kind of camera do you had?
00:16:47
Speaker 5: I mean it looks like the films, like the movie ones that were probably just what have you?
00:16:56
Speaker 3: You know?
00:16:56
Speaker 1: Can you imagine trying to bring that into a stadium nowadays.
00:16:59
Speaker 6: Get in You wouldn't be able to get it.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: So what was that like? Well, like, what was that like? Rushing the field and all that stuff's going on and coach Shula is getting hoisted on the shoulders and I was.
00:17:09
Speaker 5: Right there and I got in some shots and they kept flickering on Dolphins are super Dolphins are super perfect season?
00:17:18
Speaker 1: The yes, unbelievable. So then then walk us through. So that's when you're you're twenty years old, You're just a kid. But then how many years later you're now working with uh, this is a real throwback. Now, just when I throw this name out there, Eastern Airlines. Okay, they call us the old guys here in the fish tag. So you're working with Eastern Airlines and life brings you back to your favorite sports ranch.
00:17:42
Speaker 6: Yes, and here's another story.
00:17:45
Speaker 5: Before Eastern Airlines, I went to radio school, so I was a radio DJ.
00:17:50
Speaker 6: I don't even think Seth knows this.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: I don't know any of this stuff.
00:17:53
Speaker 6: So I was a.
00:17:54
Speaker 5: Radio announcer in what have you? And I went to school. My first job was in vic Burg, Mississippi. I left for Vicksburg, Mississippi the day after the Dolphins beat Minnesota in Super Bowl eight. I guess, so I went there and I eventually came back and got a job in Hollywood. To make a long story short, my parents passed away, and my father used to record my games or my shows and they were on eight track. So this is these These were from nineteen seventy four. I recently got them uploaded. I played it and it was and I was talking about the day I was on the air, the day that the Dolphins Zonka kick in Warfield went to the World Football Wow in Toronto.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: Can you believe that Greig does Does Seth know what an eight track is?
00:18:48
Speaker 3: I don't.
00:18:48
Speaker 6: I don't think I don't know.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: I don't think he knows.
00:18:51
Speaker 1: Come on, man, it's very rare that I'm the young guy in the room anymore. But I get it. You can make all that he's just a kid.
00:18:58
Speaker 6: Those were the worst things, man. They would get jam continuously.
00:19:01
Speaker 5: You don't know the problems that this guy had to try to get it redone.
00:19:06
Speaker 1: I mean, too good, too good. But yeah, get us the Eastern Airlines, man.
00:19:11
Speaker 5: We need to get Eastern. And they knew I was a fan and what have you. And it came that I was mentoring under a guy. Remember I'm in the finance department. All these are all these our side to being other than in the finance department. And I mentioned under the charter coordinator for the Dolphins, and he said, you know, you could help us out at the beginning. So Stu Weinstein and I used to stand in front of the gate as the players came in. Remember there was no going through security at those times anywhere, so we would check off the players as they came in, and then they off.
00:19:47
Speaker 6: There would go and.
00:19:49
Speaker 1: But you're working for Eastern You're not you're working with the don yet, but you were still working with Stu.
00:19:54
Speaker 5: Y And then eventually, I think we did that for two or three and then it came that I could do the actual charter, and I did the charter, and the first charter that I had was this we opened the season in San Diego. And what happened was that James Pruitt missed the flight the first game of the year. He was a rookie and missed the flight. So I said, we'll go ahead, we'll bring I'll pick him up. So I had to go to the airport, go into the airport and pick him up. And believe it or not, he was relieved. He thought that Don Shula was going to pick him up. He was so relieved he thought that Shula was gonna be there.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Hold on so so the plane takes off, you don't travel with the team. You just make sure that the charter.
00:20:51
Speaker 6: No, I'm on the charters. I'm actually on the charters.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: So but how did you have to go after So he missed a flight, so you didn't get on the flight. Do that?
00:21:00
Speaker 6: No, the game we've been played in San Diego.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Oh, so you got there, and then they flew him separately, and then when you got to San Diego you.
00:21:10
Speaker 6: Had to go again.
00:21:12
Speaker 1: Now you didn't get him in Miami. So he flew he flew commercial.
00:21:16
Speaker 6: He flew commercial, absolutely.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: And you're just there waiting with the sign.
00:21:22
Speaker 6: Because I thought Sula was going to be pucking me up.
00:21:28
Speaker 1: He was Coach was gonna find him something.
00:21:30
Speaker 3: Sure, he's in the book.
00:21:32
Speaker 2: You know, he's in that fine book that we wish we could find out about with Coach Sula.
00:21:36
Speaker 3: But that is you know, I was actually late to mine. I was late.
00:21:39
Speaker 2: I was I didn't miss my first flight, my first rookie flight, but I was late.
00:21:44
Speaker 3: We were all worried about Shula's ass. If you know, late missed all those things. That's the worst thing you could do, especially as a rookie. Is even worse, right, a lot.
00:21:55
Speaker 5: Oh Jay, A lot of guys were very close, believe me, through the years.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: The real good Well, they should have got the speech that Harvey gave me. You know, Harvey Green told me my first trip, and we're going to talk about my first trip, because Craig, you and I will be forever connected for me getting my first road trip. But my first trip, Harvey said, he said, remember, PR guys wait on planes. Planes don't wait on PR guys. So planes don't wait on anybody other than Don Shuler or Jimmy Johnson in my case. So somebody should have given James prue At that speech.
00:22:26
Speaker 5: Yes, you know, I'm sure he remembers it to this day.
00:22:30
Speaker 2: That's not the right way to get started in the NFL, that's for damn sure, especially with coach. Yeah great, So at what point, you know, you go from the charter coordinator. At one point did somebody say, you know, Craig, why don't you leave Eastern and come work with us, you know in the account department?
00:22:46
Speaker 3: When did that?
00:22:47
Speaker 5: I mean, Eastern went on strike, okay, and we were fur load and it was like, all right, what are you going to do now? And I happened to look in the newspaper, you know, these are all signs. I looked for signs and there it was a Dolphins advertising for an accounting which was my specialty. So I called Stu Einstein up and basically he talked to them and I got an interview and they hired me. I had to wait now to be approved by Joe Robbie because he was at the NFL owners meeting.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: But did Joe knew who you were? Mister Robbi knew who you were?
00:23:27
Speaker 3: Oh?
00:23:27
Speaker 6: Yeah, he knew who?
00:23:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was.
00:23:31
Speaker 3: Was mister Robbie on the planes? Was he on the charter as well? Oh?
00:23:35
Speaker 6: Yes he was. Shall we go into that story?
00:23:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right.
00:23:43
Speaker 5: The stadium was being built and we were going to Boston. Usually when we went to New England you went into Providence, but for this year, for this time, we went into Boston. Well, mister Robbie would come on a car like a golf cart with his bags and they would be dropped off and whoever was in charge for the Dolphins at that point in time would pick them up and put him on the plane. Well, this time it didn't happen. We got into the air and mister Robbie decided he wanted to work on stadium plans. So they came to me and said, do you know have do you is mister Robbie's bags underneath? Did they accidentally put him underneath and not bring him up?
00:24:27
Speaker 6: I said, I don't know.
00:24:29
Speaker 5: I said, talk to your represent talk to representative.
00:24:33
Speaker 6: I don't know.
00:24:34
Speaker 5: Well, the next thing I know is I don't want to give the guy's name. So I'm just but the guy, the guy who was in charge, did not pick him up, and now everything breaks loose. Mister Robbie, of course, loved to have cocktails in the morning, so now he's getting where is my bags?
00:24:56
Speaker 6: I need to know where my bags are.
00:24:58
Speaker 5: So I finally went up to the cockpit and said, hey, listen, can you radio back and have somebody check to see if there's anything still sitting there at the gate and he bags and what have you? And they came back and said yes, So I said, hold.
00:25:15
Speaker 1: On, So they were left in the tarmac.
00:25:17
Speaker 6: Yes, they they were left at the gate because if they had.
00:25:20
Speaker 1: Been put underneath, you could almost like survive.
00:25:22
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, mister Robbie, accidentally we're put underneath in what have you?
00:25:26
Speaker 6: Right now?
00:25:27
Speaker 1: We left you?
00:25:28
Speaker 5: Now, now there is there's chaos breaking out. I mean with the flight attendants, where is the bags, what have you. So we get into the air and Charlie Callahan, who is the dolphins original PR director, was on board and he's trying to counsel this young guy of how to handle this situation because you now you're dealing with the owner. So we got into the air and I told them. I came back and told the Dolphin people that it was that they were basically and they would be sent to Providence. So they said, can you turn the plane around and go back? He said absolutely not, that's not happening.
00:26:10
Speaker 6: So I went.
00:26:14
Speaker 5: So I went, and I told him I would pick up the bags in Providence once we got into private, once we got into Boston, I would drive the Providence and picked them up. So in the meantime, we land in Boston and the individual tries to exploin. Mister Robbie is getting into his limousine which was parked right outside of the gate. He tried to talk to him, and the next thing I know, I see this body flying back and mister Robbie must have blown them out of most have blown them up and he and at that point in time, at that point in time, the individual's responsibilities.
00:26:52
Speaker 6: Were turned over other people. At that time. He stayed. He did not get fired. He did not get fired. I think he may have gotten suspended.
00:26:59
Speaker 1: But oh my god.
00:27:01
Speaker 5: So I went and the next thing I know, I was being summons to the hotel that mister Robbie was holding court at. So I go in and he's holding court with Rick Weaver, who was the play by play announcer. So I sit down and he says, can you just tell me what's going on here? He says, I have people telling me fifteen different stories. I said, to tell you the truth, mister Robbie. The bags were left at the gate, and that's the end of the story. I mean, they were left and they're being they're being sent to Providence and I'll pick them up and put them into your room or get them to your room when they come.
00:27:40
Speaker 6: He says.
00:27:40
Speaker 5: That's all I needed to know. I just needed somebody to tell me a straight story.
00:27:45
Speaker 1: Wow. Wow, I wonder what the fifteen stories were that he was good. I would have loved to heard like at least three of those, but he just wanted to know.
00:27:54
Speaker 5: At that point, he just wanted He said, That's the only thing I wanted to know is what happened.
00:27:58
Speaker 6: I said, basically, how it happened. What happened? Nobody? Nobody put it on the plane.
00:28:03
Speaker 1: I mean, the bags aren't here exactly, Craig.
00:28:07
Speaker 2: How was it working for mister Robbie? How I'm not I love the Robbie family. Obviously they drafted me, but they treat me like so.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: Well. How was it working with.
00:28:15
Speaker 5: The Robbin It was fantastic. I had no problems at all. And you know, Don Shula was a gem also. I never at working at Eastern and with the Dolphins, I never got screamed at, and he always treated me with all respect.
00:28:32
Speaker 1: Well, that's a good thing. You found those bags, that's right away.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: Big said that right away. He's got that street credit. Now.
00:28:41
Speaker 5: Of course, Stuve Weinstein takes it a little further when he explains it. He says he could see me coming in with the bags over my arms and hunched over and carrying the bags.
00:28:53
Speaker 6: Mister Robbie, mister Robbie, the bags are here. I got them for you, but that didn't happened.
00:28:59
Speaker 1: So, but I guess at some point that you did get the bags from Providence and then you brought him in.
00:29:04
Speaker 6: He was he was out to dinner. So our dom in is room in that.
00:29:09
Speaker 1: I like Stew's version better, I think I think I do like that version. But so you know, Jews asked you what it was like working with him. You also worked in the accounting department, and I and I, you know, there's a whole other side of Joe Robbie when you start talking about accounting and you know, Juice and I, Now we file, we submit an invoice, and we got to go through a process and uh, you know, it goes through whatever accounting and there's computer systems and all these other things had to be a little bit different back in those days.
00:29:38
Speaker 6: Well, it was a trial balance.
00:29:39
Speaker 5: We send the trial balance to his apartment and he would look at it and highlight with a yellow with debt, who to pay and who not to pay? I mean, he'd let you know who to pay and who not to pay. And sometimes things were off in those days. The achieving revenue wasn't what it is today, and they was reflected a lot of times with the season ticket holders money being coming in. So there would be periods when the money wasn't coming in. It would be tough when he got sick, it could be weeks and sometimes months before you would get stuff back.
00:30:16
Speaker 6: So we would cut the checks and put him on the top of a.
00:30:18
Speaker 5: File cabinet and wait we were released, and wait for approval from Joe Robbie.
00:30:24
Speaker 1: Yes, So every single bill that got paid or didn't get paid, that decision was made, every single one of them was made by Joe Robbie.
00:30:32
Speaker 5: Correct, unless it became a dire situation where Eddie Jones, the president would make a decision or Tim Robbie or that's going to say ever around at that time and time.
00:30:47
Speaker 6: But on the day to day no, unless.
00:30:49
Speaker 5: It was a dire emergency, you waited, and sometimes he would go out of town and you couldn't find him.
00:30:57
Speaker 1: He's a busy guy. So you are sending your sending over that spreadsheet.
00:31:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, and we would go up today.
00:31:05
Speaker 3: Up, it's not back.
00:31:06
Speaker 6: I guess he's not paying this week.
00:31:09
Speaker 3: But everybody, everybody like me, players personal no, no, no.
00:31:14
Speaker 6: No, no, this is venders. This is get paid.
00:31:18
Speaker 1: Players got so once I had a contract that.
00:31:22
Speaker 5: Was gonna have absolutely the players were never affected. It was the day to day vendors. Right, Okay, keeps going.
00:31:28
Speaker 3: I want to clear that up.
00:31:29
Speaker 6: Yes, yes, not players.
00:31:32
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well Jesus you don't mess a lot of money.
00:31:36
Speaker 6: Saying I always got my money.
00:31:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I'll try. That was the first one in line sometimes, Craig.
00:31:42
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. So what what I also think is just fascinating. One of my favorite words about your tenure, Craig, is, as we said, you're the accounting guy, but you were involved in so many other aspects of the operation. We just talked about the draft, and when it came to the department that I worked in media relations, you were on game days an extension of our department. Specifically, you were the sideline liaison. You worked every home game, every road game, and that was long before I got there. But and you would. You were basically Harvey's eyes and ears on the sideline. And I can't tell you how many times, you know, we had those walkie talkies. Craig, Hile, Craig, hile, come in, Craig, get to the phone, you know, and it's like you had to answer that phone, and Harvey's screaming down. Somehow he didn't realize you guys were using the telephone. But he's as if you thought you could hear him from the press box, but he's screaming through the phone. I see, you're like all dramatic behind the You know, how did before you even talk about the crazy stories that existed that that took place when you were there? How did that come about? How did they decide in the same way that Rick Spielman calls to say, hey, let's send Craig Craig Hile to the draft. How does Harvey decide that Craig Hile from accounting is going to be my sideline liaison.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: I can explain that I basically was like the utility in fielder on a team, or the Swiss army knife, a little of this, a little of that. I was a guy that you know that would play third base and then be pitching or playing another position.
00:33:14
Speaker 6: So it was.
00:33:17
Speaker 5: Scott Stone when the sideline reporters came into effect. Scott's Stone said, hey, listen, we're gonna need somebody to be on the sidelines to kind of monitor the situation. And he said, I told Harvey that you would probably be interested in it, and that's how that happened. Scott, Yes, it was Scott Yes, so and in those days it was in the beginning you would have sidelight reporters periodically, not every game when it started out, and then it eventually became more and more and more and more so. And in those times they used to tell you that you had to tell people that they couldn't get over the stripes. There would be the field is line where NFL films can go and the networks can go, but not so if somebody put their foot on there, you.
00:34:06
Speaker 6: Had to be wearing a green hat and tell them not to wear.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: You get that green hat. Oh, I've got a green hat story that I'm glad that Scott didn't tell in his episode. But yes, I'll have to tell that story at some point. Yes, but they got me with that green I wasn't trouble I got I got punked. I got punked again with that darn green hat. Yes, absolutely, yes, But Craig, so there's got to be between dealing with Harvey, between going the stadiums like you know in the Coliseum or you know Oakland with the black hole. There had to be some stories, because I know my favorite one that you absolutely have to talk about took place in Buffalo. But there had to be some crazy sideline experiences for you.
00:34:49
Speaker 5: Every stadium that I went to you had hecklers. I mean even to my level. I mean they were hecklers and you just keep on moving. In the black hole, Will was eerie. That was that was you go in there and it's it's not your normal NFL stadium, believe me, but experience. I know, I know what story you're going to be talking about, though there's another one coming up.
00:35:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, in Buffalo. You gotta tell us because Jus does not know this story and it is epic and I now have photos of it because you had photos of it.
00:35:23
Speaker 6: Yes, you gotta tell it. Okay.
00:35:25
Speaker 5: I was in Buffalo and it was a playoff game and it was snowy and it was freezing cold, and they wanted to show what cleats the players were wearing. So they said it was Leslie Visit was a silenty reporter. So she said, I want you to get a shoe in what have you and hold on to it and we're going to use it for prom during one of the segments in the game. So I'm holding it in pregame and the next thing I know is these guys are calling me over and they're saying, can you come over here when you got the shoe. I said, We're going to be promptly. He says, can you give me an autograph? I said, an autograph?
00:36:06
Speaker 1: Me?
00:36:06
Speaker 5: You want an autograph from me? So the guy and it was unbelievable. Why somebody would want that, I don't know. So that was just the start of what was to happen. So I signed whatever whatever, So I wait, he.
00:36:21
Speaker 3: Knew you were going to.
00:36:23
Speaker 5: And then then the next thing is the game started and I heard some mumbling and it was like I thought it was a group wrapped behind the bench like a hole, asshole with the shoe. Asshole with the shoe. And then I come, yeah, all right, whatever it is buffalo. Whatever the next thing is, there was a time out and all of a sudden, like the whole sideline was channing. Asshole with his shoe, asshole with his shoe as and at that point, what do you do?
00:36:58
Speaker 6: I mean, and what do you do?
00:37:03
Speaker 1: Ashole with the shoe doesn't.
00:37:05
Speaker 5: Like I had, I took to shoot from Cindarella's cassle.
00:37:11
Speaker 6: And stole it.
00:37:15
Speaker 1: The bubble fans and things that that becomes, but that mom mentality loo sho, oh my god, it's just so good. Wait to see these pictures, Juice. He's signing the autograph and he's smiling the whole shoe were you did you just kind of embrace it at that point.
00:37:32
Speaker 6: Yes, I guess, you know, he just kept down my job. I'm just ignoring. I mean, but it was like, come.
00:37:37
Speaker 1: On, professional, sup professional. Well, speaking of Leslie Visser and working the sidelines, you and I had a little run in, and Leslie's as sweet as all get out. Yeah she is, and we both have worked god knows how many games that she was a sideline reporter on, but there was one that didn't go too well for us.
00:37:53
Speaker 5: Greg, No, I was. I was assigned at the end of the games. You guys would come down to PR first, definitely come down. Harvey would come down, and everybody would come down and you would be given assignments of postgame interviews and what have you.
00:38:07
Speaker 6: This is a Monday night game, so this is high pro this game.
00:38:11
Speaker 5: Well yeah, yes, and I think Lamar Thomas scored three touchdowns.
00:38:15
Speaker 1: That game Denver.
00:38:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yes, so we go and I got assigned to radio to get a postgame radio So.
00:38:25
Speaker 6: Mine went fine, It was good, fine. My interview went fine.
00:38:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a who signed? Who did you have to get?
00:38:34
Speaker 6: Did Damon? You would playing? I think it was dam.
00:38:36
Speaker 1: It was Danny, It was Dan all right, then it would Yeah, I got, I got Al, I got Lamar.
00:38:43
Speaker 3: You got the bar.
00:38:46
Speaker 1: That's all I remember too. And Leslie Visser, I told him still, I stood right behind him, and I you know, I think I've told this on the show before a lot of times. I would almost hold on to the jersey right at the small of a guy's back, right before you know, they have to zero, and just so just to kind of give a little bit of a tug to remind, because I get it, you get caught up in the emotion. And for Lamar it was the game of his career, tru this was like, you know, if it was you, it was like either the game winner in Cincinnati or the three touchdowns against you know, the Saint. Like this was the game of his career. And I get all that, but man, I told him, like look and shoot, you know, Lamar, you don't think that he wanted to be on Monday night with his helmet off talking to Leslie Vesser like I don't. I just don't know what happened and then but part of the problem was it was Marino against Elway. Yes, from a like the fifty yard line to capture that was just as I mean, it was like a super Bowl almost because he knew that if these two guys were ever gonna face it off against each other again. And so all that did was add to the trouble of trying to find lt because he took off and sus handed. I went to Grant and he was gone. I had no shot, and boy, Leslie Visser was beside her.
00:40:01
Speaker 5: I was standing with her, waiting for you. I was standing with her. I had finished my interview with her and was going like.
00:40:10
Speaker 6: Where is he?
00:40:11
Speaker 3: Where is he?
00:40:13
Speaker 1: And you know they're going off the air because you know the game's already.
00:40:15
Speaker 5: I mean, it's he can't tell you she loved you, though, she said, you know, Seth, I love you.
00:40:20
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's exactly how it went down. Yeah, yeah, I'll never forget that one, that's for sure. And the last thing on this juice that I'll say is so I came in ninety six my internship year. Travel was not part. I was just going to work the home games. That was the deal. And Craig was the guy who would travel. He would do all the road games and for you know, as the sideline guy. But I went back and looked at the schedule. I thought the first game was Oakland, Craig, that I got to go to. But my first road game was actually at Philly. It was we played the Eagles. Juice went off seven for one hundred and thirty something yards, two touchdowns. The problem was Friar who was on the other side. It had four touchdowns and he went on. But I got to work in the booth for that game. I wasn't even on sidelines. I got to work in the booth with Sam Wisch and Marv Albert, which was quite a wow. Okay, but you weren't available. I think I got to go because you so I need to know if this was strategic, because you started to not feel well and you had maybe this ear infection and couldn't fly, and then like intermittently you would go and then comes Oakland in a five hour flight and you were full blown you can't travel anymore, and and next thing you know, that was it. I was on the road moving forward. How bad was your damn ear infection?
00:41:38
Speaker 3: Gregor?
00:41:39
Speaker 1: Were you just trying to my.
00:41:40
Speaker 6: Ear was.
00:41:42
Speaker 5: Like I told you before, Carly Simon did a song called You're So Vain, and nobody knows to this day what the end of that song or who is about.
00:41:56
Speaker 6: I'm going to tell you this same thing.
00:41:58
Speaker 1: Is that good?
00:41:58
Speaker 3: All right? All right?
00:42:00
Speaker 1: Well, so there you go. That's how I got on the road.
00:42:03
Speaker 3: That is so good. That is so good, It's so great.
00:42:07
Speaker 2: You know, I'm hearing all this this great stuff, and less you talk about the things that you've done, and you know, only earlier when we talk about you know, mister Robbie, seemed like nothing has anything to do with the county, you know, I mean I have to imagine these different roles that you've had, you know, in the positions that you were put in. It kind of had to work with, you know, people that you know, most of the staff had had never had to interact with, you know, especially people on the business side of it. So I mean, did you ever feel like you were kind of a bridge between the football side of the operation, in the corporate side of the football team.
00:42:40
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, there were stories, yeah, let me hear them.
00:42:44
Speaker 5: You know, at times football operations in the front office they get along but they like to be divided. Football operations is very protective of keeping who comes in, what happens, and what have you. Especially they can be as you as a player, you can remember that people would push you for marketing deals or marketing and the coaching staff did not like that. They wanted to be kept away from it. They felt it was a distraction. So at times I had to interven. And because I worked for the draft and I was close to most of all the coaches and the scouts, they trusted me. I mean, I guess I was one that they that they actually trusted, and I got they would ask me to do things that basically and not let the other side know who I was working for, and you know, and it got tricky. It was, you know, you just had to be a politician at times.
00:43:45
Speaker 1: Something else, Craig that people simply could not know is, although we're getting a glimpse into it now as we're looking here, you secretly have one of the world's most prolific collections of Miami Dolphin's content, so to for decades, Like when I started working there, I would hear rumors about the room, you know, the room, and I was like, wait a minute, so it's like this bat cave, if you will, of Craig's Miami Dolphin's collection, and we see there's memorabilia there. But you have audio recordings, you have videos of games, you have videos of commercials or interviews guys did on the you know some WPLG show that you know, Hank Goldberg used to do with Jimmy Seffalower. You have all this stuff on the tapes there behind you talk about the room because she was I was like, man, I gotta see this. When I started to hear about it, It's like, this is like the Library of Congress of Miami Dolphin's history. I wanted to see this darn thing. And he's like, nobody goes into the room.
00:44:48
Speaker 5: I've got a lot of tapes and there you know that they go back to probably seventy eight, seventy nine when VCRs just first came out. I had one of the first ones and what have you. I was working at Eastern that time, and sometimes if I had to miss a game, you gotta have a tape of it.
00:45:05
Speaker 6: So yeah, and then.
00:45:07
Speaker 5: It involved to have every game. But today you don't need to record it because you got an NFL Plus and you can go back and see any game that you want to see.
00:45:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you have that stuff. So like all those things over your right shoulder there, those are all game tapes.
00:45:23
Speaker 5: Yes, this whole wall is game tapes.
00:45:27
Speaker 1: That's crazy, It's absolutely crazy. We will talk about licensing.
00:45:34
Speaker 2: You convert your eight track to you know, yeah, you can convert your VCR and your VTS is to you know, DVDs.
00:45:43
Speaker 6: Or somebody convert everything.
00:45:45
Speaker 5: Or he had the tapes and I bought them and now I have them in tape and also okay, okay.
00:45:52
Speaker 6: And CDs.
00:45:53
Speaker 1: I know I needed something recently. I reached out to him and damnit, and Craig didn't have it. And then we're talking season road game. He had it. So that's all I know, and it's it's pretty impressive, all right, Craig. Look, you are a loyal listener of The Fish Tank, for which we are grateful. But because of that, you know that we wrap up every episode the same way. It's the Fish Tank two minute drill. So now you are on the clock, sir. Okay, you've got two minutes. We're gonna throw a few fast paced questions at you, have a little bit of fun, and then We'll get you across the goal line and get you out of here. Sound good.
00:46:31
Speaker 4: Let's go for it, all right, Greg Kyle is in the two minute drill.
00:46:35
Speaker 3: You're ready to say it? All right? Here we go, Craig, you ready? All right?
00:46:38
Speaker 2: People who follow this show closely, like you do, know the Big Seth is a mountain dew fiend. But from what I understand, you're a mellow yellow guy. Tell Seth, yeah, Tell Seth, that's better to stay mellow that the grab adu. Why is it better to stay mellow than the grab a du?
00:46:58
Speaker 5: No, No, Jerry, totally different. Mellow yellow has been around for a long time, a long time. And you know what I just think if you put them together or put them side by side.
00:47:12
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, he's a traditionalist. He's a traditionalist.
00:47:16
Speaker 3: I get it.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: I get it, all right. Toughest person to work for in your Miami Dolphin's tenure. Was it Joe Robbie? Was it Don Shula? Or was it was it Harvey Green?
00:47:26
Speaker 6: Harvey Green could be tough.
00:47:31
Speaker 5: You know what I'm gonna tell Harvey. It's hard to get Harvey's trust. But when he gets you trust, you feel like you've made it and I'll tell you how I thought I had made it with Harvey after all these years. Nick Saban was coach, and he allowed me to go ahead and do the pregame interview without him being around.
00:47:56
Speaker 1: Really, yes, how about that?
00:47:59
Speaker 6: Yes?
00:48:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, yes, I knew that he had that he trusted me at that point in time.
00:48:06
Speaker 1: Wow, I don't know that to this day he would let me do that. Jude, he trusted you more than he trusted me.
00:48:14
Speaker 2: Okay, let's keep it moving her big set, all right, Craig, We do not want you to name names here, all right, But as the man who handled the payroll for thirty years, how much interest did the Dolphins make on any player checks that weren't cast before the team moved to now with direct deposit?
00:48:31
Speaker 5: Like none there, none, none, none. They were a separate they were a non separate interest earning area.
00:48:42
Speaker 6: That nothing there.
00:48:43
Speaker 4: It is so that myth has been debunk all that and in fact, in fact, if it went on a long time, we were looking at you to go cash your check or reissued the check.
00:48:55
Speaker 6: There were some players.
00:48:56
Speaker 5: Yes, we all could live comfortably. We all could live comfortably, no.
00:49:07
Speaker 1: Doubt about it. All right, final question here, we just talked about the room. We're getting a glimpse into it. No person other than Greg Hile has ever seen this. Maybe somebody in the highle household. What is your most prized Mimmy Dolphins possession? What is the mona Lisa of the Craig Hile.
00:49:23
Speaker 6: Room, nineteen seventy two? Autograph football?
00:49:26
Speaker 3: Nice?
00:49:26
Speaker 1: The whole team there it is? That is the two minute drill? Did you sign it? Because if you celebrated on the field, you should be a part of that thing.
00:49:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you signed everything else, you know. I mean that's.
00:49:42
Speaker 1: Right signing up. That's exactly right. He cleared enough checks. That is too funny, Greg, this was a lot of fun man. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we I did.
00:49:52
Speaker 6: I did.
00:49:52
Speaker 5: One thing I want to say is, you know what when I left the Dolphins, Tom and Garfinkel and Chris Clemens did spectacular. I mean, I don't think anybody who was in football could have had a better send off, especially at my level. I mean, they were absolutely fantastic. And at the end of the as I left, I said I'm going to leave. It's two o'clock. Every employee was downstairs clapping as I went out the door. How many people can retire.
00:50:22
Speaker 1: On that, man, that's pretty damn good. Yeah, I mean that. You know, most people are just hoping that they don't get escorted out.
00:50:28
Speaker 6: I had a blessed career. Believe me, guys, I did awesome.
00:50:33
Speaker 1: Creg you do you have an aqua jacket?
00:50:37
Speaker 3: Crag?
00:50:38
Speaker 6: No, they stopped doing that.
00:50:39
Speaker 1: Okay, I didn't know if you had an aqua jacket. It's part of it. Very very cool.
00:50:46
Speaker 3: Craig, thanks for diving in.
00:50:48
Speaker 1: Craig, thank you, you're now diving just like Jew said. Thanks for diving into the fish tank presented by iHeartRadio. Be sure to follow us on whatever streaming platform you're using, and don't be afraid to rate the show or leave us a comment. We love your feedback, and remember you can find us as well as Drive Time with Travis Wingfield and all of our international partners on Miami Dolphins dot com.
00:51:13
Speaker 6: Time
