‘You’re fit for this’—Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis gets a major endorsement from a former NFL star
The journey that Malik Willis has taken to his opportunity with the Miami Dolphins has one former NFL star buying.
The Miami Dolphins are likely to go this season as their new starting quarterback Malik Willis takes them. The team is young — but Willis has the raw physical ability to make rare plays on the football field.
This Dolphins regime is betting on Willis the passer, the athlete, and the person to be the answer in South Florida. And we may have gotten our best look at Willis behind the scenes yet thanks to a former Miami Dolphin. Jarvis Landry, alongside fellow former LSU Tiger Leonard Fournette, hosted Willis for an interview during Miami Dolphins training camp earlier this month. And in talking about Willis’ journey on ‘Fourth And South w/ Jarvis Landry & Leonard Fournette’, Willis seems to have made a believer out of both.
Miami Dolphins QB Malik Willis seems to have made believers out of former players Jarvis Landry & Leonard Fournette
“I think, now, me talking to you? You’re fit for this. (Your) Demeanor, your character, your fate. I ain’t going to forget that. We have QB1 here. I see it.”
— Former NFL running back Leonard Fournette on QB Malik Willis
The interview with Fournette, Landry, and Willis touches on all levels of Willis’ journey to South Florida. High school. Auburn. Liberty. The Tennessee Titans and the fleeting opportunity he saw there. Willis, however impressed with pair with an undeterred and matter of fact attitude about the hardships he’s faced on the field.
Willis’ own perspective, especially on if he thinks he got a “fair shot” during his initial run with the Tennessee Titans, is hard not to respect.
Not worried about a “fair shot”
“I don’t think it matters (if I got a fair shot). Everybody (doesn’t) get a fair shot. That’s how this league works. It’s a business. This ain’t about ‘oh, you’re a nice person. I think you deserve everything.’ No, it’s a business. And if where you get drafted, you don’t get as many opportunities. That’s what it is. And you can’t really complain about that,” said Willis.
“All you can do is take advantage of what you got. And that’s what a lot of guys did. What Tom Brady, all them boys…Brock (Purdy) he did the same thing. Obviously a couple injuries happened and he got the opportunity to shine, but he played a lot of ball in school and he played in the system that was very similar to what he got into in San Fran and look at how that worked out.”
Willis isn’t lingering on the past, he’s focused on the now. And that exact approach to today makes him a fascinating hopeful answer at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Leonard Fournette agrees, too. He said so himself, after all.
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