Entire Miami Dolphins Team Registers To Vote

MIAMI – In a season marked by National Anthem protests and harsh criticism from President Trump with respect to the league's patriotism, the Miami Dolphins football team is believed to be the only NFL squad where every team member has registered to vote. The registration drive kicked off with a pre-season visit from Martin Luther King III and Bill Wachtel of the Drum Major Institute, which is devoted to carrying on the legacy of the slain civil rights leader.

"I salute the Miami Dolphins for their leadership in realizing upon my father’s dream of a society where all Americans can and do vote,” said King, the son of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Today, we celebrate the fact that every player on the Dolphins roster is a registered voter."

King pointed to Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills as the driving force behind Miami's voter registration drive. Similar initiatives are spreading to other sports teams, he said. Stills was recently nominated by the Dolphins for the Walter Payton NFL Man Of The Year Award based on his commitment to philanthropy and community impact.

"As my father often said, that short step into the voting booth is the longest stride for democracy," King observed.

King said that he had no way of knowing how many players would actually get out and vote now that they have completed the paperwork to become registered.

“Well, I don’t know that anyone knows that about any person," he insisted. "At the end of the day, what our hope is — or my hope personally — is that these players will use their social media platforms to share that it is important to vote and encourage others to vote. That means that more than likely, they themselves will vote.”

King also visited with players on the Los Angeles Rams.

"Certainly if athletes and entertainers are engaged, more and more people will want to be engaged because they look at them as role models," he said.

Wachtel, whose father helped launch the Drum Major organization with the elder King in the 1960s, said that he believed the Dolphins are the "first professional sports team in the history of America to have a full roster of registered voters" but he conceded that there may have been others over the years.

“I spoke to Jackie Robinson’s wife and they are aware of this initiative," Wachtel said. "Yes, I guess it is possible that there once was a team that had a full roster of registered voters, and if there was, then we tip their hand to them and we’re sorry it took us so long to follow suit.”

Miami Dolphins register to vote. Image courtesy Miami Dolphins.