Sony Michel grew up in Plantation, Florida, watching the Dolphins. He was only 7 when Ricky Williams set a team record with 1,853 yards.
So, after Michel signed with the Dolphins as a free agent, he chose to follow in Williams’ cleat marks by picking No. 34.
“Everybody knows, man, this is a great number,” Michel said Tuesday, via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post. “Ricky Williams ran the ball hard here. I’m sure he did a lot of numbers (statistics). You know what I’m saying? So I can’t just be rocking it just to rock it. I’ve got to come out here and put in some work.”
The Dolphins have a crowded running backs room that includes Michel, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed. New head coach Mike McDaniel wants to run the ball.
“He’s a guy, a coach, that believes in running the football, and I do, too, believe in this league to be successful, you have to run the football and stop the run and be committed to it,” Michel said. “And that’s kind of the reason why I came here also.”
Michel is ready for the competition that will come for starting job.
He spent last season in Los Angeles with the Rams. Michel played all 17 games with seven starts for the Super Bowl champions and had 208 carries for 845 yards and four touchdowns while catching 21 passes for 128 yards and a score.