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Booker finds comfort zone with Dolphins
By Jeff Darlington
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
DAVIE — He sat in a corner of the Dolphins' locker room, a few steps from an exit that could quickly take him away from the attention and toward the showers.
Each of the past two seasons, that's the way wide receiver Marty Booker liked it.
One post-practice after another, one media frenzy after the next, Booker often steered away from the cameras, even routinely pressing a cellphone to his ear as his own personal do-not-disturb sign.
"Just getting comfortable in a situation," fellow wide receiver Wes Welker says about Booker. "You come to a new team, and it takes time to get to know the guys and the coaches."
Two years ago today, the Dolphins acquired Booker in a high-profile trade with the Chicago Bears, giving up defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and a 2005 third-round draft choice.
For Booker, admittedly a quiet person who has struggled to adjust to a foreign situation each of the past two seasons, something has changed since then. A lot of things, actually.
"The first year was the toughest," said Booker, who played in his first game with his new team 15 days after the trade was finalized, "just being thrown into the fire."
It has been an adjustment ever since. Suddenly, however, the once-high-profile player of 2002 - the one who made the Pro Bowl as the Chicago Bears' No. 1 receiver - appears ready to emerge again. As a player.
And as a person.
Booker is prepared to jump back into the spotlight.
"I know I didn't put up the numbers I would like since I've been here," said Booker, who has yet to come within 500 yards of his best season in Chicago.
"I'm looking for a big year out of myself. I'm putting the pressure on myself to go out there and put up the numbers."
Since the start of training camp, Booker suddenly has opened up, his honesty about the personal disappointment each of the past two seasons flowing like never before. He is more vocal about his poise, more ready to prove he can handle the attention.
"Marty is a Pro Bowl guy himself," Welker said. "He's really smart - smarter than a lot of people give him credit for. I think in a lot of places in this league, he could be a No. 1, and he plays like it pretty much all the time lately."
Keep in mind, Booker knows who is the main man in the receiving corps.
That role belongs to Chris Chambers.
But after a big season of his own, Chambers figures to get more double coverage this year.
That could mean big things for Booker.
"Those two guys (Booker and Chambers) complement each other very well, and I think the better both of them play, the better it's going to be for our team," coach Nick Saban said.
It's not as if Booker has been a disappointment for the Dolphins. As even he notes, last season marked a significant jump in his big-play ability, averaging 17.6 yards per catch. That's 5.4 yards per catch more than he had during his Pro Bowl season in 2002.
Booker, though, hasn't put up close to his career-best of 1,189 yards on 97 catches. Or his second-best season in 2001 when he had 1,071 yards on 100 catches.
In Miami, he has settled for two pairs of sub-700-yard seasons.
"I'm just hoping to build off what I had last year," Booker said. "I did get a chance to establish something I haven't established since I've been in the NFL: That's my yards per catch. I was able to go deep. Now, I'm trying to build off that and combine it with my short game so I can put up some big numbers this year."
How big? Booker said he'd like to total more than 50 catches and close to 1,000 yards - an admirable goal for a No. 2 wide receiver. That would be especially solid considering the shared distribution to tight end Randy McMichael and running back Ronnie Brown.
"This year, I've got a feel of how this team is, how the coaching staff is," said Booker, who will play for his fourth offensive coordinator in four years. "It's pretty much the same offense, so there's not a learning curve I have to adjust to. For the most part, I can go out there and play."
Booker is doing something he hasn't done since joining the Dolphins. He is speaking freely. He is playing with confidence. And two years after his arrival, he appears poised to succeed like never before.
"I'm putting pressure on myself to do big things, but I'm not putting the added pressure on myself to say, 'I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this,'" Booker said.
"I'm just playing. I'm just relaxing. I'm just doing what I know I can do."Breaking away
WR Marty Booker showed a new side to his game last season by averaging 17.6 yards per catch:
Booker finds comfort zone with Dolphins
By Jeff Darlington
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
DAVIE — He sat in a corner of the Dolphins' locker room, a few steps from an exit that could quickly take him away from the attention and toward the showers.
Each of the past two seasons, that's the way wide receiver Marty Booker liked it.
One post-practice after another, one media frenzy after the next, Booker often steered away from the cameras, even routinely pressing a cellphone to his ear as his own personal do-not-disturb sign.
"Just getting comfortable in a situation," fellow wide receiver Wes Welker says about Booker. "You come to a new team, and it takes time to get to know the guys and the coaches."
Two years ago today, the Dolphins acquired Booker in a high-profile trade with the Chicago Bears, giving up defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and a 2005 third-round draft choice.
For Booker, admittedly a quiet person who has struggled to adjust to a foreign situation each of the past two seasons, something has changed since then. A lot of things, actually.
"The first year was the toughest," said Booker, who played in his first game with his new team 15 days after the trade was finalized, "just being thrown into the fire."
It has been an adjustment ever since. Suddenly, however, the once-high-profile player of 2002 - the one who made the Pro Bowl as the Chicago Bears' No. 1 receiver - appears ready to emerge again. As a player.
And as a person.
Booker is prepared to jump back into the spotlight.
"I know I didn't put up the numbers I would like since I've been here," said Booker, who has yet to come within 500 yards of his best season in Chicago.
"I'm looking for a big year out of myself. I'm putting the pressure on myself to go out there and put up the numbers."
Since the start of training camp, Booker suddenly has opened up, his honesty about the personal disappointment each of the past two seasons flowing like never before. He is more vocal about his poise, more ready to prove he can handle the attention.
"Marty is a Pro Bowl guy himself," Welker said. "He's really smart - smarter than a lot of people give him credit for. I think in a lot of places in this league, he could be a No. 1, and he plays like it pretty much all the time lately."
Keep in mind, Booker knows who is the main man in the receiving corps.
That role belongs to Chris Chambers.
But after a big season of his own, Chambers figures to get more double coverage this year.
That could mean big things for Booker.
"Those two guys (Booker and Chambers) complement each other very well, and I think the better both of them play, the better it's going to be for our team," coach Nick Saban said.
It's not as if Booker has been a disappointment for the Dolphins. As even he notes, last season marked a significant jump in his big-play ability, averaging 17.6 yards per catch. That's 5.4 yards per catch more than he had during his Pro Bowl season in 2002.
Booker, though, hasn't put up close to his career-best of 1,189 yards on 97 catches. Or his second-best season in 2001 when he had 1,071 yards on 100 catches.
In Miami, he has settled for two pairs of sub-700-yard seasons.
"I'm just hoping to build off what I had last year," Booker said. "I did get a chance to establish something I haven't established since I've been in the NFL: That's my yards per catch. I was able to go deep. Now, I'm trying to build off that and combine it with my short game so I can put up some big numbers this year."
How big? Booker said he'd like to total more than 50 catches and close to 1,000 yards - an admirable goal for a No. 2 wide receiver. That would be especially solid considering the shared distribution to tight end Randy McMichael and running back Ronnie Brown.
"This year, I've got a feel of how this team is, how the coaching staff is," said Booker, who will play for his fourth offensive coordinator in four years. "It's pretty much the same offense, so there's not a learning curve I have to adjust to. For the most part, I can go out there and play."
Booker is doing something he hasn't done since joining the Dolphins. He is speaking freely. He is playing with confidence. And two years after his arrival, he appears poised to succeed like never before.
"I'm putting pressure on myself to do big things, but I'm not putting the added pressure on myself to say, 'I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this,'" Booker said.
"I'm just playing. I'm just relaxing. I'm just doing what I know I can do."Breaking away
WR Marty Booker showed a new side to his game last season by averaging 17.6 yards per catch:
