By John Rigolizzo
Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller has a lot of emotions to process in his return to football.
Waller joined the Dolphins in July after retiring from football in 2024. However, he had to wait until Week 4 to make his debut for Miami, but he made it count on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets with two touchdowns, helping the Dolphins to a 27–21 win.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Waller expressed gratitude to his teammates and coaches for believing in him.
“It’s a lot to process,” Waller said in his postgame presser. “A lot, emotionally, to be honest. Very exciting, just to be out there, just the whole day. Little bit of fear, little bit of everything, you know? Because I haven’t really been practicing a ton, haven’t really done a lot with the team, so it’s naturally like, ‘All right, I’ve got to find a way to get back out there and get into a rhythm and just be somebody that this team can rely on and give this team a return on their investment.’”
Waller said he prepared as hard as he could for the game, but tried to be present in the moment, whether that was making a big play when it needed to be made or simply encouraging his teammates when they made big plays.
Though he only had three catches, all of them were big plays for a Dolphins offense in serious need of them. His first catch was a 14-yard completion to convert a third down on the team’s opening possession.
“Just to be able to get in there and to react and make a play, get hit, get the little excitement and then just settle right back into the flow of the game, and just being present from down to down,” he said.
Waller said a play like that goes a long way to getting a player back into a rhythm after a long hiatus, likening it to the first contact during a preseason game.
His second catch came on a fourth-and-goal in the second quarter. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw into double coverage in the back of the end zone. The 6’6” Waller got both feet inbounds to put the Dolphins up 10–0.
“It was really high,” Waller said of the pass. “But shout out to Tua for trusting that and just putting it up there and giving a guy a chance, you know? We haven’t really had that much time to build chemistry, but for him to give me [an] opportunity like that, I’m really grateful … fourth down, got-to-have-it situation, and just being where you’ve got to be and go get the football.”
His third reception came in the third quarter. On second-and-6 from the Jets’ 9-yard line, Tagovailoa rolled out to his right on a play-action bootleg and found Waller wide open on a deep over route in the end zone in front of safety Andre Cisco. That score put the Dolphins up 17–3.
While it won’t show up on the stat sheet, Waller had his biggest impact on the game when he downed the Jets’ onside kick attempt, ending their chances at a comeback.
A former sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens as a wide receiver out of Georgia Tech in 2015, Waller spent his first three seasons in Baltimore, converting to tight end in his sophomore season. He missed an extended period of time due to substance abuse issues and languished on the Ravens practice squad until he was signed by the then-Oakland Raiders in 2018.
Waller exploded onto the scene in 2019 and 2020, with 1,100-plus receiving yards in both seasons and a combined 12 touchdowns. He also won a Pro Bowl selection in 2020. But injuries began to crop up, cutting his 2021 and 2022 campaigns short.
The Raiders traded him to the New York Giants, but injuries again derailed his season. He retired in June 2024, amid a highly-publicized divorce from Las Vegas Aces point guard Kelsey Plum.
After a brief stint as a rapper, Waller announced he was coming out of retirement and was subsequently traded to Miami by the Giants.
