This week's guest on The Fish Tank podcast is former Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Greg Camarillo, who is best remembered for his game-winning 64-yard touchdown catch in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens in 2007. Here are a few "FishBites" from Greg's time in The Tank with O.J. McDuffie and Seth Levit:
Neither Greg, nor Miami Dolphins faithful, will ever forget the catch that changed his life and led to the Dolphins lone victory in 2007:
"Fortunately for me, I only played a handful of offensive plays and some special teams, so I'm fresh. This is two, three hours into the game. Everyone else is gassed, but I'm fresh. The play works. Ed Reed knows what's coming and just abandons ship and is inches away from picking it off. But what that does is it opens up the rest of the field because there's no safety there. I was never the fastest guy, but guys had been running for three hours and I'd been running for 20 minutes so I was ready to go."
In the previous episode of The Fish Tank, former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Bart Scott referred to Greg as "Camazero" rather than the correct pronunciation of Camarillo. Greg took the jab in stride:
"That's cool. It would have been Camazero if it wasn't for that play. I mean, no one wants to be on the loosing end of the one win. Bart Scott was an angry player. That's what made him a good football player.
Greg was not only excited about helping his team win its first game of the season, but he was thrilled to reach unfamiliar territory:
"That was the first time I had scored a touchdown since high school. I had not sniffed the end zone in so long and it was just a lot of fun."
After the party came the after party, and for Greg, it was a dream come true:
"It was a club that had ESPN playing on TVs and it was like a moment where I felt like, 'Oh my God, I've arrived as a football player.' I'm in the club partying and there's SportsCenter Top 10 playing and I'm number one on the Top 10."
To this day, he still feels celebrated by Miami Dolphins fans:
"It's great to feel supported. It's great to feel that fan love. And I'll always appreciate Dolphins fans for it because it didn't fade. It wasn't like, 'oh next week we've moved on from you.' It's a lot of love and I appreciate it."
During a contract negotiation, Greg advised his agent to accept what he felt was a fair offer, and it was a timely decision:
"Thank God I had just signed that contract four days earlier. Literally, if I tried to hold out for a dollar more and I blow out my ACL, you might never see me again in the NFL. It was a life lesson to me. Don't be greedy."
One of the lasting moments of Greg's game-winning touchdown was the radio call during which the late Jim Mandich exclaimed, "I love Rich Camarillo!":
"It was such a fun moment that represents this nobody that happened to score; So much of a nobody that the radio guy didn't even know his name."
Listen to the entire Greg Camarillo interview, as well as all episodes of The Fish Tank podcast on the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, which can be found on all streaming platforms.
Miami Dolphins Podcast Network: https://www.miamidolphins.com/audio/the-fish-tank
