Dolphins' Ginn returns from 'toughest week' with day for the ages

NEW YORK -- For one brief shining moment -- actually two -- Ted Ginn Jr.'s redemption ranked with some of the greatest NFL stories of recent times.

One week after becoming the piñata of South Florida, of being damned on talk shows, decimated in newspapers and denounced by former Dolphins, Ginn took his humility on the road, to the media capital of the NFL. Ginn had been targeted for dropping important catches against New Orleans the week before. One Dolphin great, Bob Kuechenberg, called Ginn "an embarrassment, a coward" who had "alligator arms" and another, O.J. McDuffie, said Ginn "sometimes goes down when no one is around him." Tony Sparano then benched Ginn against the Jets and started Brian Hartline.

Ted Ginn Jr. left the Jets' kick-coverage unit grasping at air Sunday. (Getty Images)

"It was one of the toughest weeks of my life," Ginn said. "The game against the Saints was the worst of my career."

But in the unwelcoming confines of the Meadowlands, against a division rival, Ginn was electric, magical, breathtaking. His NFL-record two 100-plus-yard kickoff returns in one quarter almost singlehandedly won the game for the Dolphins, and his reaction after the game was pure joy.

"My motive was to get to the outside," said Ginn, smiling about his two returns. "I'd seen on film that they were overloading to one side. As they kicked to the left, I saw two guys loop over. I knew if I could get to the backside, good things would happen."

On a day when the offense was totally ineffective -- the Dolphins, now 3-4, were outgained by the Jets 378 yards to 104 -- Ginn's returns accounted for 12 of Miami's 30 points. His first was a streak of speed. He started up the middle, then blazed to the sideline, dismissing three defenders who barely challenged him.

"Not being in the starting lineup hurt me deep inside," Ginn said. "I wanted to show that I'm still a big-play guy. I wanted to show that you don't have to be a starter to make plays."

At the end of the third quarter, the Jets stubbornly kicked to Ginn again. He took the kick a yard deep in the end zone and first ran right, then left, then was stopped dead at the 15.

"I couldn't even see him," said Sparano. "I have no idea how he got out of there."

Ginn took one step to avoid Larry Izzo, then another to get past Ryan Fowler.

"I was trapped, like a mouse," said Ginn. "But what does a mouse do when he's trapped? He gets creative."

And Ginn was gone with the wind. He is the eighth player to return two kicks in the same game, but is the first to gain 100 yards or more on both of them. His 49.8-yard return average (the Jets continued to kick to him!) is the highest in NFL history for players who've fielded at least five kickoffs.

"I'm really happy for him," said Jason Taylor, who had a big day of his own. "This game, this league, is unforgiving, but we all told him to not lose heart."

There have been other NFL stories of redemption, other players who've rebounded in the face of rejection. The best example might be Kurt Warner, who seems to make a habit of it. The former Iowa Barnstormer, Amsterdam Admiral and NFL MVP engineered his team to the Super Bowl last year.

There is the story of Drew Brees, he of the 67 passer rating for the 2003 San Diego Chargers. Brees is now almost everyone's first or second choice for league MVP. And what about Randy Moss, one of the most exciting rookies in history in 1998 with the Vikings, but who then crashed in 2004? In one of the strangest decisions, people thought Moss to the Raiders might work, but Moss finished the 2006 year with only 42 catches and people whispered he was done.

Of course, now we know that Moss was really a Brooks Brothers button-down man who had apparently been hiding his inner class. His years in New England have been the stuff of legend.

There are others, both current and in the recent past -- Jeff Garcia, Cedric Benson and Kyle Orton -- but Ginn's achievement on a single day can rank with all of them. The No. 9 pick of the 2007 draft has been criticized since Day 1, rarely enjoying a moment of celebration. Does this mean Ginn will return as a solid receiver, a legitimate deep threat, or only as a return-man extraordinaire?

"That game will do wonders for his confidence," said Dan Marino. "And a defense always has to respect a receiver with speed."

Whether Ginn transforms himself into the second coming of Mark Duper remains to be seen, but fans saw one of their slumping hitters break out with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth.

"Some people rise up," said Sparano quietly Sunday, "some don't. Today Teddy rose up."