The kicker has evolved more than any other position player in the history of the NFL. Once an afterthought on teams, kickers are now specialists who take up their own spot on the roster despite performing on only a handful of plays per game.

Kickers have also rarely been outspoken, until of late. We’ve all enjoyed now-ex-NFLer Mike Vanderjagt’s unfortunate outbursts, and thankfully we’re now blessed with Miami Dolphin PK Jay Feely.

As noted on SbB recently, Feely was recently told by the Dolphins to pipe down when it comes to comments to the media. Apparently though, that didn’t cover commenting on blog posts by Dolphins reporter Armando Salguero in the MIAMI HERALD.

Feely was a recent focal point of a blog post from Salguero recounting the kicker’s outspoken nature during a team function:

Team brass noticed that Feely was the only player who asked a question of Ari Fleischer Sunday after the former White House Press Secretary finished a 45-minute presentation on how to deal with the media.

It’s not a bad thing that Feely asked a question, in my opinion. But apparently there were eyebrows raised among Miami brass that Feely felt compelled to step up despite previously being told to step back.

The question apparently didn’t help Feely, either. He asked how to he might go about defending the organization on issues he might not agree with.

“What I told Jay was, and I get that question a lot,” Fleischer said, “is I worked for three congressmen, one senator and one president. They ran on their issues. I’m a staffer. I cannot possibly agree with 100 percent of what they espouse …”

Feely, amusingly, responded in the comments (he’s since confirmed it was actually him):

armando, This is jay feely. I wanted to offer you a little clarification on the Ari fleischer presentation. I was asked before the meeting by our media relations director Harvey Greene to ask a question when Mr. Fleischer finished his presentations and asked for questions. As far as the organization not liking my question I can only say I had a coach come up to me afterward and tell me ‘great question’.

I think you presented a much more controversial view of the situation than I did when you interviewed me. Never did I say they told me to ’shut up’ as you wrote in your article. You asked me if they asked me to not do as much media work and I said ‘yes, and I was willing to do that.”

Fair enough. But you’d think a would-be team spokesman would have a slightly better grasp of capitalization, among other things.