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Watch The Dolphins Cut Chad Johnson On Hard Knocks

When Chad Johnson was cut by the Dolphins following an alleged domestic violence incident with soon-to-be-former wife Evelyn Lozada, there were many reasons to think what we were looking at was a sad situation all around. But there was one reason in particular to think the story might also be compelling from a dramatic point of view: the Dolphins, and by extension, Johnson, being featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

And sure enough, the show delivered. Just as baseball Hard Knocks equivalent The Franchise gave us footage from the moment the Marlins told manager Ozzie Guillen they were suspending him for his controversial comments about Fidel Castro, last night, Hard Knocks gave viewers a look at the last meeting Johnson and coach Joe Philbin will ever have. It went like this:

Others have noted just how gently Philbin lets Johnson down, and it’s true – he seemed like he didn’t want to do it at all, not quite saying “We’re cutting you” directly while still making it known Johnson’s Dolphins days are over. And he probably didn’t want to do it. Firing people in any line of work isn’t fun, especially when you’re a first-year head coach like Philbin and you haven’t cut as many guys as, say, the Jeff Fishers and Mike Shanahans of the world.

As much as Philbin seemed to genuinely regret the Johnson Experiment’s failure, though, it’s pretty clear he didn’t think it was working – and Johnson probably wasn’t on track to provide the kind of production that would make dealing with the circus now surrounding him worth it. So Philbin did what he had to do – even if, as the clip above made unusually (and at times, rivetingly) clear, he got no pleasure from doing it. See: not all football coaches are unfeeling monsters.

[h/t Awful Announcing via The Nosebleeds]