Dolphins aim to become first professional sports team to pull off rare civic feat – CBSSports.com

The Dolphins are trying to do something that no other professional sports team has ever done, and as of Thursday, they’re close to their goal. 

Instead of trying to set a record on the field, the team is trying to set a record off the field by becoming the first pro sports franchise to have 100 percent of its players registered to vote. The Dolphins are inching closer to their goal, which they hope to have accomplished by National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 26. 

To add some excitement to the challenge the team brought in Martin Luther King III, the son of the famed civil rights leader. King was at Dolphins minicamp on Thursday with Harry Wachtel, a man who once advised MLK Jr.

Wachtel and King are part of the Drum Major Institute, a think tank that’s partnering with the RISE organization that was founded by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. 

Both Wachtel and King did their best to get each player to register on Thursday. 

“Of course, the hope is that translates to encouraging more people across our nation to get engaged and to vote because a vote-less people, as dad said, is a powerless people,” King said, via the Miami Herald. “One of the most important steps that we can take is that short step to the ballot box.”

According to Wachtel, 90 percent of the players on the team have already registered to vote as of Thursday. 

“The Dolphins are well on their way to being the first professional ball team in American history to have a roster of fully registered voters, and this is just the beginning,” Wachtel said, via ESPN.com.