Keith Sims played the first eight of his eleven NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins after the team took him in the second round out of Iowa State in 1990. He stepped in at left guard and started most of his games from the start, forming a reliable tandem with tackle Richmond Webb on the left side of the line.

That side of the line became one of the more consistent groups protecting Dan Marino in the first half of the 1990s. Sims wasn’t a flashy mauler, but he was durable and technically sound enough to keep the pocket intact regularly. From 1993 through 1995, he earned Pro Bowl selections each year, and in 1994 he also landed second-team All-Pro honors. During that stretch, the Dolphins’ offense ranked near the top of the league in yards and points several times, and the line kept the sack totals manageable even as Marino put up big numbers.

Sims started 108 of the 113 games he played with Miami. The peak years were those three consecutive Pro Bowls, when he and Webb gave the Dolphins a left side that opposing defenses rarely dominated. He was the kind of guard who missed few starts and gave up few easy pressures, which the Dolphins needed as the offense kept trying to push the ball downfield.

He finished his last three seasons in the league with the Washington Redskins after leaving Miami following the 1997 season. With the Dolphins, he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro, and the franchise later placed him on the Walk of Fame.