Hello, I’m Bob and something to know about me is. I was at the Orange Bowl when the Miami Dolphins beat the “bad news bears” to end their quest for an unbeaten season. A lot of teams can say they are Champions. But only one can say they are perfect. 👇
In this week’s blogpost we are talking about Dolphins. No not the lovable Bottlenose or even the thrilling Mahi-Mahi. We are talking about another type of Dolphin that time has proven to be just as lovable & just as thrilling as their acrobatic cousins.
With another football season “swiftly” approaching. We are talking about the 1972 @Miamidolphins
Fifty two years ago the Miami Dolphins did something none of their land dwelling counterparts have ever been able to match. They remain the only NFL team in history to record an undefeated season.
Some try to take away from this tremendous team accomplishment by pointing to the fact the competition they faced that year was subpar.
But this view doesn’t hold any water. The Bottlenose Dolphin is equipped with a blowhole on the top of its head which stores & then blows out excess water when the Dolphin (an air breathing mammal) surfaces for oxygen. Which is exactly what the unbeaten/untied football Dolphins did in 1972.
Here are the hoops the Dolphins had to jump over & through to achieve perfection: 👇
1) Throughout NFL history many other teams have played similar schedules yet somehow did not win all their games. The competitive edge it takes to be at your best when everyone is trying a little harder to beat you can not be understated & neither can the pressure to keep winning.
2) In addition to being unbeaten, the team led the league in both points scored & fewest points allowed. (Also the only time it’s been done).
3) The team had to rely on their backup quarterback Earl Morrall. A veteran who provided the Miami Dolphins with “real victories” rather than simply “moral” ones, for most of the season. When starting quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle in week five. (A built in excuse for a loss that never happened). Of course having running backs Larry Csonka & Mercury Morris become the first backfield tandem to both rush for over 1,000 yards in a season made it all possible. Not the equivalent of the 100 miles per day a sea Dolphin can travel. But extraordinary for a football team.
4) Although sporting an unblemished record the warm blooded Dolphins had to travel to Pittsburgh in frigid December to face an up & coming Steelers team fresh off of a “miraculous reception” win the previous week vs the Oakland Raiders. After falling behind it took a fake punt for a 37 yd. first down & the return of quarterback Bob Griese in the 3rd quarter to pull off a small miracle on the road themselves to advance to the Super Bowl. What a gutsy move by coach Don Shula to re-insert Griese when the offense stalled. Creating a sea change, turning the tide in the game. Keeping the team afloat.
5) This “pod” of Dolphins kept its PREY at BAY. By leading the league in total offense, total defense, scoring offense & scoring defense. The only team ever to have done so.
6) Despite having been in the previous Super Bowl & holders of 16 straight victories the Dolphins entered Super Bowl 7 as 1 point underdogs. Still having something to prove. The last & final test came in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. The Dolphins leading 14-0 for most of the game with 2 minutes left, called on normally steady/reliable field goal kicker Garo Yepremian to put the game out of reach. Yepremian from Cyprus born to Armenian parents was a former soccer player unaccustomed to the ways of American football. Who once when his coach told him they lost the coin toss ran to midfield & dropped to his knees looking for the coin. In Super Bowl VII Garo did not disappoint either. His field goal attempt was blocked falling back into Garo’s hands but this one could not be called an “immaculate reception” Garo instead of falling on the ball which would have preserved the Super Bowl victory & undefeated season. Attempted to run with the ball then tried making a forward pass which slipped out of his hands & into the hands of Redskins cornerback Mike Bass a former teammate. Marking the only time in our planet’s history a “bait ball” was exchanged from a Dolphin to a Bass. Nevertheless Bass ran the ball the length of the field for a touchdown. Putting the perfect season in serious jeopardy. Both teams had one more possession with neither team able to score. Thereby making the 1972 Dolphins perfect.
Postscripts:
I was fortunate enough to be at the Orange Bowl in Miami in 1985 when Dan Marino & the Dolphins ended the hopes of the 1985 Chicago Bears joining the 1972 Dolphins in perfection.
For the purpose of historical accuracy I “Porpoisely” omitted any names from the no-name defense. The legacy left in their wake ripples through the ages like a shimmering ocean wave that never crests.
I hope some of the points in this post were able to demonstrate just how difficult it is to be undefeated & how just one mistake at an inopportune moment could cause the quest to end. Tom Brady & the Patriots know all about this.
Maybe that’s why in A Flicker in the Water it says. “Neither fisherman or fish go through a full season undefeated unless you are the 1972 Miami Dolphins”🐬
#MiamiDolphins #miamidolphinsfootball
