Fans mob Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka at the team’s midnight arrival at Miami International Airport. (Ralph Pabst/Miami Herald)
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Joe Robbie congratulates Don Shula, NFL Coach of the Year, 1971. (Miami Herald)
1972
January 2:
Dolphins beat Baltimore, 21-0, to capture their first AFC Championship in front of 78,629 at the Orange Bowl.
January 16:
Dallas rushes for 252 yards, outgains Miami, 352-185, and defeats the Dolphins, 24-3, in Super Bowl 6 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. That bitter loss is the constant motivation and reminder Don Shula uses throughout the following season to push his team toward its first Super Bowl win and the Perfect Season.
October 15:
Earl Morrall replaces quarterback Bob Griese (broken right leg, dislocated ankle) during a 24-10 victory over visiting San Diego, with Miami moving to 5-0.
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Don Shula checks on quarterback Bob Griese after Griese breaks his leg against the San Diego Chargers in the Orange Bowl, October 15, 1972. (Miami Herald)
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Injured Bob Griese leaving Mercy Hospital, October 16, 1972. (Miami Herald)
Dolphin quarterback Bob Griese with his son take to the bench as Griese’s injured ankle leaves his job to Earl Morrall. (John Pineda/Miami Herald)
DOLPHIN TRIVIA:
Who holds the Dolphin record for most fumble recoveries?
Bob Griese.
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“When I look back on all those years of pro football, the unbeaten season was the most thrilling. It’s amazing when you think about it. Going 17-0. No team will probably ever do it again.”
Earl Morrall remembering the “perfect season”, 1983
December 16:
Dolphins achieve the NFL’s first 14-0 regular season by beating Baltimore. In the process, they break the NFL’s season rushing record with 2,960 yards.
December 31:
With the score tied at 7, Bob Griese comes off the bench in the third quarter, after missing 10 games, and leads the Dolphins to a 21-17 victory at Pittsburgh, sending Miami to the Super Bowl for a second consecutive season. Trailing 7-0 in the first half, Dolphins punter Larry Seiple decided on his own to run instead of kick on fourth down and gained 37 yards in a drive that ended in a touchdown and a tie score.
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1973
January 14:
The Dolphins cap the only perfect season in NFL history by defeating Washington, 14-7, in Super Bowl 7 in Los Angeles. Jake Scott intercepts two passes and is named MVP.
Bob Griese after the Dolphins beat Pittsburgh in the AFC title game, December 31, 1972. (Miami Herald)
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DOLPHINS COMPLETE FIRST PERFECT SEASON
Monday, January 15, 1973
Luther Evans
The Miami Dolphins have no more promises to keep. They reached pro football’s utopia Sunday by winning Super Bowl 7.
They became the first team in the storied history of the National Football League to complete an undefeated season by outmuscling the favored Washington Redskins, 14-7, before a Super Bowl record crowd of 90,182.
It became 17 down and none to go for the incredible Dolphins at precisely 6:28 p.m. Miami time when players hoisted Coach Don Shula on their shoulders and proudly carried him out of the Los Angeles Coliseum.
First-half touchdowns furnished the Dolphins with a 14-0 advantage. The first,
a 28-yard pass from Bob Griese to Howard Twilley, capped a 63-yard drive, and Nick Buoniconti’s 32-yard interception return set up a one-yard TD plunge by Jim Kiick.
At long last, Shula could say the 14 regular-season triumphs – and the playoff victories over Cleveland and Pittsburgh – were “meaningful.”
Humiliated by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1972 Super Bowl at New Orleans, 24-3, Shula and his athletes had waited, dreamed and schemed 363 days for this hour of redemption.
