The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League. The Dolphins play home games at Sun Life Stadium in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, and have their headquarters Davie, Florida. The Dolphins team was founded by Joe Robbie, and began pl
ay in the American Football League in 1966. The region had not possessed a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All American Football Conference in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts. For the first few years the Dolphins full-time training camp and practice facilities were at Saint Andrew's School, a private boys boarding prep school in Boca Raton. In 1970 the Dolphins joined the NFL when the AFL–NFL merger occurred. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24-3. In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's first and only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win, winning all 14 of its regular-season games, both of its NFL playoff games, and also Super Bowl VII. The Dolphins thus became the first NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season. The Dolphins also won Super Bowl VIII, becoming the first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team (the first AFL/AFC team) to win back-to-back championships. For most of their early history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history in terms of total games won. His Dolphins teams posted losing records in only two of his 26 seasons as the head coach of the team. Six future Football Hall of Fame members played for Miami during the 1970s, including fullback Larry Csonka, quarterback Bob Griese, and linebacker Nick Buoniconti. During the period spanning 1983 to the end of 1999, quarterback Dan Marino became one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records. He led the Dolphins to five division titles, 10 playoff appearances, and Super Bowl XIX before retiring following the 1999 season. They were the first major league-level sports franchise ever to be based in Miami. The Seahawks played only one season afflicted by a difficult schedule and poor ticket sales, and by the end of the season had accumulated so much debt that the league confiscated the franchise.[3]
Florida would not have another professional football team for nearly 20 years. Then in 1965, a group in Atlanta applied for franchises in both the American Football League and the NFL, acting entirely on its own with no guarantee of stadium rights. Another group reported it had deposited earnest money for a team in the AFL. Local businessmen worked out a deal and were awarded an AFL franchise on June 7, 1965, contingent upon acquiring exclusive stadium rights from city officials. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had been moving slowly in Atlanta matters, was spurred by the AFL interest and headed on the next plane down to Atlanta to block the rival league's claim on the city of Atlanta. He forced the city to make a choice between the two leagues. The Dolphins became a Professional Football powerhouse, winning two Super Bowl Championships, including the perfect season of 1972, while the NFL's Atlanta team has been a perennial also-ran.
1970s: Don Shula, Super Bowls, and The Perfect Season
The Dolphins had a combined 15–39–2 record in their first four seasons (under head coach George Wilson and behind QB John Stofa) when Don Shula was hired as head coach. Shula was a former Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts after first losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFL's New York Jets and finishing 8–5–1 the following season. Interestingly, Shula got his first NFL coaching job from then-Detroit Head Coach George Wilson, who hired him as the defensive coordinator. When Shula replaced Wilson at Miami the Colts charged the Dolphins with tampering in their hiring of Shula, costing the Dolphins their first round draft pick in 1970. Shula introduced himself to the Miami press by saying that he didn't have any magic formulas and that the only way he knew to make his teams successful was through hard work. Shula's early training camps with the Dolphins, with four workouts a day, would soon be the stuff of sweltering, painful legend. But Shula's hard work paid immediate dividends, as Miami improved to a 10–4 record and their first-ever playoff appearance, losing 21–14 at Oakland. The Dolphins were successful in the early 1970s, becoming the first team to advance to the Super Bowl for three consecutive seasons. They captured the AFC championship in 1971 behind quarterback Bob Griese, running backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, and wide receiver Paul Warfield. The AFC Divisional Playoff Game, in which the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, was the longest contest in NFL history (82 minutes 40 seconds). In Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24–3. In 1972 the Dolphins completed the first and only fully undefeated season in the NFL, winning all 14 regular season games, two playoff games and Super Bowl VII, defeating the Washington Redskins 14–7. They finished the season 17–0, and are somewhat immortalized as arguably the greatest team in NFL history. QB Griese fell victim to a broken leg and dislocated ankle in Week 5 versus the San Diego Chargers and was replaced by veteran Earl Morrall for the rest of the regular season, but returned to the field as a substitute during the AFC Championship game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and then started in Super Bowl VII. The Dolphins set the NFL single-season rushing record, and running backs Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a season. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little and Pro Bowler Bob Kuechenberg. The 1972 Dolphins defensive unit, called the No-Name Defense because Miami’s impressive offense received much more publicity, was the league’s best that year. It was led by linebacker Nick Buoniconti, end Bill Stanfill, tackle Manny Fernandez and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott. Before the 1972 Dolphins, only the Chicago Bears, in 1934[6] and 1942,[7] had finished an NFL regular season with no losses or ties. The 1934 team lost the NFL Championship Game that year to the New York Football Giants, and the 1942 team lost the Championship to the Redskins. The Cleveland Browns were undefeated in the 1948 All-America Football Conference season. The Dolphins finished 12–2 after the 1973 regular season and repeated as NFL champions
