1972 Miami Dolphins

1972 Miami Dolphins season
Head Coach	Don Shula
Home Field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	14–0–0
Place	1st AFC East
Playoff Finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Browns) 20–14 Won AFC Championship (Steelers) 21–17 Won Super Bowl VII (Redskins) 14–7
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1971	1973

The 1972 Miami Dolphins season was the team's seventh, and third in the National Football League. The 1972 Dolphins are the only National Football League team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka (among many others). The 1972 Dolphins went 14–0 in the regular season and won all three post-season games, including Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins, to finish 17–0.

The team remains the only NFL team to complete an entire season undefeated and untied from the opening game through the Super Bowl (or championship game) In addition, the Dolphins continued their winning streak to 18 straight games (regular season and post-season), before losing in the second week of the 1973 season.

During the 1972 season, Bob Griese's ankle was broken in Week 5 as he was sacked by San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Ron East and defensive end Deacon Jones. He was replaced by veteran Earl Morrall for the rest of the regular season. Griese returned to the field as a substitute during the AFC Championship game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and then started for Miami in Super Bowl VII. On the ground, running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Paul Warfield led the receivers, averaging over 20 yards per catch on 29 receptions. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little and Pro Bowler Norm Evans.

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. In all, nine players—Csonka, Morris, Warfield, Little, Evans, Buoniconti, Stanfill, Anderson and Scott— were selected to the Pro Bowl, and Morrall, Stanfill and Anderson were named 1st team All-Pro.

Offseason

NFL Draft

• Main article: 1972 NFL draft

1972 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	25	Mike Kadish	Defensive tackle	Notre Dame
3	77	Gary Kosins	Running back	Dayton	Signed with the Chicago Bears
4	91	Larry Ball	Linebacker	Louisville
4	105	Al Denton	Tackle	Ohio
5	129	Charlie Babb	Safety	Memphis
6	155	Ray Nettles	Linebacker	Tennessee	Signed with the BC Lions
7	161	Bill Adams	Guard	Holy Cross	Signed with the Buffalo Bills
7	180	Calvin Harrell	Running back	Arkansas State	Signed with the Edmonton Eskimos
8	207	Craig Curry	Quarterback	Minnesota
8	233	Greg Johnson	Defensive back	Wisconsin
11	285	Ed Jenkins	Wide receiver	Holy Cross
12	311	Ashley Bell	Tight end	Purdue
13	337	Archie Robinson	Defensive back	Hillsdale
14	362	Willie Jones	Linebacker	Tampa
15	389	Bill Davis	Defensive tackle	William & Mary
16	415	Al Hannah	Wide receiver	Wisconsin
17	441	Vern Brown	Defensive back	Western Michigan
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1972 Miami Dolphins final staff
	Front Office Team Owner / President – Joe Robbie Vice president – Don Shula Director of player personnel – Joe Thomas Head Coaches Head coach – Don Shula Offensive Coaches Offense/receivers – Howard Schnellenberger Offensive backs – Carl Taseff Offensive line – Monte Clark			Defensive Coaches Defense/linebackers – Bill Arnsparger Defensive line – Mike Scarry Defensive backs – Tom Keane Special Teams Coaches None - N/A Strength and Conditioning None - N/A

Roster

1972 Miami Dolphins roster
	Quarterbacks 15 Earl Morrall 11 Jim Del Gaizo 12 Bob Griese Running backs 22 Mercury Morris 39 Larry Csonka FB 21 Jim Kiick 23 Charles Leigh FB 32 Hubert Ginn 28 Ed Jenkins Wide receivers 81 Howard Twilley 42 Paul Warfield 86 Marlin Briscoe 28 Ed Jenkins 82 Otto Stowe Tight ends 80 Marv Fleming 88 Jim Mandich		Offensive linemen 77 Doug Crusan T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 62 Jim Langer C 66 Larry Little G 73 Norm Evans T 54 Howard Kindig T 60 Al Jenkins G 79 Wayne Moore T Defensive linemen 83 Vern Den Herder DE 75 Manny Fernandez DT 72 Bob Heinz DT 84 Bill Stanfill DE 78 Jim Dunaway DT 65 Maulty Moore DT		Linebackers 59 Doug Swift 85 Nick Buoniconti 57 Mike Kolen 51 Larry Ball 53 Bob Matheson 56 Jesse Powell Defensive backs 25 Tim Foley CB 45 Curtis Johnson CB 40 Dick Anderson SS 13 Jake Scott FS 49 Charlie Babb SS 43 Mike Howell FS 26 Lloyd Mumphord CB 48 Henry Stuckey Special teams 1 Garo Yepremian K 20 Larry Seiple P 7 Billy Lothridge P		Reserve lists 44 Tom Curtis FS (IR) 89 Karl Noonan WR (IR) Practice/Taxi Squad -- Mike Kadish DT Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 17	at Kansas City	W 20–10	1–0	79,829
2	September 24	Houston	W 34–13	2–0	77,821
3	October 1	at Minnesota	W 16–14	3–0	47,900
4	October 8	at NY Jets	W 27–17	4–0	63,841
5	October 15	San Diego	W 24–10	5–0	80,010
6	October 22	Buffalo	W 24–23	6–0	80,010
7	October 29	at Baltimore	W 23–0	7–0	60,000
8	November 5	at Buffalo	W 30–16	8–0	46,206
9	November 12	New England	W 52–0	9–0	80,010
10	November 19	NY Jets	W 28–24	10–0	80,010
11	November 27	St. Louis	W 31–10	11–0	80,010
12	December 3	at New England	W 37–21	12–0	60,999
13	December 10	at NY Giants	W 23–13	13–0	62,728
14	December 16	Baltimore	W 16–0	14–0	80,010

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional playoffs	December 24	Cleveland	W 20–14	80,010
AFC championship	December 31	at Pittsburgh	W 21–17	50,350
Super Bowl VII	January 14	Washington	W 14–7	90,182

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami	14	0	0	1.000	385	171
NY Jets	7	7	0	.500	367	324
Baltimore	5	9	0	.357	235	252
Buffalo	4	9	1	.321	257	377
New England	3	11	0	.214	192	446

Urban legend

There is an urban legend that every season, whenever the last remaining undefeated NFL team loses its first game, all the surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins open bottles of champagne in celebration. Coach Don Shula tried to play down the myth by saying that two players, Dick Anderson and Nick Buoniconti, who live near each other sometimes have a toast together. However, in a college football broadcast on ABC, following the loss of an undefeated team, Bob Griese, after being asked by his colleague, commented that he called former Dolphins, and they had Diet Cokes together. That celebration comes with the connotation that they no longer drink alcoholic beverages, but that a toast was customary.

The perfect season

File:Dolphins Honor Roll3.jpg

The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first team to execute a perfect regular season in the modern, post-Merger NFL. They are the only team in NFL history to go undefeated and untied in the regular season and postseason.

An enduring controversy is that the 1972 Dolphins played a soft schedule not possible under the current scheduling formula. Prior to the implementation of position scheduling in 1978, opponents were set by the NFL on a rotating basis. Statistically, the Dolphins' 1972 schedule was one of the weakest played by any team in many years. Their regular-season opponents had an aggregate winning percentage of .397 and only two opponents had winning records that year (both were 8–6). However, the NFL's rules at the time also forced the undefeated Dolphins to play in Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship Game, an obstacle subsequent rule changes ensured no team with a superior record would face again, and the Dolphins won the game on the road to reach the Super Bowl.

Other teams are occasionally cited as undefeated based on their regular season record. Among these are:

• 1920 Akron Pros, 8–0–3 (originally 8-0, until the NFL retroactively included ties as part of a team's standings in 1972)
• 1922 Canton Bulldogs, 10–0–2 (originally 10-0, until the NFL retroactively included ties as part of a team's standings in 1972)
• 1923 Canton Bulldogs, 11–0–1 (originally 11-0, until the NFL retroactively included ties as part of a team's standings in 1972)
• 1929 Green Bay Packers, 12–0–1 (previously 12-0, until the NFL retroactively included ties as part of a team's standings in 1972)
• 1934 Chicago Bears, 13–0, lost championship game
• 1942 Chicago Bears, 11–0, lost championship game
• 1948 Cleveland Browns, 14–0, as members of All-America Football Conference prior to joining NFL

Teams since 1972 which have come close to matching the perfect season are:

• 1976 Oakland Raiders, 16–1, won Super Bowl
• 1984 San Francisco 49ers, 18–1, won Super Bowl (defeating the Dolphins in the Super Bowl)
• 1985 Chicago Bears, 18–1, won Super Bowl (losing to the Dolphins in their only regular season loss on Monday Night Football. It was the highest rated MNF Game of all time)
• 2007 New England Patriots, 18–1, lost Super Bowl

Television coverage

Remarkably, fans in the Miami area could not catch the home games on television – they either had to be there at the games, listen to the radio, or travel to watch the games on TV.

1972 was the last year that all home games were blacked out on local television even if they did sell out. Super Bowl VII, in fact, was the first game to be televised in the market of origin under new rules which would come into effect the following season – games must be sold out within 72 hours of kickoff time in order to be aired in the market of origin. As all Super Bowls except the first have sold out, none have been blacked out since (tickets sell out rather quickly due to high demand to see such a major game).

External links

• 1972 Miami Dolphins season article at Wikipedia
• 1972 Miami Dolphins Season at Pro-Football Reference