Miami Dolphins 1972 Season
   HOME



picture info

Miami Dolphins 1972 Season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins season was the franchise's seventh season and third in the National Football League (NFL). The team was led by third-year head coach Don Shula and achieved the only perfect season in NFL history. It also led the league in both points scored and fewest points allowed. Starting quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle in week 5, leaving backup Earl Morrall to start the remainder of the regular season, though Griese relieved Morrall in the second half of the AFC Championship Game and started Super Bowl VII. Morrall, a 38-year-old who spent much of his career backing up stars including Griese, Johnny Unitas, and Bobby Layne, was named MVP in 1968 under Shula when the pair led the Baltimore Colts to the NFL championship. The Dolphins clinched the AFC East title in week 10 with Morrall at quarterback. None of their regular season opponents advanced to the eight-team postseason; three had made the previous postseason (Kansas City, Minnesota, Baltimore). Runnin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




American Football Conference East Division
The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the division: the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, and the New York Jets. All four members of the AFC East were previously members of the Eastern Division of the American Football League (AFL). Both perfect regular seasons in professional football since the adoption of a 14-game schedule 1960 American Football League season, in the inaugural AFL season and 1961 NFL season, by the NFL in 1961 have been achieved by teams in this division – 1972 Miami Dolphins season, the 1972 Dolphins, who completed the only perfect season in professional football at 17–0, and 2007 New England Patriots season, the 2007 Patriots, who finished 18–1 after losing Super Bowl XLII. Since the division's establishment in 1960, with th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Paul Warfield
Paul Dryden Warfield (born November 28, 1942) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1977 for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, except for a year in the World Football League (WFL) with the Memphis Southmen in 1975. He was known for his speed, fluid moves, grace, and jumping ability. A consistent big-play threat throughout his career, his 20.1 average yards per reception is the highest in NFL history among players with at least 300 receptions. As a star halfback playing college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Warfield was twice named to the all-conference team in the Big Ten. He was selected in the first round of the 1964 NFL draft by the Browns and converted into a wide receiver. After three Pro Bowl appearances with the Browns, he was traded to the Dolphins, with whom he made another five Pro Bowl appearances. He then spent one season in the WFL with the Southmen before re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1972 Minnesota Vikings Season
The 1972 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 12th in the National Football League. It marked the return of Fran Tarkenton to the Vikings after he had been traded to the New York Giants in 1967. In return, Minnesota sent three players to the Giants (Norm Snead, Bob Grim and Vince Clements), plus first- and second-round draft picks. Tarkenton's return also resulted in Gary Cuozzo, who had been with the team since 1968, being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in a deal that sent wide receiver John Gilliam to the Vikings along with second- and fourth-round draft picks in 1973. Cardinals coach Bob Hollway was familiar with Cuozzo, having served as Minnesota's defensive coordinator under Bud Grant prior to leaving for St. Louis in 1971. The Vikings finished with a record of seven wins and seven losses, 4 games worse than their 11–3 record from 1971. This would be one of only two times during the 1970s in which the Vikings failed to reach the playoffs, as they would win the NFC Centr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1972 Kansas City Chiefs Season
The 1972 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's third season in the National Football League, tenth as the Kansas City Chiefs, and thirteenth overall. The Chiefs moved into the new Arrowhead Stadium and ended with an 8–6 record, runner-up in the AFC West, but missed the playoffs. The last original member of the franchise ( 1960 Dallas Texans) departed on July 12 when safety Johnny Robinson announced his retirement at training camp. Starting quarterback Len Dawson ended speculation about his retirement and signed a two-year contract on April 4. Franchise owner Lamar Hunt became the first AFL figure to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 29; Dawson was inducted in and Robinson in . After two different construction strikes and a myriad of other delays, Arrowhead Stadium was officially dedicated on August 12, when the Chiefs registered a 24–14 preseason victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. On a very warm Saturday night with an attendan ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1971–72 NFL Playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1971 season began on December 25, 1971. The postseason tournament concluded with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, 24–3, on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like the previous NFL seasons, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly divisional rotation, excluding the wild card teams which would always play on the road. It was the first time that the NFL scheduled games on Christmas Day, a decision that drew considerable criticism. Participants Map of playoff teams Bracket Schedule In the United States, NBC broadcast the AFC playoff games, while CBS televised the NFC games and Super Bowl VI. Divisional playoffs Saturday, December 25, 1971 NFC: Dallas Cowboys 20, Minnesota Vikings 12 Although the Vikings outgained the Cowboys in total yards 311–183, Dallas forced 5 turnovers and converted some of them into 13 points en route to a 2 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




1968 Baltimore Colts Season
The Baltimore Colts season was the 16th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Led by sixth-year head coach Don Shula, they finished the regular season with a record of 13 wins and 1 loss, and won the Western Conference's Coastal division. The previous season, the Colts finished 11–1–2, tied for the best in the league, but were excluded from the playoffs. They lost a tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Rams for the Coastal Division title in ; the other three teams in the NFL postseason, all division winners, had nine wins each. The Colts finished the 1968 regular season with the team's defense having allowed just 144 points — tying the NFL record for a 14-game season. In 1968, Baltimore won the Western Conference playoff game with the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL Championship Game in a shutout of the Cleveland Browns, but then lost to the New York Jets of the American Football League in Super Bowl III. Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas had been ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award
The AP NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual award presented by the Associated Press (AP) to a player in the National Football League (NFL) adjudged to have been the most valuable in that year's regular season. While there have been many selectors of NFL MVPs in the past, today the MVP award presented by the AP is considered the '' de facto'' official NFL MVP award and the most prestigious. Since 2012, the NFL has held the annual NFL Honors ceremony to recognize the winner of each year's AP MVP award, along with other AP awards, such as the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year and AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The most recent winner is quarterback Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. The AP has presented an award recognizing the NFL's top player since 1957. The award is voted upon by a panel of 50 sportswriters at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs, though the results are not announced to the public until the day before the Super Bowl. The sportswri ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bobby Layne
Robert Lawrence Layne (December 19, 1926 – December 1, 1986) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns before being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the third overall pick of the 1948 NFL draft and traded to the Chicago Bears. Layne played one season with the Bears, and then with the New York Bulldogs in 1949, the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1958, and the Steelers from 1958 to 1962. Layne was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. His number 22 is retired by the Texas Longhorns and the Lions. Early life Born in Santa Anna, Texas, Layne grew up on a farm in Coleman County just north of Santa Anna. His father, only 36, died of a heart attack when Layne was eight years old. His mother, Bea, was so destitute, she could not afford to keep the family together. Layne's two sisters ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Nicknamed "Johnny U." and "the Golden Arm", Unitas was considered the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback and is regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time. During his professional career from 1956 to 1973, Unitas set many NFL records and was named Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Player three times in 1959, 1964, and 1967, in addition to receiving 10 Pro Bowl and five first-team All-Pro honors. He helped lead the Colts to four championship titles; three in the pre-AFL–NFL merger, merger era in 1958 NFL Championship Game, 1958, 1959 NFL Championship Game, 1959, and 1968 NFL Championship Game, 1968, and one in the Super Bowl era in Super Bowl V. His first championship victory is regarded as one of the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bob Griese
Robert Allen Griese ( ; born February 3, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He earned All-American honors playing college football with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the Dolphins of the AFL. Widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami's undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. He later worked as a television commentator, calling NFL games for NBC Sports and college football for ESPN and ABC Sports. Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Perfect Season
A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, but has occurred more commonly at the collegiate and scholastic levels in the United States. A perfect regular season (known by other names outside the United States) is a season ''excluding'' any playoffs, where a team remains undefeated and untied; it is less rare than a complete perfect season but still exceptional. A perfect season may be part of a multi-season winning streak, or even a streak of perfect seasons. Exhibition games are generally not counted toward standings, for or against. For example, the 1972 Miami Dolphins (below) lost three of their preseason ("exhibition" games in 1972 NFL vernacular) games but are considered to have had a perfect season. Basketball Basketball leagues outside the NBA tend to be shorter than the NBA's 82-game season, thus making ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a NFL preseason, three-week preseason in August, followed by the NFL regular season, 18-week regular season, which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one Bye (sports), bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference, including the four division winners and three Wild card (sports), wild card teams, advance to the NFL playoffs, playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl, played in early February ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]