page_title: History of the Miami Dolphins
section_title: The 1970s: The perfect season and the Super Bowl titles
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Miami Dolphins / The 1970s: The perfect season and the Super Bowl titles
caption_attribution_description: English: Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Bob Baumhower tackling Oakland Raiders running back Mark van Eeghen during an October 8, 1979 game at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
context_page_description: The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.
context_section_description: Then in 1970, Don Shula, a former Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts after losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFL's New York Jets and finishing 8–5–1 the following season, was hired as head coach.  The Colts charged the Dolphins with tampering in gaining Shula, which cost them their 1st-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 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 a successful team during 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 and wide receiver Paul Warfield. The AFC Divisional Playoff Game, in which the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24, was the longest contest in NFL history (82 minutes 40 seconds).  The Dolphins then shut out the Colts 21–0 in the AFC Championship game at the Orange Bowl.  In Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24–3.
  In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's first and only perfect season, winning every regular season game, two playoff games, and Super Bowl VII, defeating the Washington Redskins 14–7 (the 1948 Cleveland Browns had accomplished an undefeated season, but as members of the All-America Football Conference). During this season, Griese suffered a broken ankle in Week 5 versus the San Diego Chargers and was replaced by veteran Earl Morrall for the rest of the regular season, with Griese returning to the field as a substitute during the AFC Championship game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and would once again start for Miami in Super Bowl VII. On the ground, running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush 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, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott.  The Dolphins defeated the Cleveland Browns 20–14 at the Orange Bowl, then knocked off the Steelers 21–17 at Three Rivers Stadium to advance to Super Bowl VII.  The only blemish in Miami's Super Bowl victory over Washington came from their placekicker, Garo Yepremian.  Late in the 4th quarter, with the Dolphins leading 14–0, Yepremian attempted a 42-yard field goal, which was blocked.  Yepremian picked up the loose ball, and attempted to pass, but the ball slipped out of his hands, and after batting it up in the air, the ball was grabbed by Redskins cornerback Mike Bass, who returned it for a touchdown.  The Dolphins were able to hold on for a 14–7 victory.
  The Dolphins finished 12–2 after the 1973 regular season and repeated as NFL champions, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24–7 in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston. Miami reached the playoffs again in 1974 but lost in the first round to the Oakland Raiders, in what has entered NFL lore as the "Sea of Hands" game, considered one of the greatest games ever played. This devastating loss, which Shula called his toughest ever (he cried in the locker room after the game) and which haunts Dolphin players and fans to this day, marked the end of the Dolphins' dynasty. It would be eight years before the Dolphins would win another playoff game. After the disappointing defeat, several players, including Csonka, Warfield, and running back Jim Kiick, joined the short-lived World Football League. The Dolphins managed to win ten games in 1975, aided by Griese's consistency and the fine play of wide receiver Nat Moore. The
caption: The Dolphins playing against the Oakland Raiders in 1979.
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