Team History: Dolphins; Known for Marino, Shula and a Perfect Season
Team History: Dolphins; Known for Marino, Shula and a Perfect Season
The Miami Dolphins have seen plenty of success in their history, just not much recently. The team has made the playoffs only twice in the past 17 years and has not reached the Super Bowl since in 34 seasons.
Much like the Bills in Buffalo, the Dolphins were not Miami’s first attempt at hosting professional football. The Miami Seahawks played in 1946 in the All-American Football Conference, amassing a 3-11 record before folding.
When Ralph Wilson was granted ownership of a team in the American Football League (AFL) in 1959 and he wanted to put the team in Miami. However, the University of Miami would not allow the Orange Bowl to be used for a professional team, so Wilson put his team in Buffalo instead.
In 1965, the situation had changed, and the AFL awarded a franchise in Miami to lawyer Joe Robbie and actor Danny Thomas (who was known for his work in the show Make Room for Daddy, and who later sold his share in the team to Robbie).
Former Lions coach George Wilson was hired to lead the team in its inaugural season of 1966. Despite struggling to a 15-39-2 record over the first four years, the Dolphins began acquiring some young, talented players. Bob Griese became the quarterback in the team’s second season, and talented running backs Jim Kiick, Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris joined soon after.
The biggest turning point for the young franchise came with the hiring of a new head coach in Don Shula, who led the Baltimore Colts to a 71-23-4 record and an appearance in Super Bowl III in seven seasons. In the first season after the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, Miami made the playoffs for the first time with a 10-4 record.
Miami advanced to Super Bowl VI the following year, losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 24-3, but did not lose again for another 614 days. With Griese and the triple threat backfield, plus receiver Paul Warfield and stars all along the offensive line, the Dolphins outscored their opponents by more than 200 points in the 1972 season.
The defense had its share of stars, with linemen Vern Den Herder, Manny Fernandez, Bob Heinz, and Bill Stanfill getting into the offensive backfield, All-Pro linebacker Nick Buoniconti patrolling the middle of the field, and defensive backs Tim Foley, Curtis Johnson, Dick Anderson, and Jake Scott locking down opposing receivers.
The Dolphins edged the Browns and Steelers in the AFC playoffs, then shut out an overmatched Redskins team in Super Bowl VII. Washington got its only points on a Mike Bass fumble return after a blocked field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter. Scott intercepted Billy Kilmer twice to earn MVP honors.
After losing in Week 2 in 1973, Miami rolled through the AFC, soundly defeated the Bengals and Raiders in the playoffs, then shut down Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings,
24-7, to win a second straight Super Bowl.
Despite winning a third straight division title the following year, the Dolphins were upset by the Raiders in the Division round, then failed to make the playoffs the next three seasons. Most of the players from the championship teams had moved on, but Griese led the team to two more trips to the playoffs in the late 1970s.
Miami retooled, bringing in running backs Tony Nathan and Audra Franklin, receivers Duriel Harris and Nat Moore and tight end Bruce Hardy to lend support to new quarterback David Woodley. Despite the new offensive weaponry, the Redskins got revenge for their early loss with a 27-17 win in Super Bowl XVII after the strike-shortened 1982 season. The loss was another turning point for the franchise.
Miami drafted quarterback Dan Marino with the 27th pick in 1983, and it didn’t take long to see results. After making the Pro Bowl in his rookie campaign, Marino set records with 5,084 passing yards and 48 touchdowns in his second season, as the Dolphins scored more than 500 points, demolished the Seahawks and Steelers in the playoffs and reached Super Bowl XIX. Despite throwing for more than 300 yards in the game, Marino was outdueled by Joe Montana in a 38-16 49ers victory.
Robbie succeeded in getting a new stadium in 1987 which was named after him until 1996 (long after his death in 1990). Blockbuster Video owner Wayne Huizenga became part owner after Robbie’s death and purchased the rest of the team in 1994.
Marino led the team to five more playoff appearances in the next 11 seasons, including two AFC Championship Games, but the Dolphins haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since. After 26 seasons at the helm, Shula retired after the 1995 season with a 257-133-2 mark with Miami, as well as the most coaching wins (328) in NFL history.
The Dolphins went to the playoffs five times in the next six years under former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and ex-Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, but with Marino’s retirement after the 1999 season, Miami has seen a long stretch of recent futility.
Tom Brady’s injury allowed the Dolphins to win the AFC East in 2008 under Tony Sparano, but Chad Pennington and company could not overcome the Ravens’ defense in the Wild Card round.
In Adam Gase’s first season as head coach in 206, a team led by Ryan Tannehill, Jay Ajayi and Jarvis Landry on offense and Cameron Wake and Kiko Alonso on defense finished with a 10-6 record but fell 30-12 in Pittsburgh.
Gase left after three seasons to coach the New York Jets, and Miami tabbed former Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores as the 13th coach in franchise history. Dolphins fans hope Flores and owner Stephen Ross (who purchased the team from Huizenga in 2009) will improve a team that finished 26th in the NFL in scoring offense and 27th in scoring defense.
Will Tannehill still be the starting quarterback? Who will join Kenyan Drake as an offensive star? Will Miami add some depth to a talented but young defense? These are the questions the Dolphins will have to answer in 2019.
-By: Kevin Rakas