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Miami Dolphins: So Much for Being Undefeated
Well, so much for the 2007 Miami Dolphins following in the footsteps of their 1972 counterparts; these fins aren't going to be perfect. With an overtime loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins find themselves 0-1. It can only go up from here. At least, that's what we're hoping.
The Miami Dolphins NFL team is a professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins play home games at "Sun Life Stadium", in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens. This team has its headquarters at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility located in the town of Davie, Florida. The Dolphins belong to the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins team was founded by Mr. Joseph Robbie, and it began play in the American Football League (AFL) as an expansion team in the year 1966 - an example of the AFL's expanding into to parts of the United States that had not possessed pro football teams. (Others were the metropolitan areas of Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Houston, Denver, and San Diego).
In 1970, the Dolphins joined the NFL when the AFL-NFL merger occurred. The Dolphins are the oldest continually-operating major-league professional sports franchise in the state of Florida. (Note: The first major-league sports team in Florida was the Miami Seahawks of the All-American Football Conference in 1946.)
The team made its first Super Bowl appearance following the 1971 season in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1972, the Dolphins team 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. This achievement became the fourth pro football team to accomplish the feat along with the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs (16-0-0, the American Football League of 1936), the 1948 Calgary Stampeders [14-0-0, in a precursor of the Canadian Football League (actually established in 1958)], and the 1948 Cleveland Browns (15-0-0, the All-American Football Conference).
The 1972 Dolphins achieved a perfect regular season for the fourth time in NFL history, but the other three teams were all defeated in the NFL Championship game. 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. Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.
For most of their early history, Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history in terms of total winning games, coached the Dolphins. 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 the fullback Larry Csonka, the quarterback Bob Griese, the linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and the safetyman Jake Scott. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Dophins' quarterback Dan Marino became the most prolific passer 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 football season.