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Miami Dolphins - Franchise history

Miami Dolphins - Franchise history: Encyclopedia II - Miami Dolphins - Franchise history

For most of their history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the winningest head coach in professional football history. His Dolphins teams posted losing records in only 2 of his 26 seasons with the club. In 1972 the Dolphins became the first and only NFL team to complete a 14-game regular season (and the entire postseason) without a loss. Five future Hall of Fame members played for Miami during the 1970s, including running back Larry Csonka and quarterback Bob Griese. During the 1980s and 1990s quarterback Dan Marino became the most p ...

Miami Dolphins: Encyclopedia II - Miami Dolphins - Franchise history

Miami Dolphins - Franchise history

Miami joined the American Football League (AFL) when an expansion team franchise was awarded to lawyer Joseph Robbie and actor Danny Thomas in 1965. A contest was held in 1965 to find the name of the new Miami franchise for the American Football League. 19,843 entries were submitted with over a thousand different names. A dozen finalists were screened throught by a seven-member committe made up of the local media, names considered included the Mariners, Marauders, Mustangs, Missiles, Moons, Sharks, and Suns. The winning name, "Dolphins," was submitted by 622 entrants. Mrs. Roberta Swanson of West Miami won lifetime passes to Dolphin games when her nickname entry successfully predicted the winner and score of the 1965 football game between Notre Dame and the University of Miami, a scoreless tie.

"The dolphin is one of the fastest and smartest creatures of the sea," Joe Robbie said in announcing the team name on October 8, 1965. "Dolphins can attack and kill a shark or a whale. Sailors say bad luck will come to anyone who harms one of them."

The Dolphins began play in 1966, and after four consecutive losing seasons, Don Shula replaced George Wilson as head coach. Miami joined the NFL in 1970 when the NFL and AFL completed their merger.

Miami Dolphins - The 1970s: The Perfect Season and the Super Bowl Titles

The Dolphins were a successful team during the early 1970s, capturing 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, was the longest contest in NFL history (82 minutes 40 seconds). In Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24-3.

In 1972 the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season (as of the 2005-2006 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 this, but as members of the All-America Football Conference.) During this season, Griese and veteran quarterback Earl Morrall shared the passing duties, and running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to rush for more than 1,000 yards each. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little. 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 won 12 games during the 1973 season and repeated as NFL Champions, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in Super Bowl VIII. Miami reached the playoffs again in 1974 but lost in the first round to the Oakland Raiders. 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. They did not make the playoffs however, losing on a tiebreaker to the Baltimore Colts.

Miami rebounded from a losing record in 1976 by winning ten or more games in four of the next five seasons. Shula built a solid defense around a new set of stars, including linebacker A. J. Duhe and linemen Bob Baumhower and Doug Betters. The Dolphins went 10-4 again in 1977, but again lost the division title (and playoff spot) to the Colts. They made the playoffs as a wild card in 1978, but lost in the first round to the Houston Oilers.

Csonka returned to the Dolphins in time for the 1979 season. After winning the division with a 10-6 record, the Dolphins lost the divisional playoff to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Miami Dolphins - The 1980s

In 1980, David Woodley, an athletic quarterback out of LSU, took over for Bob Griese who severely injured his shoulder in a game against the Baltimore Colts. Griese would never play again and retired after the season. The Dolphins finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

The Dolphins were back on top of the AFC East in the 1981 season, with an 11-4-1 record. That season, the Dolphins quarterback position was actually manned by both Woodley and back-up quarterback Don Strock, causing the local media to identify the Miami quarterback as "Woodstrock." They reached the divisional playoff against the San Diego Chargers, regarded by some as one of the most memorable games in NFL history. After being down 24-0, back-up quarterback Don Strock entered the game and engineered a franetic comeback, culminating in the historical "Hook and Lateral" play, in which wide receiver Duriel Harris caught a pass from Strock and immediately lateralled the ball to the streaking runningback Tony Nathan for the score, which led to Miami tying the game at 24 by halftime. After taking the lead, San Diego tied it up 38-38 late. Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow, under exhaustion, blocked Uwe von Schummann's field goal try on the last play of regulation, and Rolf Benirschke kicked the game-winner for San Diego in overtime.

In the strike-shortened season of 1982, the Dolphins, led by the "Killer B's" defense (Baumhower, Bill Barnett, Lyle Blackwood, Kim Bokamper and Bob Brudzinski), held five of their nine opponents to 14 or fewer points en route to their fourth Super Bowl appearance. During the first two rounds of the playoffs they got revenge for previous losses. Late in the season in a snowy game against the New England Patriots, a convicted felon on work release cleared a path for Patriots kicker John Smith to score the game-winning field goal. In the first round in Miami, they met again, with the Dolphins winning easily. In the second round against San Diego the Dolphins got revenge for their loss the previous year, winning even more handily. After shutting out the New York Jets in the AFC championship, they lost Super Bowl XVII to Washington 27-17. Ironically after enjoying success rooted in a defense-first philosophy, and employing a ball control offense to take pressure off of lacklustre quarterbacks, the next 17 seasons would be marked by an average rushing game and defense that limited a great quarterback.

During the third game of the 1983 season, Shula replaced quarterback David Woodley with rookie Dan Marino, who went on to win the AFC passing championship and rookie of the year award. During the mid-1980s Marino produced the most impressive set of passing statistics in NFL history, setting single-season records for most yards (5,084), touchdown passes (48), and completions (362) during the 1984 season. Seldom sacked by defenders, Marino was protected by an outstanding offensive line as he passed to receivers such as Mark Clayton and Mark Duper. Despite the regular season success (the Dolphins went 12-4, the only team in the AFC East with a winning record), they were upset in the divisional playoff by the Seattle Seahawks. Defensive End Doug Betters was the Defensive Player of the Year.

In 1984, the Dolphins won their first 11 games en route to a 14-2 season (the franchise's best 16-game season to date). Marino, in his first full season, was voted MVP as he threw for over 5000 yards and 48 touchdowns. Miami beat the Seahawks and Steelers in the playoffs to get to Super Bowl XIX. In the title game, however, Miami lost to the San Francisco 49ers 38-16. It would be Marino's only Super Bowl appearance.

In 1985 Miami went 12-4 and was the only team that beat the Chicago Bears all year. After beating the Cleveland Browns in the divisional playoffs, many people were looking forward to a rematch with Chicago in Super Bowl XX. The cinderella New England Patriots, the Dolphins' opponents in the AFC Championship, had different plans. New England forced 6 turnovers on the way to a 31-14 win - the Patriots' first in Miami since 1969.

In 1986 the Dolphins, hampered by defensive struggles, stumbled to 8-8, out of the playoff picture. The problems continued in 1987, with an 8-7 record in a strike-shortened year; their first at new Joe Robbie Stadium. Miami had their first losing season in years in 1988, and were back to 8-8 in 1989.

Miami Dolphins - The 1990s

By 1990 the Dolphins had finally shaped up on defense, and finished with a 11-5 record, second in the AFC East. They beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round, but lost to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional playoff. The team struggled with defensive injuries in 1991, and narrowly missed the playoffs on an overtime loss to the New York Jets the final week of the season.

The Dolphins finished 11-5 in 1992, capturing the AFC East title in Mark Higgs' best season as a running back and Keith Jackson (newly acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles) leading the team in receiving. They beat the Chargers in the divisional playoff, but were stunned by the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship.

1993 turned into a disastrous year for the Dolphins. Both Marino and backup Scott Mitchell suffered season-ending injuries, and Miami lost its final 5 games to miss the playoffs at 9-7. With Marino back for the 1994 season they won the AFC East again with a 10-6 record. After beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round, they suffered a heart-breaking last-second loss to the San Diego Chargers in the divisional playoff.

In 1995 Marino broke the career passing records formerly held by Fran Tarkenton for yards (48,841), touchdowns (352), and completions (3,913). The Dolphins finished 9-7, second in the AFC East, but still made the playoffs as a wild card, losing to Buffalo in the first round. Following the 1995 season Don Shula became an executive in the Dolphins’ front office. Jimmy Johnson, who had won a collegiate national championship at the University of Miami and two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, was named as Shula’s replacement.

In 1996 Miami finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs, with rookie Karim Abdul-Jabbar's 1000-yard rushing season one of the lone bright spots. In 1997 Miami stumbled late and backed into the playoffs with a 9-7 season, losing to the New England Patriots in the wild card round.

Miami had a solid 10-6 season in 1998 with a career season for receiver O.J. McDuffie, but it was not enough to get past the New York Jets into first place in the division. The Dolphins beat the Bills in the wild card round, but lost in the next round to the eventual champion Denver Broncos. (The Broncos lost only two regular season games in 1998, one of which was to the Dolphins.)

In 1999 Marino would be injured in a game where backup Damon Huard led a comeback. In Marino's first game back, he would have the worst game of his career, on Thanksgiving in Dallas, throwing 5 interceptions and having a passer rating of 0.0. Miami went 2-6 in their last eight games, but still backed into the playoffs at 9-7. After a close win over Seattle in the wild card round, they suffered the worst playoff loss in NFL history against the Jacksonville Jaguars: 62-7. After the season, Jimmy Johnson left the team and Marino retired.

Miami Dolphins - The 2000s

Dave Wannstedt, formerly of the Chicago Bears, became the new coach; and ex-Jacksonville Jaguars backup Jay Fiedler became the new quarterback for the 2000 season, even though Damon Huard had been considered the favorite. Despite the obviously lowered expectations, the defense broke through with Jason Taylor and Trace Armstrong both getting 10 sacks, and four players (Sam Madison, Brian Walker, Brock Marion and Patrick Surtain) getting at least five interceptions. In addition, Lamar Smith rushed for over 1139 yards and Miami finished atop the AFC East with an 11-5 record. In the first round of the playoffs, Miami took the Indianapolis Colts to overtime and won on a Lamar Smith touchdown. Lamar finished with 209 yards on 40 carries, but the excessive workload worked against the Dolphins. In the next round, the Dolphins were shut out by the Oakland Raiders, and Lamar was barely able to run.

The 2001 offseason brought in fan favorite Chris Chambers at wide receiver, but Trace Armstrong left in addition to a few linemen, Richmond Webb and Kevin Donnalley. In the 2001 season the Dolphins finished 11-5. Things wouldn't be quite as solid this year for Miami. Mediocre offensive line play and a pedestrian offense kept Miami from being successful running the ball, and Miami was shutout twice on the year, and yet AGAIN swept by the New York Jets (the last defeat an embarassing 24-0 shellacking). Despite it all, the solid defense kept them in it and they finished 11-5, although it was clear that the team had lost some luster from a year ago. The Division title went to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The Dolphins lost in the first round of the playoffs 20-3 to the Baltimore Ravens.

Miami revitalized its running game in time for the 2002 season by signing former New Orleans Saints running back Ricky Williams. In addition, Randy McMichael, rookie Tight End, made his presence felt. The Dolphins, behind a new offensive scheme under freshly hired offensive coordinator Norv Turner, and a power running game lead by Ricky Williams, quickly rushed out to a 5-1 start, including an incredible last minute comeback by Fiedler against the Broncos. However, Fiedler injured his thumb and would be out for an extended period of time, which had many Dolphins fans excited, briefly, as Ray Lucas would be taking over, whom many fans believed could outdo Jay. However, Lucas was abysmal in his first two games and merely average in his third, and the team dropped three straight. Miami rebounded with wins over Baltimore and an impressive thumping of San Diego, but lost to Buffalo. Still, Miami pulled off an impressive win over the Oakland Raiders and they sat at 9-5 with two weeks left in the season, in prime position to steal the AFC East. However, despite dominating the New England Patriots for 3 and three-thirds quarters in week 17, behind the offensive dominance of Ricky Williams, a late game implosion and a blown 11 point lead with mere minutes remaining in the game led to a heartbreaking loss. Due to a tiebreaker, both the Dolphins and Patriots lost out on the playoffs as the Jets took the AFC East title. Fans wanted Wannstedt's firing, but he was kept on for the 2003 season. Despite it all, the team believed it had plenty to look forward to, as Ricky Williams shattered all expectations with 1853 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground, leading an amazing rushing attack, the best in Miami history. The real culprit of Miami's demise was their poor play on the road, in which the team finished 2-6 and the defense surrendered over 370 yards a game.

The 2003 Miami Dolphins were a hard team to pinpoint. The defense was yet again solid and forced a lot of turnovers, and running the ball was extremely difficult against these boys. However, poor offensive line play (despite most of the starters returning) gave little room for Ricky to run and the offense was stagnant. The Dolphins began with a repeat of 2002's season end, with a complete meltdown against the Houston Texans, but they rebounded and got to (4-1). After a crushing overtime loss at the hands of the Patriots, a game in which Jay Fiedler got injured, newly acquired backup Brian Griese took the helm and led the Dolphins to victory over the Chargers. That, however, was his high point, and after a good showing against Indy in a losing effort, Griese was lousy against the Titans and highly ineffective against the Ravens. When Griese had the Dolphins losing to the mediocre Washington Redskins, Jay Fiedler came off the bench and saved their season, leading them to a comeback victory, 24-23. Miami looked like it might rebound, with a victory that same week over the Dallas Cowboys to take them to 8-4, but two key losses to the Patriots and the Eagles ended Miami's chances at the playoffs. Miami finished 10-6, but it was still short of a playoff spot.

The 2004 offseason was terrible for the Dolphins. Tight end Randy McMichael was arrested for domestic violence and wide receiver David Boston (signed from San Diego) suffered an injury in training camp and missed the entire season (Boston also failed a drug test for steroids later in the season). But the biggest shock came when Ricky Williams retired for unspecified reasons. Many experts predicted a disastrous season for the Dolphins. These predictions proved right; the Dolphins dropped their first six games of the 2004 year, marking the worst start in franchise history. This led to them being dead-last in the NFL. After a 1-8 start, Wannstedt resigned on November 9, 2004. He was replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Under Bates, the Dolphins fared much better, winning three of their final seven games, including a 29-28 upset victory over the defending champion Patriots on December 20 in a nationally televised Monday Night Football contest. Despite this, the Dolphins decided not to hire Bates for the permanent coaching position. Instead, they hired Louisiana State University coach Nick Saban.

Miami Dolphins - 2005: A new era

The 2005 offseason saw many changes for the Dolphins as Saban began to mold the team in his image. The team selected running back Ronnie Brown in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. The Dolphins also signed veteran quarterback Gus Frerotte, who would win the starting job over A.J. Feeley. Cornerback Patrick Surtain was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Finally, Ricky Williams returned to the team. However, he had to sit out the first four games of the 2005 season due to violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

The 2005 regular season started off with a bang. The Dolphins won their Week 1 home-opener against the Denver Broncos 34-10. This marked Nick Saban's very first win as head coach of the Dolphins. Despite going on the road and losing to division-rival New York Jets (17-7), the Dolphins won a tough game at home against the Carolina Panthers 27-24. After their Week 4 Bye, they lost their next two road games to their division rival Buffalo Bills (20-14) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27-13). Not even Ricky Williams's return against the Bucs was enough.

On Friday, October 21, the Dolphins had to play their home game against the Kansas City Chiefs two days earlier, because of Hurricane Wilma. The Dolphins lost 30-20 and it made them 0-3 in home games that needed to be rescheduled becuase of a hurricane since last season. They would win next week at LSU's Tiger Stadium against the New Orleans Saints 21-6, but would lose their next three games. During that time, they lost two home games to the Atlanta Falcons (17-10) and their division rival New England Patriots (23-16) and then got shut out on the road against the Cleveland Browns (22-0). When things looked grim, the Dolphins regrouped and began gaining steam, and won five games in a row. First, they won on the road against the Oakland Raiders (33-21), then they got revenge against their division rival Buffalo Bills at home (24-23) with a late fourth quarter comeback, and then pulled off an upset victory over the San Diego Chargers with a score of 23-21. Then, the Dolphins beat the New York Jets by a score of 24-20, extending their winning streak to four games. The win also put them at the .500 mark (7-7), although wins by the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers put them out of playoff contention. The week after, on Christmas Eve, they achieved their fifth victory in a row with a 24-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans, which guaranteed them not to finish with a losing record. The team closed out the season with a 28-26 victory at New England to finish the 2005 campaign at 9-7. On a side note, this was the first time since 12/24/00 that the Dolphins were able to beat the Patriots in Foxboro.