What the 1972 Miami Dolphins look like now

What the 1972 Miami Dolphins look like now

There are big football teams and even bigger football teams, and then there are the 1972 Miami dolphins. You can not think of fins as sterling examples of football excellence; Heck, even Dan Marino, the best quarterback they have ever had and one of the greatest of all time, could not propel them to a win in the big game, even once in his career. But before Marino, the way back in the '70s when everything looked like gratty and lo-res, Miami appeared in three Super Bowl and won two-and the '72 Squad set a standard that no team has been able to match since.

Quite simply, the dolphins won every game they played that year, despite losing their starting QB to injury early in the season. Of course, it was back when a season consisted of 14 games and not 16, but that does not matter; If going undefeated and winning the Super Bowl were not practically impossible, it would have been done at one point. Even the 2007 New England Patriots, who finished the regular season and unbeaten playoffs, had their bid to surpass the "72 fins crushed by the New York Giants in the big. There is an urban legend (probably false) that each season, the surviving members of the legendary Miami Pop team a bottle of Champagne when the last undefeated team loses-a ritual they could have enjoyed each season for more than four decades. Here's what the key members of the team are up to today.

Griese is the word

Quarterback Bob Griese played 14 seasons for the finals from 1967 to 1980, and in the days preceding the same way of Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning, he was known as the "thinking man's quarterback," which makes kind of sounds like an insult to the side. He is one of only three players to have his dolphin's retired jersey number, and in 72, he appeared to be on fire through the first four games-before suffering a fracture of the ankle in week 5, an injury that is quite difficult to play through. Backup Earl Morrall (who died in 2014) finished the regular season and most of the playoffs before giving way to Griese in the second half of the AFC Championship and the entire Super Bowl.

After his retirement, Griese became one of the most famous and respected analysts in professional and college football, with high-profile concerts, including a flurry of bowling games and Super Bowl XX. He also produced another NFL quarterback in his son Brian (whose career was full of ups and downs in equal measure) and became a chairman of Moffitt's National Council Cancer Counseling Center after losing his wife to cancer in 1988. He also wrote a couple of books, entitled Perfection and Undefeated. Take a Wild guess what they are on the subject.

Back, Mack Truck, same difference

Larry Csonka was a defensive end, but he was an offensive player, not a lineman. He was a freaking fullback, and when he was not open up king-sized lanes for speedy running backs Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick, he was carrying the ball himself - right through anyone unlucky enough to be in his way. Said form Minnesota Vikings Jeff Siemon linebacker, "It's not the collision that gets you in. It's what happens after you tackle him." His legacy is just so strong he keeps moving. Csonka's toughness earned the respect of the world at all times, and he made the Pro Bowl for five consecutive seasons, with the 1972 campaign smack dab in the middle.

Csonka speaks from his fame into a prominent television presence after retirement, appearing in commercials and in guest spots on outdoor shows, and readers of a vintage American dating in the early '90s. Today, the avid outdoorsman and his longtime partner Audrey Bradshaw live in Alaska, where they host and produce NBC Sports' NAPA's North to Alaska, a travelogue / outdoor adventure show. It's probably worth a watch if anyone can kick the crap out of Alaska, it's Larry Csonka.

"Eugene" did not have the same ring

The "72 Dolphins game was all about using the threat of the deep pass to set up the race, a new strategy at the time and one that paid in a big way. Key to this plan was running back Eugene "Mercury" Morris, who provided lightning to Csonka's thunder. The duo has become the first pair of NFL returns ever to each amass 1,000 yards in a season, as Miami's ground attack simply overwhelmed opponents. Reflecting on the perfect dolphin season, he once said, "It never occurred to us that going undefeated was a goal, we just went out there and we wanted to win. Once someone on the team used the word "perfect" was when he said that we had won the Super Bowl and he said that on the scoreboard.Perfix is ​​a myth. not. "

That's pretty badass, but Morris has had some tribulations to overcome on his way to his current status as a staunch NFL defender to take better care of his veterans. He was convicted of trafficking cocaine in 1982, and faced 20 years in prison until the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction because of a slight case of improper prosecution. He wrote a book about the test in 1988 and toured as a motivational speaker before becoming a crusader for the rights of veterans.

Linebacker keeps fighting

Linebacker Nick Buoniconti may be the best-known name on Miami's defensive unit of '72, but that's not saying much. There were no big, flashy, loudmouth players on the defensive side of the ball as it is common today; It was a squad that kept his head down, largely avoided the limelight, and went quietly on the matter of snapping the snot of the opposite offenses. Such was StarPower's lack of d it became known as "no-name defense" -but if the fans did not know their names, the offensive players around the league certainly did.

Buoniconti remained quite busy after retirement, appearing in commercials (including an ingenious variation of the Miller Lite "you know me?" Campaign taking full advantage of the unnamed thing) and on HBO inside the NFL . But he made headlines more recently for a really, really unfortunate reason: Like many of the '72 Dolphins' team, he has had serious problems with cognitive decline in recent years. The troubles began in the mid-1950s; now in his 70s, he was forced to speak in the light of the recent wave of advertising surrounding the dreaded CTE, a loss of cognitive function caused by repeated blows to the head that affects a significant number of players in the NFL. "At 55 I was very normal," he says. "I'm no longer normal ... I feel lost." True to train, however, he continues to fight.

Just call it Mr. deep threat

Arriving in Miami after a Blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns in 1970, Catcher Paul was key to coach Don Shula's vision. A fast flash receiver that could come down on the ground in a hurry, it provided the deep threat needed for Csonka and Morris to accumulate all these yards. As graceful as it was fast, the park totaled only 600 yards during the 1972 campaign, but it was by design. Despite playing on these ball control crimes for most of his career, he has managed to establish a career-by-record 20.1-to-date record, still among the best ever.

He returned to Cleveland in 1976 and picked up a brown the following year. His post-retirement career consisted of a number of Front Office positions, including as a staff consultant for the Browns and Dallas Cowboys, and he was Director of Player Relations for the Browns for a few years prior to their moving to Baltimore, who owns secure Art Modell's special place in the hell of football. He is officially retired since 2010, and although he still hangs around the Browns facility to offer staff opinions from time to time, he was pretty much just easy to get along with his wife, Bev .

The most ironic football name ever?

The attacking liner career Larry Little began when he was signed as a free agent un-drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1967 and finished with two Super Bowl rings and a Hall of Fame induction. The bruise guard was the lead blocker on Miami's almost unstoppable sweep games, and for a shorter line (at 6 '1 ") he was also quite skilled at swatting down passes. melon, was chosen as AFC's offensive lineman of the year three Freaks Times, and only missed four games due to injuries during his 11 seasons with Miami-in other words, he was the badass consumed, and he is fond of leaving aspiring NFL Stars Know that you do not have to go high in the project, or even be picked at all, to be great.

"Every year, I talk to recruits about dolphins coming in," Little says in an interview. "There are a lot of undisturbed free agents in this room, too." He reminds them that of the 17 players the shippers selected in the project in '67, only two were still in the league five years later-while he, who signed to the team for a meager $ 750 bonus, has a bust in the township. "I tell these guys, just because you're a free agent, it does not mean you will not be good enough to play in this league ... I made my way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame".

From non-drafted to unbeaten

Larry Little's team mate, Jim langer, took a road a little similar to Super Bowl glory, being signed as a non-drafted free agent in 1970 by the Browns before being cut into training camp and Bolting in Miami. He only saw the limited playing time in his first two seasons, but in 1972 he was raised to the Starter, which he took full advantage of by becoming one of the most effective players on Miami's stellar offensive line. Langer played in 141 consecutive games for the flippers, went to six Straight Pro bowls, and played in three Super Bowls - not bad for an ex-linebacker who went to school in the state of South Dakota. (It's ... not a big school.)

These days, he does not like much of a heck of a lot. "I'm smashing my lawn, I'm not doing much, I'm pretty boring," he said at a 2016 appearance at Royalton High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he was a Star contest. multi-sport in the 60s. His knees are a kind of shot, and he does not make a lot of public appearances anymore, but this one was special: he was in honor of Royalton top being appointed an official " NFL Temple hometown "school, one of less than 100 designated as such by the League.

Another Brick in the Wall

Attack offensive Norm Evans has an interesting legacy outside his ten seasons with Miami: he was chosen in the 1976 expansion project to become the first ever to play the post for Seattle, stay there for three seasons and help to establish the team that, at the time, stank. Wrong. "The truth was, we were not very good," Evans said, generously, in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "But it was fun to play here."

The Hawks of the 70s did not exactly live up to the standard of excellence Evans was used to, but during his Miami years, he was another overwhelming contest on the offensive line (you can see a developing theme here), who played in all three of the Super Bowl fins appearances as selected for two bowls Pro. Since the 1980s, he has helped spread the word of the Lord to NFL players through Pro Athletes Outreach, an organization he has chaired for 26 years. But it's not all about love; He admits to being pretty excited when the Giants released these 07 patriots in the Super Bowl. "Absolutely, I'm as selfish as the next guy," he says. "I am a giant closet fan".

From Pioneer to Role Player

The dolphin receiving corps was pretty much there for the purpose of picking up the key first and keeping the defense honest so Csonka, Morris, and Kiick could waltz through the unfortunate defenders. But the Marlin Briscoe receiver, not as flashy or fast as Paul, has himself a claim of fame that no man can ever carry: he was the first black quarterback to start in the AFL, calling signals for the Denver Broncos as a rookie in 1968, which you can recognize as a rather historically important year in race relations.

You see, in the '60s, things were very different and even racist-than today. AFL and NFL execs were just not convinced that a black guy could handle the QB position, until Briscoe opened the door for all williames, Cunninghams, moons, and newtons that followed. Even after a successful rookie campaign with Denver, Briscoe was switched to the receiver position for all of his subsequent seasons, grabbing two rings with the dolphins before finishing his career in San Diego, Detroit, and New England. Despite playing for the legendary '72 dolphins as a receiver, Briscoe still considered himself a quarter first. Asked what he considered his greatest achievement Pro, he said, "play quarterback for the Denver Broncos and prove that a black man could drive ... I proved [everyone] wrong, all the way to 

the pros".

Good luck, Bill

When the children go to bed at night, they look under their beds for the bogeyman; When Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, goes to bed at night, he checks under his bed for Don Shula. Belichick is a crazy man, and his failure in Miami's perfect season has got to stick to his throat-but on top of that, Shula has the NFL's all-time Win record, and it's not close . The Pat's brain would need a good five or six more stellar seasons to even hope to catch up.

Shula is still Vice-President of the Dolphin Board, which is perfectly logical-m. Dolphin coached the team for 25 years freaking, took no less than three quarters at the Super Bowl during his career, and accumulated his eye-watering 347 wins largely during a time when there were fewer games per season . Today, he deals with the same nagging health problems every 90 years would have, but his retirement has consisted largely of relaxing and enjoying the weather in Florida, where a successful grilling chain can be found bearing his name. Hopefully it will be a little longer to inspire future generations of coaches, but Don Shula is nothing if not prepared. Smart Money says it's long since made provisions to have "Eat IT, BELICHICK" engraved on its gravestone, but we'll have to wait and see.

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