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The Miami Dolphins franchise was created in 1965 when the AFL awarded its first expansion to Joseph Robbie and television star Danny Thomas for $7.5 million. Before the Dolphins would take the field for the first time in 1966, |
the AFL merged into the NFL and an AFL-NFL championship game was scheduled for January next to be followed by a common draft. The team began play against the Oakland Raiders before 26,776 fans at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami Florida. Like most new franchises, the Dolphins would struggle their first year, but it would not take long for this organization to become one of the most successful and storied in all of football.
The Dolphins chose QB Bob Griese of Perdue with the fourth overall selection of the 1967 draft. This was closely followed by the sale of the interests of Danny Thomas to Robbie and W. H. Keland and the creation of Miami Dolphins, Ltd. During the 1967 season, Griese would take over from injured QB John Stofa and begin what would culminate in a Hall of Fame career. The following year another piece of what would become a championship team was added as Miami drafted FB Larry Czonka, and Miami won it’s first interleague victory.
The NFL realigned the following year placing the Dolphins in the AFC East with Buffalo, Boston, NY Jets, and Baltimore. The year also saw Joseph Robbie become majority owner of the team. The Dolphins were making all the right moves off the field through trades and the draft as players such as Nick Buoniconti, Larry Little, Paul Warfield, and Mercury Morris joined the team. Finally, February of 1970 saw the Dolphins hire Don Shula as head coach and vice president.
This hire would pay immediate dividends as the Dolphins made the playoffs that year for the first time. The team won their division the next year before losing to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. This set the stage for the most memorable season in NFL history.
The 1972 Dolphins would cap a remarkable season in Super Bowl VII at Los Angeles by defeating Washington 14-7. This win capped the first and only unbeaten, untied record in NFL history. This team would stay together the following year and repeat for a second consecutive NFL Championship with a win over Minnesota 24-7 in Super Bowl VII in Houston. This era was a glorious one for the Dolphins despite losing to the Raiders in the 1974 AFC semi-final concluding a tumultuous strike filled season.
The following years would see the Dolphins remain one of the top teams in the league despite not returning to the Super Bowl until 1983. The team lost 27-17 that year to Washington in Pasadena, California before a sellout crowd of 103,667 and a TV audience estimated at 115 million. The Dolphins would return to the big game two years later behind the play of perhaps the most famous player ever to wear a Dolphins uniform.
In April of 1983, the Dolphins drafted QB Dan Marino with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the draft. By October of that year, Marino would by starting for the team and would throw for 322 yards in his first game. The 1984 season would culminate in a Super Bowl birth after Marino broke the NFL record for TD passes in a season, as well as Dolphins records for most completions, most attempts, and most yards passing. Marino was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player that year. The Dolphins would go on to lose Super Bowl XIX to the San Francisco 49ers 38-16, but the season was considered a rousing success. |
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Despite not returning to the Super Bowl since, the Dolphins were led by Marino’s arm over the years that followed. They remained consistently competitive during a time which saw the team move from the Orange Bowl to Joe Robbie(now known as Dolphin) stadium in West Dade County in 1987. The decade of the 90's was brought in by the purchase of 50% of the team by H. Wayne Huizenga, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Blockbuster Video. Huzienga would later purchase controlling interest in the team.
A new era for the Miami Dolphins began on January of 1996 as Don Shula moved from his role as head coach of the Dolphins to assume another role within the organization after 26 years as head coach of the team and two Super Bowl titles. Jimmy Johnson would succeed Shula as head coach. Another indication of the change of an era occurred on January 15 of 2000
when Dan Marino Played his last game in a Dolphins uniform. This game would also mark the end of Jimmy Johnson’s short and turbulent time with the team. His former assistant Dave Wannstedt took over.
Wannstedt had enjoyed moderate success in his three years with the team having made the playoffs in two of the three years. Wannstedt brought a top defense and two of the NFL’s most exciting players in RB Ricky Williams and DE Jason Taylor.
But days before training camp in July 2004 Ricky Williams dropped a bombshell announcing his retirement from pro football effective immediately. Much too late to find a replacement running back, along with a season ending injury to newly acquired receiver David Boston, confusion at the quarterback position, the Dolphins had their worst season since entering the league. In a move many fans feel came a couple years to late. Dave Wannstedt was replaced by defensive coordinator Jim Bates to finish out a very ugly season.
Some fans called him Saint Nick when the Dolphins hired LSU coach Nick Saban after the 2004 season. Well, Saint Nick proved to be very mediocre at the pro level and after many denials to a rumor that he's bolting to coach the Crimson Tide of Alabama, that's exactly what he did.
Enter Cam Cameron. An offensive minded coach from San Diego, Cam brings new hope to the Dolphins in 2007. With the anticipated return of Ricky Williams and a lot of thought going into the quarterback position, things are looking up in Dolphin camp.
Well, that didn't work. After a franchise worst 1-15 season Cam Cameron was fired after only year. Team owner Wayne Huizinga brings in football guru Bill Parcells, not as head coach, but as Vice President of Football Operations. Affectionately know as the Big Tuna, Parcells got rid of nearly the entire coaching staff. Raiding the Dallas Cowboys' assistant ranks, Parcells names Tony Sparano as the new Miami Dolphins head coach. The house cleaning didn't stop there with several veteran players either released or traded. Fan favorite Zack Thomas heads to Dallas and there is speculation whether Jason Taylor will be a Dolphin in 2008. Uncertainty still remains at the quarterback position, but using the number one pick in the draft on Jake Long, an outstanding offensive lineman from Michigan, all indications point to a run oriented team headed by Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Time will tell. Go Dolphins! |
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