Does it strike anyone as odd that movies are made about uplifting sports stories involving high school teams from towns that nobody outside those towns has ever heard before yet there has never been a movie about what may be the single greatest professional sports achievement by any team in American history? Only one team in the National Football League has ever gone through the entire regular season and postseason without losing a single game to become the champs.
A few teams have come close and for some reason those teams often are positioned higher in the hierarchy of great NFL teams than the 1972 Miami Dolphins. The New England Patriots managed to make it all the way to the Super Bowl undefeated -- after surviving proof that the team had been cheating -- yet failed to put that final nail in the coffin of all the other teams.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins team does not just offer an incredible story that has never been duplicated by any team in any professional sport in America, they were filled with a bunch of characters who would make a great cast of, well, characters. In the first place, you've got one of the most legendary football coaches of all time who prior to the undefeated season was considered a coach incapable of winning the Big One. That is an image that would return to Don Shula after back-to-back Super Bowl victories followed by almost back-to-back Super Bowl losses. Great story, that one about Don Shula.
Then you've got those two running backs. They say passing wins games, but running wins championships. Look no further than the fact that the greatest passer of all, Dan Marino, could not bring a Vince Lombardi trophy back to the Biscayne Bay, whereas the only NFL team to finish undefeated and untied and win the Super Bowl is also the first team to ever feature two running backs who both achieved the mark of seasonal greatness: 1,000 yards.
And that's not even to mention the third member of that running backfield, Jim Kiick. While Mercury Morris went on to infamy after his incredible first year with the Dolphins, Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick had been nicknamed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."They were a duo who enjoyed flirting with rebellion.
As if that wasn't enough to make the 1972 undefeated season of the Miami Dolphins worthy of a movie, you've got a real life, unbelievably uplifting story of near-tragedy and the comeback that brings on the tears. Many people forget that the man behind the center for most of the Dolphins' victory streak was not Hall of Famer Bob Griese. Griese was knocked out of action after just a third of the games the team would play. In stepped a backup quarterback considered on the verge of being over the hill as a ... backup quarterback: Earl Morrall. Morrall steps into a winning streak and against all odds manages to lead the Dolphins to a string of more victories without tasting defeat.
Still not convinced this would make a great movie? How about the fact that the undefeated season came on the heels of the Dolphins being humiliated in the previous Super Bowl by being held to just 3 points? The Super Bowl that capped the undefeated season saw one of the most bizarre moments in the game's long history: Garo Yepremian attempting to pass a football after his field goal kick had just been blocked.
That's not even to mention the fact that a defensive player won the Super Bowl MVP; the team led the league in both total offense and total defense statistics; and, no joke guys, the 16-0 Miami Dolphins went into the Super Bowl with the Redskins as the betting favorite!
For more articles by Timothy Sexton, check out:
Should An Asterisk Have Been Attached to the New England Pats If They Had Remain Undefeated?
Entertaining Sports Movies You May Have Missed
Football Movies Available From Netflix
Heading to the movies? Get an instant mobile coupon to use at select theaters for free popcorn!
There are no comments yet