Party's On For '72 Dolphins

[RiverDog]

The Niners and Eagles, the two remaining undefeated teams in the league, both lost in very close games. That means the 1972 Miami Dolphins' perfect 17-0 season will remain the only time a team went the entire season without a loss or a tie. Rumor has it that the surviving members of that team throw themselves a party each year after the last undefeated team loses.

Larry Czonka, Mercury Morris, Bob Griese, Paul Warfield, Jake Scott, and Co., if they all still reside above the sod level, must be getting pretty old by now. I wonder if any of them will live long enough to see their record broken?

 

[Threedee]

2007 must have been an interesting season for them, seeing as how they had to wait until the actual Super Bowl in order to pop the champagne bottle.

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

2007 must have been an interesting season for them, seeing as how they had to wait until the actual Super Bowl in order to pop the champagne bottle.

On the very last drive of the game no less.

 

[RiverDog]

The '85 Bears won their first 12 games of the regular season only to have their perfect season ruined by...the Miami Dolphins. They finished with a 15-1 regular season record and a 18-1 after winning the Super Bowl. Next to the Patriots, they presented the biggest challenge to the '72 Dolphins.

 

[Threedee]

The '85 Bears won their first 12 games of the regular season only to have their perfect season ruined by...the Miami Dolphins. They finished with a 15-1 regular season record and a 18-1 after winning the Super Bowl. Next to the Patriots, they presented the biggest challenge to the '72 Dolphins.

Plus Ditka and Ryan got into a fight on the sideline.

 

[RiverDog]

Plus Ditka and Ryan got into a fight on the sideline.

I don't remember that, but I do remember Buddy Ryan, when DC of the Houston Oilers, punched out OC Kevin Gilbride after the Oilers threw an interception:

The late Buddy Ryan will be remembered for so many things, from his innovations on the field to the legacy his children Rex and Rob carry as coaches in the NFL.

But he’ll also be remembered for one of the most infamous sideline moments in league history: While he was defensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers in 1993, he threw a punch at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride during a game against the New York Jets, a moment captured during a nationally-televised contest:

The Oilers had a 14-0 lead with the half looming. But Gilbride tried to put some more points on the board before halftime, and quarterback Cody Carlson fumbled at his own 18-yard line with 24 seconds on the clock.

That led Ryan to throw a jab. You can watch a mini documentary on the incident on NFL.com, which touched on how the incident had an effect on the locker room of a 12-4 team.

The elder Ryan (Buddy) had a different reaction afterwards: A few days after, he famously said, ““Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years.”

That last line really made me laugh as when I graduated from college with a business administration degree, the biggest joke was taking a job as an insurance salesman. It had a worse reputation than selling used cars.